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What Design at a Startup Actually Looks Like [video]

53 points by ivankirigin 13y ago

deleted 13y ago
[deleted]
- ivankirigin 13y ago
  We didn't record and share the conversations we've had with users. Nor is this the full design process where we discussed the overall interaction design and way the product should work. This is a very specific flow, reviewing the visual and interaction design. In the process, other issues were brought up. Having built a half dozen products that all have this stage, I'm really not sure what your nitpick is about. It's a 20 minute video not showing weeks worth of other discussions.
  - ivankirigin 13y ago
    For context: the grandparent comment by avree said "this isn't what it should look like", talking about testing designs and user needs. I'm going to keep this thread though, because nitpicks on HN annoy me.
    - avree 13y ago
      Yep—I deleted my comment because it seemed too nitpicky and critical of your process. My worry was since your post says "This is what design looks like", and doesn't mention the rest of the design process, it could be misinterpreted by fledgling founders looking to you for inspiration. Your parent comment did a great job of clarifying that. Maybe consider adding to the blog post that it's a "part" of design at a startup? Too many startups only do the founder/designer cycle, and never get designs or wireframes in front of users. Also, not sure why you felt the need to link to my Twitter... but thanks, I guess?
      - ivankirigin 13y ago
        Real names help keep people honest :) You're totally right. People reading this should know that there is a lot more than what we're showing.
        avree 13y ago
        Dangerously close to DOXing there, buddy. There's a reason why HN has handles and not real names. EDIT: Thank you, ivankirigan—much appreciate the switch to my handle.
        ivankirigin 13y ago
        Your employers were in your hacker news profile, but I see you wiped that. I apologize if I made you feel uncomfortable.
        deleted 13y ago
        [deleted]
snide 13y ago
More surprised to see someone using Sketch. Not that there's anything wrong with that. Just didn't expect it when I clicked the link. Kind of curious what people are using these days for design. I originally came from the Photoshop world, and would do all my mocks there initially, but over the last 3 years (mainly since CSS3) I've basically just built my designs in code and made them working prototypes first. I'm no engineer, but I can get a static site running / deployed through cactus / jekyll or whatever and add bits of jquery to get any inactivity done. I will admit it's been harder to keep up with frontends moving to ember / angular and needing more JS skills to fully build out my designs. Again, not a criticism. Was cool to see a different approach, just curious what most designers are using these days. Thanks for sharing.
- ivankirigin 13y ago
  Agreed, you don't usually see Sketch. I'll ask Guillermo to comment. Another tool I've seen that is surprising is Keynote. You can do a lot with simple tools.
  - bsirkia 13y ago
    I'm generally really curious what people are using for prototyping. I've used Axure a lot, done a few things in Keynote, and recently have just been banging out a rough prototype with Python + Django + Bootstrap. Why do you choose sketch?
    - g1sh 13y ago
      Personally, I can't design everything in code. The reason for this is that I catch myself making design decisions based on my knowledge of the technology. Which is always limited. I like to first design things, make a blue print and then figure out how to implement them. If I design based on bootstrap or any other framework, I find myself too "in the box". I think that the use of code in the ideation phase should be more of a proof of concept.
- dsawler 13y ago
  Depends where you work. At a large-ish digital creative agency you're probably stuck in PS creating 100 comps. At the small-ish digital creative agency I'm at the visual designers still use PS because that's where their comfortable but we talk about changing that all the time. I'm an interaction designer and use Axure for very detailed prototypes or some front-end framework (Foundation) for quick things.
dsawler 13y ago
As an interaction designer I really liked watching this. I don't work for a startup but this is often how quick internal reviews go with a project team member at my company, as well; discovering unique scenarios you need to design for while talking through other issues.
- ivankirigin 13y ago
  Thanks! And you're totally right, this isn't limited to startups. I didn't want to title it generally "what design actually looks like" because while I'm pretty arrogant, I'm not that self aggrandizing :)
scottmcleod 13y ago
Would be great to see more videos like this from other startups.
dharma1 13y ago
this was great. thanks for posting, and good work
pothibo 13y ago
Thanks for the video, really nice. On one hand, I heard you guys talking about the difference between "subscribe", "pay" and "upgrade". Wouldn't it be more accurate to just fire an A/B Test for that button and see what converts better, instead of heresay? A/B Testing on button title is pretty trivial and you can verify the result manually. No need for admin panel. Am I wrong?
- ivankirigin 13y ago
  You're definitely right, and testing calls to action is a potentially easy win. Internally, I've stressed how we should avoid optimizations to help speed development. The specific issue here was that the call to action to get the payment modal was "upgrade" making it a bit weird for the call to action on the modal to be "upgrade".
AtTheLast 13y ago
These videos make some of the best learning tools. Thanks for sharing this.

