10 things you need

to know about design

Jason Putorti
VP of Design, Brigade
Follow me @putorti

Design is

Great
Design

A Great
Design
Process

A lever for business

More than pretty pictures

Talks benefits not features

Thinks in flows not screens

Is intuitive

Starts with a great story

Solves business problems

Develops empathy for the user

Learns cheaply before building

10 Repeats and refines

1
Design is

A lever
for business

I need your bank passwords.

Trust me.

P O W E R E D b y S E R V I C E

Im on twitter.

dustincurtis.com/you_should_follow_me_on_twitter.html

You should follow me

on twitter here.
+173% increase in clicks

dustincurtis.com/you_should_follow_me_on_twitter.html

2
Design is

More than pretty

pictures

Design thinking
The essential ability to combine
empathy, creativity and rationality to
meet user needs and drive business
success.

User experience
How a person feels about using your
product.

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 Going through the sign up flow

Completing a task in the product
Error message in the product

Customer experience
The sum of all interactions a customer has with
your company, positive, or negative.

 Going through the sign up flow

Completing a task in the product
Error message in the product
Viewing your home page
Reading a marketing email
Dealing with customer service

 Going through the sign up flow +5

Completing a task in the product +10
Error message in the product -5
Viewing your home page +1
Reading a marketing email -10
Dealing with customer service -5

User experience +
Customer experience =

Brand

3
Great design...

Talks benefits
not features

Understand
your money

vs

MINT.COM

20 colorful
configurable
charts and
graphs of your
spending

Your stu,
anywhere

vs

DROPBOX

1000GB of
syncing cloud
storage for
mobile phones,
desktops, etc.

Accept credit
cards at
2.75% + 15

vs

4
Great design...

Thinks in flows
not screens

Log In
1. User enters email address into
email field.
2. User presses tab, or clicks into
new field
3. User enters password into
password field.
4. User clicks Log In button.
5. System validates login
information. If okay, User is
taken to Overview page.

5
Great design...

Is intuitive

When a gorilla walks into an experiment, what they

say is What do I do now? Where's the banana?
SETH GODIN

Interaction Scale
Obvious

Requires
Thought

share

Is that a
button?

home

Is this what I
want? Should
I keep looking?

Things that most people do, most often,

should be prioritized first.
Things that some people do, somewhat
often, should come second.
Things that few people do, infrequently,
should come last.
SCOTT BURKUN

Minimize noise

Omit needless words

Users pick the first

reasonable option.

dustincurtis.com/dear_american_airlines.html

6
A great design process...

Starts with a
great story

What Why Where When Who How

For target customers who have a problem,

our product is a new category that provides
solution to that problem. Unlike the
alternatives, we have a key dierentiator.

Does everyone on your team know

what the [user] experience will be like
interacting with your offerings five
years from now?
JARED SPOOL

How would it work if it were human?

KIM GOODWIN

How would it work if it were magic?

KIM GOODWIN

7
A great design process...

Solves business
problems

8
A great design process...

Develops empathy
for the user

In the last six weeks, have your team

members spent at least two hours
watching people experience your
product or service?
JARED SPOOL

9
A great design process...

Learns cheaply before

building

10
A great design process...

Repeats & Refines

Have a feedback
mechanism

Allot product cycles to

improvement

In the last six weeks, has your senior

management held a celebration of a
recently introduced design problem?
JARED SPOOL

Reduction through successive

refinement is the only path to
simplicity.
KEVIN MULLET / DARRELL SANO

Design is

Great
Design

A Great
Design
Process

A lever for business

More than pretty pictures

Talks benefits not features

Thinks in flows not screens

Is intuitive

Starts with a great story

Solves business problems

Develops empathy for the user

Learns cheaply before building

10 Repeats and refines