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Similar to Growth Patterns: Building a foundation for expansion — Driving, or being driven, to grow in order to meet demand.
Growth Patterns: Building a foundation for expansion — Driving, or being driven, to grow in order to meet demand.
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- 2. Growth Patterns: Building a foundation forexpansion Driving, or being driven, to grow in order to meet demand. 2
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- 18. 2011 We Now Have50 Employees Open hiring positions for another 5 (10%) We Have 2 New Dedicated Teams Copywriting Quality Assurance Expanded Our Management Team to Accommodate Production Manager Sales Director HR/Recruiting Manager Software Dev Manager 18
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- 20. pattern: S&M /Ying & yang 20
- 21. pattern: Chicken &the egg 21
- 22. pattern: feed thebeast 22
- 23. It’s a numbersgame Itʼs risky... You have to consider the numbers. How will you meter the pace of your growth? Growth has impact across an organization Ripple Effect Growth can be contained: Rate Changes Firing Clients Turning Down New Business Growth should be deterministic Is it taking you where you want to go? 23
- 24. Design that scales Methods and best practices to grow gracefully. 24
- 25. I am EileenAllen Super Mom, Photographer, Designer & Creative Director @ AtlanticBT @eileenallen 25
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- 27. Drink the koolaid Process... Weʼre talking about process?! (Allen Iversonʼs voice) You have to buy into your process, but donʼt let it handcuff you. BRIEF research ideas solution production product 27
- 28. the setup The daysof starting your project on a blank Photoshop canvas are done. It requires too much wasted time and energy. BRIEF research ideas 28
- 29. Our creative arsenal Whetheryou are a team of one, a small shop looking to expand, or a massive force, you can benefit from thorough planning. Client Brief / Worksheet Creative Brief Idea Brief Co-Design Styleboard This collection of “setup” methods is meant to help us do one thing... Think Before We Do. 29
- 30. Client Brief This isusually the first interaction a client has with our design team. It allows clients to share their hopes and dreams. The worksheet is meant to help clients self-evaluate, organize their thoughts, and share their preferences. 30
- 31. Example Question How involveddo you want to be in the design process of your site? I trust your expertise and leave the design decisions up to you. I would like to have a say in the design of my site. I know exactly what I want and would like you to follow my instructions. Visit Atlantic BTʼs Actual Worksheet http://www.atlanticbt.com/client-worksheet.php 31
- 32. creative brief This isNOT your grandmaʼs brief. Instead, we ask a series of five questions during the client kick off meeting. 32
- 33. creative brief Definepurpose. Why do you feel like you need a site? Define sales process. How do you communicate who you are to clients? Define the users. Who is the site for? Define the end user goal (for each class if more than one). What is the desired action? Define the look and feel. Confirmation of client brief (theme, colourway, risk factor) 33
- 34. idea brief “An ideabrief is a sentence, or two, that sums up the project and frames it as a problem statement. A question that needs an answer.” - Mark Boulton Source http://www.alistapart.com/articles/savingthespark/ 34
- 35. idea brief Actual examplesof our previous brief briefs include: This client needs to distinguish themselves from the competition by making a complex process easy for customers to understand. This client needs the site to reflect the innovation in their technology, communicate how they are ahead of the curve in their industry, and highlight their credibility. This client needs a site design that better reflects their reputation and attract high-end clientele. 35
- 36. co-design Co-Design is abrainstorming session where the project team collaborates and share their perspective on the common goals. Use the idea brief to springboard into the co-design workshop. Co-Design can happen: You and a client You and another designer You and UX You and UX and marketing and PM You and all of the above The concept was adopted from Leah Buley, formerly of Adaptive Path. 36
- 37. co-design The benefits ofco-design sessions include: No one comes in empty handed. Helps to prioritize elements and features. We identify/solve the layout through ideation. Everyone has a voice, because all ideas are good ideas. Bada-bing: Wireframe! 37
- 38. style board Itʼs likeif a style guide and a mood board had a baby! Have you ever had a client: Be surprised by your design choices? Ever point out that you used the wrong kind of camo for the background of their military equipment catalog site? To prevent these surprises and potentially embarrassing mistakes, we start with style boards to help the client visualize our direction before we begin designing. 38
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- 41. style board The keybenefits of a style board include: Eliminates surprises. Designers are better prepared. Avoids designing in a vacuum. 41
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- 43. Development Fundamentals Adventures in abnormal growth. 43
- 44. I am darylhemeon Pipe Smoking Systems Astronaut & Manager of Programmers at AtlanticBT Developer for 12+ Years Mostly .Net Previously a Systems Consultant at Unum Favorite Droid App = RadioParadise @darylhemeon 44
- 45. BOOM! Our development teamhas almost doubled in size within the last two years. More Employees More Clients More Code More Bugs More Site Launches 45
- 46. you can lookback In order to sustain growth, you must excel at the fundamentals. The Joel Test Fail Fast & Furious The Light is Green (Unit Testing) Low-Spark High Heeled Impersonation Diagnose like House MD Don't Listen to the Astronauts 46
- 47. The Joel Test Do you use source control? Yes. Can you make a build in one step? Not Completely. Do you make daily builds? Working on it. Do you have a bug database? Yes. Do you fix bugs before you write new code? No. Do you have an up to date schedule? Yes. Do you have a spec? Sort of. Do programmers/designers have quiet working conditions? Yes, sometimes. Do you have the best tools money can buy? Yes. Do you have testers? Yes. Do new candidates write code during their interview? Yes. Do you do hallway usability testing? Yes. Source http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/ 47
- 48. Fail Fast PartUno public static void ValidateObjectParameterNotNull(object parameter, string parameterName) { throw new ArguementNullException(string.Format("{0} cannot be null.", parameterName)); } 48
- 49. Fail Fast Partdeux "Failing fast doesn’t just save us money. The cold reality is that people don’t like working on failing projects. When a project is failing, people generally can smell it in the air. Employee engagement goes down, turnover goes up, and things just generally get worse. The best thing to do — for your people, for your company — is to learn to fail, and create a culture that learns from failure." - Aaron Erickson Source http://www.informit.com/articles/article.aspx?p=1748768 49
- 50. Test Driven DevelopmentUnit tests "Test is a verb meaning 'to evaluate'. No software engineers release even the tiniest change without testing, except the very confident and the very sloppy... Although you may test your changes, testing changes is not the same has having tests." - Kent Beck Read This Book Test Driven Development by Example http://books.google.com/books/about/Test_driven_development.html? 50
- 51. Low-Fi Spark ofHigh Heeled Impersonation Admin functionality on your site... Keep it Simple. Search for a User If (AppUser.IsInRole("Admin), Then Set a Cookie If Cookie Exists, Load User 51
- 52. Diagnose like house Build a Diagnostics Page that is accessible by IT support so that they can help troubleshoot production issues. Dump your data as XML. Use built-in tracing features of Frameworks. 52
- 53. Don’t Listen tothe astronauts What's Microsoft Live Mesh? Hmm, let's see... "Imagine all your devices—PCs, and soon Macs and mobile phones —working together to give you anywhere access to the information you care about." Wait a minute. Something smells fishy here. Isn't that exactly what Hailstorm was supposed to be? I smell an architecture astronaut. Source http://www.joelonsoftware.com/items/2008/05/01.html 53
- 54. Deep gh ts " ! by Daryl Hemeon 54
- 55. in closing... Growth makesyou look back at the fundamentals. Fail Fast Unit Testing User Impersonation Production Diagnostics Don't Listen to Astronauts Leaders Bring People Together 55
- 56. THank You 56
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