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A very important step is buried right at the bottom: > Hand drawing is ideal because everyone can do it, it's fun, it encourages simplicity, and it's easy to s

A very important step is buried right at the bottom: > Hand drawing is ideal because everyone can do it, it's fun, it encourages simplicity, and it's easy to start over. When the timer ends, I show the work to someone or wait a while and review it with fresh eyes. Working in a fast, low-commitment medium is key. It really doesn't matter what it is, as long as it's easy for you to churn out many ideas. It makes you more open to feedback as you didn't put a huge amount of work into it, and for the same reason others will be more willing to give genuine feedback about it. It promotes many iterations before you actually start building. One step that could be added is spending a few minutes before starting the design phase is collecting context about the issue. - Who is this feature for? - In what scenario will they use it? - What is the issue they're facing? - Can I collect some real-world examples of people with this issue? - How would this idea be useful to them? It might seem really obvious at first, but as you get deeper into the design process it's easy to get sidetracked. Starting with a clear understanding of the user's problems makes the whole process go soooo much easier.

gffrd 2y ago
100% I’ve found working in pen is key for me. Imprecise, no ability to fix, so the impulse to tweak/fix has nowhere to go.
smoe 2y ago
I agree, and I would also add that the great thing about sketchy hand-drawing is that it keeps people focused in discussions, making it clearer what they should be judging. As soon as you have something that looks remotely like the real thing, people will get distracted. Why is this yellow not our brand yellow? What is this font? Those two boxes don't align! etc. While those details do matter, they are not important in the early iterations of a design.
- gffrd 2y ago
  A place I’ve worked recently had design leadership who: (1) Asked to be included as early as possible in the process, and … (2) Would not tolerate sketches, demanding at least a mid-fidelity level to discuss work. This was fun.
  - Nevermark 2y ago
    A functional gui framework, rendered in realistically chaotic pencil style where nothing is perfectly shaped, the same size or aligned, with only 3 or 4 unalterable pencil colors, would actually be useful. Separate visual function design from visual style.
    - gffrd 2y ago
      I’m about to do an old person thing: Balsamiq had (has?) something like this. You could mock up in whatever fidelity you wanted, but you could switch view modes and it would look like a sketch. Great for ensuring people didn’t get hung up on minutiae prematurely. It was wonderful. But I’m imagining what you’re describing as another level, where one would draw relationships and behavior … and visual presentation would be like textures applied to a scene’s wireframe.
deleted 2y ago
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nicbou 2y ago
In my process, there is “iPad time”. This is the step where I sit in a cafe and create a sort of hand-written design document in Notability. The goal is to flesh out ideas without being able to work on them. Sometimes this stage lasts a few weeks as I let the idea simmer. I add a few lines every now and then, ask new questions, draw UI sketches and refine the concept. It’s very effective.

gffrd 2y ago

100% I’ve found working in pen is key for me. Imprecise, no ability to fix, so the impulse to tweak/fix has nowhere to go.

smoe 2y ago

I agree, and I would also add that the great thing about sketchy hand-drawing is that it keeps people focused in discussions, making it clearer what they should be judging. As soon as you have something that looks remotely like the real thing, people will get distracted. Why is this yellow not our brand yellow? What is this font? Those two boxes don't align! etc. While those details do matter, they are not important in the early iterations of a design.

gffrd 2y ago
A place I’ve worked recently had design leadership who: (1) Asked to be included as early as possible in the process, and … (2) Would not tolerate sketches, demanding at least a mid-fidelity level to discuss work. This was fun.
- Nevermark 2y ago
  A functional gui framework, rendered in realistically chaotic pencil style where nothing is perfectly shaped, the same size or aligned, with only 3 or 4 unalterable pencil colors, would actually be useful. Separate visual function design from visual style.
  - gffrd 2y ago
    I’m about to do an old person thing: Balsamiq had (has?) something like this. You could mock up in whatever fidelity you wanted, but you could switch view modes and it would look like a sketch. Great for ensuring people didn’t get hung up on minutiae prematurely. It was wonderful. But I’m imagining what you’re describing as another level, where one would draw relationships and behavior … and visual presentation would be like textures applied to a scene’s wireframe.

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]

nicbou 2y ago

In my process, there is “iPad time”. This is the step where I sit in a cafe and create a sort of hand-written design document in Notability. The goal is to flesh out ideas without being able to work on them. Sometimes this stage lasts a few weeks as I let the idea simmer. I add a few lines every now and then, ask new questions, draw UI sketches and refine the concept. It’s very effective.