As UX professionals, we pride ourselves on our empathy for our users, yet we often struggle to bridge the gap with the developers who conjure our designs into reality. UXers and Developers often think much alike – both professions call for creativity, attention to detail, and an analytical perspective – but we work from different playbooks. We speak of minimalist design; developers speak of elegant code. We look to UX design patterns, developers look to Object Oriented design patterns. This presentation explores areas of common ground and techniques for ‘working across the aisle’ via documentation, communication, and collaboration.

1. Josh Cothran
Georgia Tech Research Institute
josh.cothran@gtri.gatech.edu
@joshcothran
Developers Are
People, Too
http://slidesha.re/dapt2011

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“Any sufficiently advanced technology is
indistinguishable from magic”
Josh Cothran, Georgia Tech Research Institute
Clarke, Profiles of the Future, 1962
http://obamapacman.com/2010/04/ipad-x-ray-made-with-mac/

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But it’s not magic
Josh Cothran, Georgia Tech Research Institute
http://obamapacman.com/2010/04/ipad-x-ray-made-with-mac/

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Software is no different
“Magic!”
User
Interface
Josh Cothran, Georgia Tech Research Institute

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Software is no different
Data
“Magic!”
Logic
User
Interface User
Interface
Josh Cothran, Georgia Tech Research Institute

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Data-oriented perspective
Data
Logic
User
Interface
Josh Cothran, Georgia Tech Research Institute

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Opportunity:
Meet the developer halfway
Data
Logic
User
Interface
Josh Cothran, Georgia Tech Research Institute

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Ivan Sutherland, Sketchpad (1963)
Josh Cothran, Georgia Tech Research Institute

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Design versus Development
Similar Skills Different Mindsets
 Creative  Shades of grey vs.
 Analytical Black and white
 Detail-oriented  The forest vs.
 Heuristics-oriented
The trees
Josh Cothran, Georgia Tech Research Institute

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Documentation
 Specific
and Actionable
 Flow Charts, Wireframes, Sitemaps
 Personas, Concept Models
 Better
documentation doesn’t fix a
dysfunctional relationship
 Documentation mediates interaction
Josh Cothran, Georgia Tech Research Institute

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Documentation-Interaction
Continuum
Interaction
Documentation
100% Documentation 50/50 100% Interaction
Josh Cothran, Georgia Tech Research Institute
http://bit.ly/hbr-km
Hansen et al., “What’s Your Strategy for Managing Knowledge?” Harvard Business Review, 1999

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Documentation-Interaction
Continuum
Interaction
Agile
Flat Organization
Small Team
Documentation
100% Documentation 50/50 100% Interaction
Josh Cothran, Georgia Tech Research Institute

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Documentation-Interaction
Spectrum
Interaction
Problem-specific
Custom
Tacit
Documentation
100% Documentation 50/50 100% Interaction
Josh Cothran, Georgia Tech Research Institute

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Documentation-Interaction
Continuum
Interaction
Waterfall
Siloed Organization
Large Team
Documentation
100% Documentation 50/50 100% Interaction
Josh Cothran, Georgia Tech Research Institute

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Documentation-Interaction
Continuum
Interaction
Standardized
Reusable
Explicit
Documentation
100% Documentation 50/50 100% Interaction
Josh Cothran, Georgia Tech Research Institute

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Where do you stand?
Interaction
Documentation
100% Documentation 50/50 100% Interaction
Josh Cothran, Georgia Tech Research Institute

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Techniques
Issue Tracking
Designer, meet Developer
Participatory Design
Developer, meet Designer
Prototyping
Meet Halfway
Josh Cothran, Georgia Tech Research Institute

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Issue Tracking
Designer, meet Developer
 Direct involvement
in the development
process
 Task-oriented
 Opportunity:
tie in documentation
Josh Cothran, Georgia Tech Research Institute

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Participatory Design
Developer, meet Designer
 Identifyissues
 Design goals
 Scenarios
 Paper prototyping
 Present and critique
Josh Cothran, Georgia Tech Research Institute
http://nform.com/tradingcards/participatory-design
http://www.infodesign.com.au/ftp/ParticipatoryDesign.pdf

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Prototyping
Meet Halfway
 Who wants to read
documentation?
 Show, don’t tell
 Common ground
Josh Cothran, Georgia Tech Research Institute
Warfel, Prototyping: A Practitioner’s Guide, 2009
Axure RP | http://axure.com/

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Meet the developer halfway
Data
Logic
User
Interface
Josh Cothran, Georgia Tech Research Institute

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Documentation-Interaction
Continuum
Interaction
Documentation
Josh Cothran, Georgia Tech Research Institute

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Techniques
Issue Tracking
Designer, meet Developer
Participatory Design
Developer, meet Designer
Prototyping
Meet Halfway
Josh Cothran, Georgia Tech Research Institute

24. Josh Cothran
Georgia Tech Research Institute
josh.cothran@gtri.gatech.edu
@joshcothran
Developers Are
People, Too
http://slidesha.re/dapt2011