53 points by ivankirigin 13y ago

deleted 13y ago

[deleted]

ivankirigin 13y ago
We didn't record and share the conversations we've had with users. Nor is this the full design process where we discussed the overall interaction design and way the product should work. This is a very specific flow, reviewing the visual and interaction design. In the process, other issues were brought up. Having built a half dozen products that all have this stage, I'm really not sure what your nitpick is about. It's a 20 minute video not showing weeks worth of other discussions.
- ivankirigin 13y ago
  For context: the grandparent comment by avree said "this isn't what it should look like", talking about testing designs and user needs. I'm going to keep this thread though, because nitpicks on HN annoy me.
  - avree 13y ago
    Yep—I deleted my comment because it seemed too nitpicky and critical of your process. My worry was since your post says "This is what design looks like", and doesn't mention the rest of the design process, it could be misinterpreted by fledgling founders looking to you for inspiration. Your parent comment did a great job of clarifying that. Maybe consider adding to the blog post that it's a "part" of design at a startup? Too many startups only do the founder/designer cycle, and never get designs or wireframes in front of users. Also, not sure why you felt the need to link to my Twitter... but thanks, I guess?
    - ivankirigin 13y ago
      Real names help keep people honest :) You're totally right. People reading this should know that there is a lot more than what we're showing.
      - avree 13y ago
        Dangerously close to DOXing there, buddy. There's a reason why HN has handles and not real names. EDIT: Thank you, ivankirigan—much appreciate the switch to my handle.
        ivankirigin 13y ago
        Your employers were in your hacker news profile, but I see you wiped that. I apologize if I made you feel uncomfortable.
      - deleted 13y ago
        [deleted]

snide 13y ago

More surprised to see someone using Sketch. Not that there's anything wrong with that. Just didn't expect it when I clicked the link. Kind of curious what people are using these days for design. I originally came from the Photoshop world, and would do all my mocks there initially, but over the last 3 years (mainly since CSS3) I've basically just built my designs in code and made them working prototypes first. I'm no engineer, but I can get a static site running / deployed through cactus / jekyll or whatever and add bits of jquery to get any inactivity done. I will admit it's been harder to keep up with frontends moving to ember / angular and needing more JS skills to fully build out my designs. Again, not a criticism. Was cool to see a different approach, just curious what most designers are using these days. Thanks for sharing.

ivankirigin 13y ago
Agreed, you don't usually see Sketch. I'll ask Guillermo to comment. Another tool I've seen that is surprising is Keynote. You can do a lot with simple tools.
- bsirkia 13y ago
  I'm generally really curious what people are using for prototyping. I've used Axure a lot, done a few things in Keynote, and recently have just been banging out a rough prototype with Python + Django + Bootstrap. Why do you choose sketch?
  - g1sh 13y ago
    Personally, I can't design everything in code. The reason for this is that I catch myself making design decisions based on my knowledge of the technology. Which is always limited. I like to first design things, make a blue print and then figure out how to implement them. If I design based on bootstrap or any other framework, I find myself too "in the box". I think that the use of code in the ideation phase should be more of a proof of concept.
dsawler 13y ago
Depends where you work. At a large-ish digital creative agency you're probably stuck in PS creating 100 comps. At the small-ish digital creative agency I'm at the visual designers still use PS because that's where their comfortable but we talk about changing that all the time. I'm an interaction designer and use Axure for very detailed prototypes or some front-end framework (Foundation) for quick things.

dsawler 13y ago

As an interaction designer I really liked watching this. I don't work for a startup but this is often how quick internal reviews go with a project team member at my company, as well; discovering unique scenarios you need to design for while talking through other issues.

ivankirigin 13y ago
Thanks! And you're totally right, this isn't limited to startups. I didn't want to title it generally "what design actually looks like" because while I'm pretty arrogant, I'm not that self aggrandizing :)

scottmcleod 13y ago

Would be great to see more videos like this from other startups.

dharma1 13y ago

this was great. thanks for posting, and good work

pothibo 13y ago

Thanks for the video, really nice. On one hand, I heard you guys talking about the difference between "subscribe", "pay" and "upgrade". Wouldn't it be more accurate to just fire an A/B Test for that button and see what converts better, instead of heresay? A/B Testing on button title is pretty trivial and you can verify the result manually. No need for admin panel. Am I wrong?

ivankirigin 13y ago
You're definitely right, and testing calls to action is a potentially easy win. Internally, I've stressed how we should avoid optimizations to help speed development. The specific issue here was that the call to action to get the payment modal was "upgrade" making it a bit weird for the call to action on the modal to be "upgrade".

AtTheLast 13y ago

These videos make some of the best learning tools. Thanks for sharing this.