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@cattsmall
We’re All Designers
UX Week 2018 – Catt Small

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@cattsmall@cattsmall
◇ Senior Product Designer at Etsy
◇ Independent Game Developer
◇ Maker of various things!
A little about me:

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@cattsmall@cattsmall
Today we’ll discuss:
◇ Collaborative design
◇ Why it matters
◇ How to do it
◇ How to get everyone on board

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@cattsmall@cattsmall
The problem

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@cattsmall
Kickoff
Research
& Design
Sprint
Design
Review
Modify
Designs
Design
Review
Modify
Designs
Design
Review
Tech
Review
Modify
Designs
Tech
Review
Dev
Sprint
QA &
Launch
Product development

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@cattsmall
Kickoff

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@cattsmall
I don’t understand why these
decisions were made!
Confusion

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@cattsmall
Research &
Design
Sprint
Design
Review
Modify
Designs

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@cattsmall
I have a feeling that this
isn’t going to turn out well.
Concern

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@cattsmall
Tech Review

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@cattsmall
Frustration
This design is virtually
impossible to build!

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@cattsmall
Dev Sprint
Modify
Designs
Tech Review

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@cattsmall
Exasperation
I give up

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@cattsmall
QA & Launch

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@cattsmall
I can’t believe they
mangled my design
Rage

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@cattsmall
We’re too far in now!
We can’t quit!
Inflexibility

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@cattsmall
This is a waste of
time, effort, and money.

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@cattsmall
This is how products fail.

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@cattsmall
Good products are built by
good product teams.

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@cattsmall
Good product teams
communicate.

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@cattsmall
90% of U.S. households contain at least one
of these devices (smartphone, desktop/laptop
computer, tablet or streaming media device),
with the typical (median) American household
containing five of them.
Pew Research Center, 2016

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@cattsmall@cattsmall
Collaborative design

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@cattsmall
“Collaborative Design — Not Just for UX”, Jess Eddy
Collaborative design is a great facilitation
tool that helps get the best ideas on the
table by engaging various different
stakeholders with different
perspectives.

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@cattsmall
Everyone contributes to
the product design

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@cattsmall
Kickoff
Research
& Design
Sprint
Design
Review
Modify
Designs
Design
Review
Modify
Designs
Design
Review
Tech
Review
Modify
Designs
Tech
Review
Dev
Sprint
QA &
Launch
Faster development

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@cattsmall
Kickoff
Research
& Design
Sprint
Design
Review
Modify
Designs
Design
Review
Modify
Designs
Design
Review
Tech
Review
Modify
Designs
Tech
Review
Dev
Sprint
QA &
Launch
Faster development

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@cattsmall

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@cattsmall
Kickoff

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@cattsmall
People aren’t using this
feature. Let’s increase usage to
75% by the end of this year.

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@cattsmall

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@cattsmall
Research
& Design
Sprint

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@cattsmall

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@cattsmall

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@cattsmall
Mohini Dutta, Sr. Product Designer & Design Professor
[I] set up small breakout groups of 3 with no overlap of
skills ... and give them a small design task to ideate on.
Having some ways to [solve] this encourages others jump in
and build on those ideas, which is a good way to leave them
with a sense of satisfaction and creative output.

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@cattsmall
DESIGNER
How about we
highlight it on the
home page?
PRODUCT MANAGER
Maybe we can send
an email about it.
ENGINEER
Maybe the page
could load faster.
DESIGNER
“Call to action”
ENGINEER
“User story”
PRODUCT MANAGER
“Click-through rate”

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@cattsmall

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@cattsmall
Design
Programming
Share viewpoints
Product
Designer
Engineer

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@cattsmall
AGENCY

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@cattsmall
Dev
Sprint

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@cattsmall
Engineering
documentation
Product
documentation
Design
documentation

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@cattsmall
QA &
Launch

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@cattsmall
1 year
3 months
1 month

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@cattsmall
It’s okay to fail when there’s
less at stake.

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@cattsmall

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@cattsmall@cattsmall
Radical change

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@cattsmall
Step 1:
Identify the problem

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@cattsmall
This is a real issue.
We’re losing money.
Manager
Let’s fix it!
Product
Designer

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@cattsmall
Step 2:
Propose solutions

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@cattsmall
This would benefit us.
Can we try it?
Manager
Ooh!
Product
Designer

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@cattsmall
Identify
problem
1-week
sprint
Ideate
solutions
1-week
sprint
Prototype
solutions
1-week
sprint
Test
solutions
3 days
Build
solutions
2-week
sprint
Ramp-up
1 week
Product Delivery Efficiency Plan
Staffing requests:
● Product manager coach (3 weeks)
● Design strategy coach (2 weeks)
Contractor costs: $12,000
Time savings: 9 months

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@cattsmall
Step 3:
Do the thing!

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@cattsmall
Would you like to
participate in this?
Manager
Sure!
Product
Designer

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@cattsmall

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@cattsmall
Step 4:
Show value

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@cattsmall

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@cattsmall
Everyone loved
sketching! It aligned the
entire team.
Amazing!
Manager
Product
Designer

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@cattsmall@cattsmall
Baby steps

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@cattsmall
Step 1:
Ask unanswered questions

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@cattsmall
Questions to ask
● What is the customer problem?
● What are the KPIs?
● What’s our definition of success?
● Who will be building this?

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@cattsmall
What user need is this
feature solving?
Good question...
PM
Product
Designer

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@cattsmall
Step 2:
Share your opinion

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@cattsmall
I am the advocate for
our customers.
Yes!
Product
Designer PM

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@cattsmall
User research says our
customers won’t pay
for this product.
We should make it
more valuable to
them!
Product
Designer PM

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@cattsmall
Step 3:
Include others

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@cattsmall
Do you want to be
more involved?
Yes, please!
Engineer
Product
Designer

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@cattsmall
I think you’d have a
lot to contribute to
this discussion.
Thank you for
thinking of me!
Engineer
Product
Designer

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@cattsmall
Step 4:
Be visible

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@cattsmall
Can you try this and tell
me what you think?
Okay!
Engineer
Product
Designer

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@cattsmall
Here’s the design I’m
working on right now!
Cool!
Engineer
Product
Designer

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@cattsmall
Step 5:
Invest in others

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@cattsmall
Are you interested in
product design?
Yes, I am!
Brand
Designer
Product
Designer

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@cattsmall
You said you were
interested in Product
Design. Want to make
a prototype with me?
Yes! A
thousand
times, yes!
Product
Designer
Brand
Designer

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@cattsmall@cattsmall
Wrap up

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@cattsmall
Ideas aren’t precious.
Your time is.

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@cattsmall
Let’s design together.

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@cattsmall@cattsmall
In summary:
◇ Failure shouldn’t be lethal.
◇ Collaborative design is efficient.
◇ Ask for feedback early and often.
◇ Invest in your collaborators.

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@cattsmall
Thank you!
Questions?
Tweet @cattsmall
Email catt@cattsmall.com