mix10-ndash-design-fundamentals-for-developers

March 14th, 2010

Just arrived in my first workshop. (And yes, I was able to knock the cobwebs loose and I remembered which workshops I signed up for!)

Presentation is by Robby Ingebretsen – Created KAXAML

Design is everywhere and design touches everything. The process of design is the process of creating.

We all need to consider the implications of design.

If you create things, you design them.

Stop evaluating yourself as a developer versus designer.  Just be both.

Time for us to get Smart about design

Improve design vocab

Add to design knowledge

Increase design confidence

Design

  • Design is order
  • The more “invisible” the design the better the design is
  • Design should “fad away”
  • Design is problem solving

Check out the book “How to Think Like a Great Graphic Designer”.

Be empathetic.  Put yourself in end users shoes.  It allows you to communicate with them in more effective ways.

Art has a subjective goal.  It is something that you want to make.

Design has an objective goal. You are trying to create something that solves a problem.

Design by

  • Process
  • People
  • Synthesis

Creative process is really 2 things: Flow and Edit

First part of flow is research.

After research is brainstorming

Apple uses a 10/3/1 rule

  • Come up with 10 pixel perfect designs
  • Choose 3
  • Refine those 3
  • Choose 1

“Babies” and “Ponies”

  • “Babies” -  Don’t fall in love with designs that you spend a lot of time on if they don’t solve the problem
  • “Ponies” – Things that stakeholders want that don’t add to the design.

Process docs

Brief

  • Kick off a project
  • Spec

Pitch

  • A first response to the creative brief
  • In the end you need to land on a direction to go

Wireframe/Sketch

  • Describes the Information architecture
  • layout
  • Navigation
  • user flow
  • high level information structure

Interaction Spec

  • Doc that describes how people will interact between the design and observer

Motion guide

  • a guide to the personality and tone of the of the animation and movement in the application

Comp

  • establish the final visual design

Prototype

  • a complete or semi-complete sample of the final design

Love the quote “Saul Bass is awesome” :P

“Anybody in the room can be a great designer, err at least a passable one” – At least he is honest!

The trick to being a great designer is:

  • Hard work
  • Observe the world around you synthesize it.

More after the break. :)