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Involving Usability Research in Google’s Design Process

Tiffany Eaton Avatar| By tiffany-eaton on November 21, 2018

    A key part of the design process is understanding the people you are designing for. This is typically done by talking to said people or walking them through your product in a usability session. In my day to day work at Google, my work focuses more on developing user flows and designing interactions, so I find that I don’t always play a key part in researching and understanding the end users of my product.

    Even though designers at Google may not conduct research on their own, they work with researchers to connect with their users. Here are some practices around collaborating with user researchers to help you prepare and conduct studies, and  incorporate a bit of research into your practice if you don’t conduct your own user research anymore.

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    (Re)designing For The Future – Paperform V2

    Dean McPherson Avatar| By dean-mcpherson on November 13, 2018

      { 🤔 } – Why a redesign?

      Two years ago we released the first version of Paperform, which is a tool for building forms online. We took inspiration from the beautiful creation-experiences of sites like Medium and created a form builder that felt more like writing a rich document than yet another drag-and-drop tool.

      You could use your own fonts, brand colors, imagery and video right along with questions in answers.

      Fast-forward to the start of 2018, and in the year since we launched, we had added over 60 features to Paperform. Our MVP was starting to feel all grown up.

      The only issue was that after we’d initially designed the editor interface, we had little idea what the future of the product would look like. So when it came to adding in all of this new functionality, it had turned into a game of Tetris (i.e. inserting features wherever they fit best).

      We had an architectural problem. Instead of the clean, well-defined interface that we’d started with, our product was slowly turning into a Frankenstein monster, one odd appendage at a time.

      Paperform V1
      Why is the Submit button label under Confirmation pages? …WHY!?

      It was time to stop, take a breath, and assess where Paperform was headed and what we were going to do about it. If we could jump in a time machine and go back to the beginning, what would be different?

      A redesign was in order.

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      The Importance Of Sharing Knowledge

      Jess Eddy Avatar| By jess-eddy on October 18, 2018

        { 🙏 } – Create an environment where design can thrive

        Getting in sync is part of almost every conversation I have as a Product Designer, no matter how small or large. With product managers, developers — even the CEO. Ranging from topics such as why a button is put in a particular place through to discussing how we might validate a feature that presents risk and may or may not add substantial value to the customer and the business.

        Each conversation and interaction between people on a team build more tacit knowledge within a group. To the point where you can know people’s preferences and opinions before they even express them — but that’s not where we start, and we don’t get there overnight.

        It takes time to build connections like this through shared work and experiences. As designers, we can lead by example and help our team create these connections by sharing knowledge and creating transparency. Specifically, by sharing our design process and insight into why we do certain activities that help us relentlessly focus on the customer.

        By doing this, we also create an environment where good work — not just design work — can be done.

        Here are a few ways you can share knowledge and increase transparency to create an environment where design can thrive!

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        What’s The Design Sprint 2.0?

        Nick Budden Avatar| By nick-budden on September 26, 2018

          { 🎙 } – Audio Interview with Brittni Bowering

          There are many different methodologies that help designers be more productive and efficient. One of the most popular frameworks that’s heavily focused on teamwork and collaboration with the client is the Design Sprint. It was developed by Jake Knapp and covered in his best-selling book Sprint.

          To learn more about design sprints and the latest approach to them, we reached out to AJ&Smart. They’re a Berlin-based product design studio that specialises in the Design Sprint and work closely with Jake Knapp, and who recently came out with something called the Design Sprint 2.0. We talked with Brittni Bowering, Head of Media at AJ&Smart, who through her time at AJ&Smart has become somewhat of an expert in Design Sprints.

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          Story Behind The Fabulous App

          Taylor Ling Avatar| By taylor_ling on September 13, 2018

            { 🌳 } — How The Idea Came To Life

            Fabulous is the brainchild of Sami, CEO and one of the company’s 3 co-founders. Growing up, he loved the stories of “The Little Prince” and “The Alchemist.” Both of these stories shared a common theme that struck Sami – everyone’s journey should lead with the heart. It allows you to discover yourself fully.

            Passionate about non-profits, Sami knew he wanted to do something that could help others develop lifelong healthy habits and find their true selves. With this in mind, he got 2 others to come onboard as co-founders: Amine and myself, Taylor. We take care of technical and design at Fabulous, respectively.

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            Designing With Users In Mind

            Nick Budden Avatar| By nick-budden on August 29, 2018

              { 👨‍💻 } – #UserCentricDesign

              Everyone talks about user-centric design these days… But how do we make user-centric methodology part of our design workflow and culture? How can we fully tap that potential in the products and services we create?

              Today we’re meeting Daniel Souza. He is an Information Architect and Design Researcher.

              He worked for agencies like Isobar, Wunderman and is now an Associate Creative Director, Experience Design @ Publicis.Sapient – the digital transformation arm of Publicis.

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              Mailist Story

              Marcin Michalak Avatar| By marcin-michalak on July 3, 2018

                { 🤔} — Why Design is More Than Static Images

                I’ve always loved having a real impact on the things I’ve worked on. As I studied architecture, I learned that pure beauty is a sum of form, function, and construction.

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