Unleash Your Inner Unicorn
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Unicorns are considered to be the rare person who can do both design and development. But, why are they considered rare? Because consider design and development to be separate disciplines. In this talk, I explore the spectrum of design and development, how designers can be empowered by learning about development, and how developers can be empowered by learning about design. I gave this talk at the Big Design Conference in Addison, TX on September 6, 2014.
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Unleash Your Inner Unicorn
- 1. UNLEASH UNICORN Embracing the YOUR INNER SPECTRUM OF DESIGN&DEVELOPMENT Matt Baxter • @mbxtr • September 6, 2014
- 2. I’m Matt Baxter @mbxtr
- 3. I work at
- 4. as a UX Designer
- 5. Using design
- 8. This is not about bronies.
- 9. But Seriously, What’s with The Unicorn?
- 10. Unicorn A person who can do both design and development.
- 14. Unicorns must have their coffee.
- 15. Unicorns only eat apples.
- 16. Unicorns love playing ping pong.
- 17. Unicorns don’t get along with printers.
- 18. Something you think you know about unicorns…
- 19. Unicorns are rare and hard to find.
- 20. Unicorns are rare and hard to find. But, why?
- 21. We think about design and development as separate disciplines.
- 22. Designer vs Developer http://sixrevisions.com/infographics/web-designers-vs-web-developers-infographic/
- 23. Left vs Right
- 24. Unicorns are not as rare as you think.
- 25. I believe everyone has some unicorn in them.
- 26. Specifically… Designers can develop. Developers can design.
- 27. !
- 28. MY BACKGROUND
- 29. Remember when this was cool?
- 38. GRiD Compass First clamshell laptop
- 39. Xerox PARC Mouse The first mouse
- 40. Desktop GUI History Xerox, Apple, and Microsoft
- 41. “Few people think about it or are aware of it. But there is nothing made by human beings that does not involve a design decision somewhere.” – Bill Moggridge
- 44. But, I still enjoyed development.
- 47. the Spectrum
- 48. How We Think Design Development
- 49. What We’ve Accepted Design Development
- 51. ??? ???
- 52. What crosses the developer boundary? </>
- 53. Development is much more than code.
- 54. What crosses the designer boundary?
- 55. Design is much more than pixels.
- 56. Reality
- 57. Individuals are more complicated than that.
- 58. Software is more complicated than that.
- 59. Design and development is a spectrum.
- 62. “Should” is the wrong focus.
- 63. The better question is…
- 64. How can knowing more about development empower designers?
- 65. How can knowing more about design empower developers?
- 66. “But, if I learn x I’ll get worse at y.”
- 67. If your goal is to make great software, learning more about the process will only help you.
- 68. Tools are the wrong focus.
- 69. “Skill in the digital age is confused with mastery of digital tools, masking the importance of understanding materials and mastering the elements of form.” – John Maeda former President of RISD and professor at MIT Media Lab
- 70. </> Being a unicorn is more than combining code and pixels.
- 71. The true ability of a unicorn: being able to balance design and development.
- 73. Titles can be confusing.
- 74. I don’t just mean how many there are… UI Developer • UX Architect • Information Architect Design Technologist • Visual Designer Back End Developer • Front End Developer Application Developer • Software Architect UX Designer • UI Designer • UI Engineer Web Developer • Interaction Designer • Web Designer
- 75. A developer is not just a coder. </>
- 76. “I just built what the designer handed to me.” #stuffcoderssay
- 77. A designer is not just a pixel pusher.
- 78. “I designed it; its not my job to make sure it works.” #stuffpixelpusherssay
- 79. It’s not enough to just focus on “your” part.
- 80. Focus on the deliverables product.
- 81. This is Bob.
- 82. Bob uses apps.
- 83. Why does Bob use certain apps?
- 84. I use this app because the code is well-written!
- 85. I use this app because these pixels are perfect!
- 86. SAID NO USER EVER
- 87. I use this app because I can more easily ______.
- 88. I use this app because it enables me to ______.
- 89. Users only see the final product.
- 90. Great software is more than pixels and code.
- 91. Everyone’s job is to balance design and technology.
- 92. What will the result be?
- 93. It won’t be… Compromise Everyone designs Everyone develops
- 94. Tension between design and development is good.
- 96. “Each group, then, is trying to do the right thing, but they're pulling in different directions. If any one of those groups 'wins,' we lose.” – Ed Catmull, Creativity Inc.
- 97. It will be…
- 98. Better communication and collaboration
- 99. More empathy
- 100. Fewer assumptions
- 101. Less busy-work
- 102. Designers will Push limits of technology Estimate development Prototype
- 103. Developers will Begin sooner Adapt designs Have less back-and-forth
- 104. How do you begin?
- 105. It starts with your process
- 106. Typical Process Design Development Time Effort
- 107. Better Process Design Development Time Effort
- 108. Talk to each other
- 109. Educate yourself
- 110. Developers Wireframing Typography Usability
- 113. Design of Everyday Things by Donald Norman
- 114. Designers Interactive Prototypes Understand Platforms Learn HTML/CSS
- 116. Platform Documentation http://developer.apple.com • http://developer.android.com • http://developer.mozilla.com
- 118. This isn’t rocket science.
- 119. Guess how much everyone knew when they started?
- 121. Do you have to? Nope.
- 122. Will it make you better at what you do? Absolutely.
- 123. A little bit goes a long way.
- 124. It’s not just about learning to code. </>
- 125. It’s not just about learning to push pixels.
- 126. (But go for it if you find that you enjoy both)
- 127. It’s knowing how to balance design and development.
- 128. Unleash Your Inner Unicorn
- 129. Questions? @mbxtr