Going Solo: Design and Productivity Techniques for the Team of One
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What happens when you’re the only designer around? You might find yourself working for yourself, working remotely, or maybe you’re simply the only designer on your team. Being “a team of one” has its own unique challenges. In this session we’ll explore techniques for self-motivation, creativity, and organization, as well as discuss methods you can use when relating to your client, team or larger organization. Learn how to keep your energy lively and your productivity up – even if you’re still in your bathrobe!
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Going Solo: Design and Productivity Techniques for the Team of One
- 1. Going Solo: Design and Productivity Techniques for the Team of One @crispinTX #BigD15 #teamOfOne Crispin Reedy
- 2. Crispin Reedy! crispinreedy.com! @crispinTX! ! Voice Interaction Designer President of @avixd 15 years working from home Usually the only designer 3 different employers ~30 different clients
- 3. My coworkers
- 4. Who’s Here? • Just started working from home? • Been doing it for a while? • Thinking about it? • Don’t WFH but the only designer on the team?
- 6. The Idea
- 8. 20 Reasons Why Intelligent People Fail (Robert Steinberg) Lack of Motivation Procrastination Lack of ! Impulse Control Distractibility Inability to Delay Gratification
- 10. Mental Focus
- 11. Mental Focus • Sanity! • Metacognition • Pomodoros • Routines, Checklists, Systems • Fighting Procrastination
- 12. Get out of the house!! Volunteer! Join a professional organization, team or Meetup! Take classes!
- 13. At the office: the hive mind
- 14. At home: sailing solo
- 15. How do you stay sane ! when you’re the only one in the room?
- 16. Metacognition: Become Your Own Lifehacker Flickr: Vox
- 17. You are a mad scientist! ! and the experiment is! yourself!
- 19. micapie.com Keep tabs on your:! • Mood • Energy Level • Concentration Level • Type of Work • Time of Day • Productivity
- 20. micapie.com Use tools like:! • Journal • Habit / Mood Tracking Apps Make observations and apply them
- 22. Morning: High Energy Afternoon: The Cliff
- 23. “Eat a live frog first thing in the morning and nothing worse will happen to you all day.” - Mark Twain
- 24. Save email and busywork for low-energy times
- 25. When you’re blocked by the need to be social, what’s the plan?
- 26. Change your energy: location, movement
- 27. Keep a list of what doesn’t work
- 28. Start something new for tomorrow at the end of the day.
- 29. Pomodoros
- 30. Decide on the task
- 31. Set the timer (25 minutes or more)
- 32. Do the work
- 33. Review & take a short break
- 34. Pomodoros • Work on the task uninterruptedly; no answering phone / email • 25 minutes is “standard,” but what works for you? • After 4 pomodoros, take a “real” break • Get up, walk around, get outside • If you go longer, take a break after 2-3
- 36. “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.”
- 37. How the starfish opens the clam Jon Bloom
- 39. Types of Lists • Todo lists • GTD • Procedure lists • Daily life checklists
- 40. Todo Lists • Schedule design review! • Make travel plans! • UXPA Submission! • Try Lucid Chart! • Write whitepaper • Grocery! • Bookstore! • Lowe’s! • Call roofer
- 41. • Trello! • Evernote! • Nirvana! • Remember the Milk! • Etc.
- 44. Having things written down is like seeing your thoughts outside your head. Warner Brothers
- 45. Daily Life Checklists: Build Habits
- 46. Why Habits? Decision Fatigue
- 47. Fighting Procrastination: Use a Site Blocker
- 49. Interaction! Workspace! Process! Results! Factors of Remote Design UIE Seminar by @JimKalbach! Designing Remotely: ! Effective Techniques for Remote Design
- 50. Presence
- 51. Presence • Organizations differ • All remote vs. only a few people remote, the rest onsite • The most difficult situation to deal with • Persistence is key
- 52. Collaboration: Digital First • Communication Tools! • Phone / Audio! • Screen sharing! • Webcams! • File repositories! • Chat! • Email • Design-Specific Tools! • Online prototyping! • Online testing! • Virtual whiteboard
- 53. Conferencing! ! • Skype 66% • Hangouts 43% • GoToMeeting 32% • WebEx 24% UIE Seminar by @JimKalbach! Designing Remotely: ! Effective Techniques for Remote Design Chat! ! • Slack / Skype 43% • Google 31% • What’s App 18% File Sharing! ! • Dropbox / Google Drive 54% • Internal 34% • Evernote 16% • Box 14%
- 54. Macs Especially: Be Prepared!
- 55. Practice safe conference calling
- 56. Get a headset
- 57. Don’t trust mute
- 58. Close your chat (and other windows)
- 60. The person who is most prepared for the meeting wins the meeting • Brainstorming! • Discussion! • Design Review • Goal! • Agenda! • Deck / Materials! • Capture Decisions
- 61. Sometimes you just need to get together
- 62. Online Prototyping! ! • Invision 48% • Don’t use 44% • Marvel 13% • UXPin 10% • Proto.IO 9% • Internal Tool 8% UIE Seminar by @JimKalbach! Designing Remotely: ! Effective Techniques for Remote Design Online Testing! ! • Don’t use 59% • User Zoom 21% • Other 14% • Optimal Workshop 11% • Internal Tool 9%
- 63. Lucidchart
- 64. mural.ly
- 65. Optimal Workshop
- 66. Agree on your suite of digital tools
- 67. Maintain your virtual workspace
- 68. Train new team members and clients
- 69. Designing Alone
- 71. Create an office that supports different kinds of work
- 72. Bodystorming for One flickr: xian
- 73. Go out and get input in other places
- 74. Recognize when you’re lost in the weeds • Catalog the medicine cabinet! • Cut the work up and remix it! • Give yourself permission to play
- 75. Recover and keep going
- 78. Constraints largely come in the form of other people
- 79. • Invite people in! • Make things together! • Teach them about design! • Listen to their needs! • Get OK with being challenged! • Don’t sweat the small stuff! • Choose your hills
- 81. you have a poem to offer! it is made of action @crispinTX “Notes on the Assemblage”! Juan Felipe Herrera