Lean UX NYC, 2014
Jonathan Berger, Pivotal Labs
Towards a Theory and Method of Test Driven Design
Towards a Theory and Method of Test Driven Design
Subjective Design & Objective Design
Who Am I?
- ~25 projects
- design, code, pm
- interested in agile practice for design
I. Subjective Design & Objective Design
"Design" is a Messy Word
I'm a "designer"
- web design
- interaction design
- product design
- visual design
- UX design
- UI design
- etc.
Modern "design" in the context of building products is a mix of many different design disciplines
Is design subjective or objective?
Can design can be objectively called "good"?
If we can't agree on a definition of done, we waste time, money, and trust
We tend not to distinguish between
the types of design that are highly subjective and the types of design that are highly objective.
E.g.
marketing and branding design has a high degree of subjectivity to it.
the design cannot be successful if the client doesn't feel good about it.
Conversely
designing a usable user interface is much more objective
patterns exist,
solutions can be tested
we can state with a high degree of confidence that
one solution is (objectively) better
Problem:
we tend not to distinguish between different types of design when discussing work.
when scoping design work
we often confuse the meaning of "done"
across various types of design.
II. Minimum Viable Deliverable
The design business is built around deliverables
Practice is about design decisions
"Getting out of the deliverable business"
The Agile Manifesto prefers
"Working software over comprehensive documentation".
To take it to an extreme
all documentation is waste
eliminate documentation entirely
eliminate documentation entirely
minimizing documentation is a Good Thing
designers ought to communicate design decisions with the least amount of work possible.
With Apologies
We are uncovering better ways of designing experiences by doing it and helping others do it.
Through this work we have come to value design decisions as the fundamental unit of work for designers. We prefer to communicate design decisions by:
- Comments over Wireframes,
- Wireframes over Low-Res Mocks,
- Low-Res Mocks over High-Res Mocks,
- A Few DRY High-Res Mocks, Supported by a Live Styleguide, over Exhaustive High-Res Documentation
expectations should be set differently for Different types of design
Designing a new logo and brand?
plan for several iterations of client approval
Designing a signup form?
"Done" can simply mean "a user can complete their goal"
To subject objectively-judge-able types of design to the approval of a non-designer client is akin to
demanding client approval from your dentist or surgeon.
III. Articulating the Subjective and the Objective
how can we address this problem?
- By starting a conversation about a taxonomy of design types and the level of subjectivity for each,
- By crafting better stories for non-designers, explaining which parts of design benefit greatly from subjective feedback and which don't.
A provisional scale for types of design
(and how subjective they tend to be)
::MOST SUBJECTIVE::
- Mar/Com Design
- Product Design
- Graphic Design
- User Experience Design
- User Interface Design
- Information Architecture
::MOST OBJECTIVE::
Marketing / Communication Design
- "How should we design our brand?"
- "Does this have the right feel?"
- "Do we like the logo?"
Product Design
- "What problem should we try to solve?"
- "How can we solve it?"
- "Is this a problem worth solving?"
Graphic Design
- "Does this color scheme effectively direct the user's attention?"
- "Is there a clear representation of the different nouns in the system?"
- "Is this a pleasing, balanced composition?"
User Experience Design
- "Is this product a compelling way for users to accomplish their goal?"
- "Do I enjoy using the product?"
- "Is experience emotional? Persuasive?"
User Interface Design
- "Does this interface help the user do what they need to?"
- "Do affordances telegraph interface? Is it understandable?"
- "Is it concise? Does it fit?"
Information Architecture
- "Does this IA help the user model the world we're building?"
- "Is navigation clear and intuitive?"
- "Can new features be added in a way that makes sense for the rest of the system?"
TL;DR
The utility of objective and subjective judgement varies by type of design. Designers don't do a good job of speaking clearly about this. If we, as a design community can educate clients the spectrum of subjectivity vs. type-of-design, we can save ourselves tons of pain—and save clients mega-tons of money.
Thanks!
(one more thing...)
this sun, 10am-4pm
balanced team salon
bit.ly/btapril13
