Kim Dowd and I ran a workshop at Pivotal teaching people the principles of pair design in the context of ideation. This slideshow covers what I've learned through pairing and what Kim has learned in her development of Pivotal's design practices. Topics include: benefits of pairing, what makes for a good pair relationship, and the organizational requirements for pairing. Kim can be reached at: KimSheBlue@gmail.com and Twitter:@KimDowd. Colby can be reached at: CDJSato@gmail.com and Medium:@ColbySato Thanks to Pivotal and Lean UX for hosting us!

1. Do you want to Pair?
How to Mind-Meld for Ideation
Lean UX SF • August 21, 2017 • Pivotal • Colby Sato & Kim Dowd

2. Kim Dowd
Former Design Practice Lead at Pivotal Labs
Startups
CMU
Teaching
3 years pairing at Pivotal Labs
kimsheblue@gmail.com
Medium & Twitter: @kimsheblue

3. Colby Sato
Designer at Pivotal
Pairing for 1+ year (in house)
BS Engineering
Gardener
CDJSato@gmail.com
Medium: @ColbySato

4. Covering today
Lecture: Design Pairing
How and why Pairing can improve your design.
Workshop: You pair!
Make a thing with a new person!
Q&A: We talk
Even more pairing goodness
Reflect: You talk
How’d that go?

5. What is pairing?
2 designers working together
(variable or similar skill set)
1 project
Full time
Co-ownership of process/design/outcomes
1 Screen with computer (research, wires, emails)
1 pen with paper (wires, visual design)
1 marker with whiteboard (workshops)

6. Why we care
Great work
Learned edges of my knowledge
as designer and human
Team culture/learning
Inclusive

7. History
Eames and other pairs
Cooper’s approach
Pivotal’s approach

9. Elton John & Bernie Taupin
Simon & Garfunkel
Tegan & Sara

10. https://www.oreilly.com/ideas/pair-design

11. https://content.pivotal.io/blog/pair-design-rule-1-wear-one-hat-at-a-time

12. But why?
Better designs
More fun
Faster, 1+1=3
2 tracks of work
(high level research & feeding a backlog!)

13. What it’s not
• A different kind of critique
Training
Principle/Intern
Collaborating for a day or two is great,
but is not pairing

14. Organizational Reqs
Support from management for
2 designers an a project full-time for at least 3 weeks
Org. understands “design a problem solving” rather
than “design as wireframe production.”
Consultancy and In-House model both work at Pivotal
Experiment with one project, test velocity/outcome
and productivity

15. Pairing Disposition
Belief that other people have the right answer
and that you can be wrong
Trust
Security in oneself
Belief that your pair has a valid point of view
(really) (really really)

16. Pairs Skill sets
Varied or similar skill sets are ok
(previous experience working in design is needed)
Varied years of experience are ok
Equal ownership is key

17. Phases of Design
Works for all phases:
Research, synthesis,
ideation, wireframing, building

18. Pairing Behaviors
Taking turns between listening, leading, and questioning
Confirming what others are saying
Taking a breath and slowing down as you speak
Takes breaks
Being more positive, less critical

19. Risks
Creative Director / intern relationship
Trust never develops, work becomes hell
Pairs become inward-looking

20. When not to Pair
Intense knowledge disparity and short timeline
Production work, when there’s strong alignment
on what to do (unless you realllly want to)
When tired of pairing

21. Workshop for
Design Pairing Ideation Session
1. You are going to pair with someone and make a
book cover based off of the words that you have
been given.
2. You will combine the meaning of your word with
the meaning of your pairs word and make a book
cover that encompasses both ideas.
3. You will draw a book cover that has an image that
communicates the shared idea of the words, a title
and an author.
4. You will present this to the people at your table at
the end of the exercise.

22. Book Cover that combine
“Kale Chips” & “Mix Tape”
Image + Title + Author

24. Schedule (45 minutes)
1. Find a new buddy that you do not know. Sit with him/her.
2. Read words together (look up word on google if unsure)
3. Choose one word per person.
4. Select who is driver first (They pick up Sharpie)
5. We do a demo 5 MINUTES
6. Driver draws, Navigator chats. 5 MINUTES
7. Switch roles and sharpie. 5 MINUTES
8. Switch roles and sharpie. 5 MINUTES
9. Switch roles and sharpie. 5 MINUTES
10. Present your book cover to table-mates. 5 -10 MINUTES
11. Reflect. Discuss how this went. What has hard? What was
easy? 10 MINUTES
Setup
Make a
book
cover
Share

25. Common Questions
Who controls the mouse/pen/marker/client presentation?
This changes with a natural cadence of the pair. You’ll see in the exercise that it just sort of happens.
Who owns the files?
Both people own them.
How is versioning managed?
The pair comes to an agreement about it.
How are the roles and responsibilities defined for and understood by stakeholders?
The pair is presented as a unified team, and each of their skillets and qualities are highlighted. The
pair should be in agreement about all of their design decisions, so they are a united.
Does the pair of designers attend every meeting in the project?
The meetings can and should be split up. Every other IPM, client check-in, etc. They can be
attended together, if that is what each person prefers.
How to pick a pair? What makes a good pair?
The needs of the phases of project are covered by the combined skillets
Emotional maturity
Baseline understanding and experience with design process

26. Some Blog Posts
https://content.pivotal.io/blog/pair-design-rule-1-wear-one-hat-at-a-time
https://content.pivotal.io/blog/pair-designing
https://www.oreilly.com/ideas/pair-design
https://www.cooper.com/journal/2017/2/what-does-pair-design-look-like