Collaborating with design studio method

Editor's Notes

• #2: Today we will look at the Design Studio method, but we won’t just talk about it Through a set of interactive exercise, we will experience first hand how it works. Design studio is a way of working and designing that has origins in architecture and industrial design. These days, it is commonly applied to digital products and software development
• #3: What A collaborative, interactive, fast paced design process for coming up with many possible solutions quickly, evaluating those solutions as a group and iterating on them, until the best solution is arrived at What its’ not A bunch of hipster designers sitting around in a warehouse with exposed brick walls and MacBooks, designing the new SnapChat app. It’s far more useful and practical than that. Part design Part buy-in and stakeholder management It helps you take everyone involved on a common journey of understanding a given problem through rapidly trying out different solutions and evaluating those solutions as a group
• #4: Design studio is based on four principles Illumination Sketching Presentation Critique Iteration
• #5: Illumination Who are we designing the solution for? What is their situation (scenarios, journeys etc)What are the business and user goals? What are our design principles?
• #6: sketching Through rapid sketching activities, the team focuses on getting as many ideas (good and bad) down on paper as quickly as possible. This is not art, we are not producing masterpieces Focus is initially on quantity of ideas, then quality of ideas, never on quality of sketches
• #7: present Each participant explains the rationale behind their ideas Ty and sell your ideas – what makes them good? What are you not happy about? Which aspects do you think are worthy of further exploration? This is where you present your sketches, your ideas It’s not just a matter of saying ‘here they are’ You need to defend them – you need to relate them to the persona you are designing for and the goals you are trying to meet You need to get good at presenting/defending your ideas, because the next step in the process is critique
• #8: critique Good critique is hard to give, but it can also be hard to take. That is, if you don’t understand the purpose of it. The critique must not focus on personal opinions – it must focus on how well a proposed solution meets the stated problem for the target persona, in their given context Most importantly, critique should be a balance of positive and negative aspects of a design – without the positive part, the process falls apart because you don’t know what to take forward to the next iteration of the design
• #9: iterate Next, we rinse and repeat as many times as required, or for as long as we can given our time constraints So, that’s the process in a nutshell…
• #10: Hands up who thinks getting consensus from stakeholders is hard, or who has had a hard time with this? Getting consensus is a big part of design studio BA’s are often the facilitator in any project They are the ‘glue’ between different stakeholders Iteration managers – to get an iteration across the line, you can contribute to smoother sign off of requirements and designs BA’s are much more than requirements and user story monkeys By involving the relevant parties, you are facilitating towards easier sign-off designs and requirements It is very hard for someone who was involved in the design process to come back a month later and say that what has been implemented doesn’t meet your requirements
• #11: Any member of the delivery team or the business Business stakeholders Business analysts Developers Testers Designers Different backgrounds, functional roles  approach a problem from different angles and bring different viewpoints Don’t underestimate the power of buy-in! Product managers, developers
• #12: John Stewart Mill was a British philosopher
• #13: The illumination phase is where the team gains a shared understanding of the business context, customer, challenges, and market opportunities. What makes the customer tick? What are their pain points? Where are they, what are they doing, what are they trying to achieve? We will start by framing the problem, before we move onto designing
• #14: The illumination phase is where the team gains a shared understanding the business context, customer, challenges, and market opportunities. We will start by framing the problem, before we move onto designing - ipad, wearable, on the wall (digital) Persona: Busy professional Generally a ‘busy’ person Doesn’t have much time for organising things around the house Context Emily has been robbed A number of valuables stolen from her house She hadn’t kept receipts or records of purchase for most of them Now has trouble with her claim with the insurance company Goals She wants to avoid this situation in the future But, she doesn’t want to spend much time cataloguing her existing belongings Also, this has to be an easy process, to make sure she sticks with it as she buys new stuff Design constraints iPhone app and/or iPad app
• #16: Now for the fun part This is not art, or drawing. There is a difference between drawing and sketching Focus on the quantity of ideas initially, then quality of ideas. Quality of sketches is not important, as long as you can get your idea across The level of detail you should go into, depends on what you are trying to communicate – just enough detail
• #17: This is normally where we hit the first obstacle
• #18: YES YOU CAN Is there anyone in the room who thinks they can’t draw at this level?
• #21: Now for the fun part This is not art, or drawing. There is a difference between drawing and sketching Focus on the quantity of ideas initially, then quality of ideas. Quality of sketches is not important, as long as you can get your idea across The level of detail you should go into, depends on what you are trying to communicate – just enough detail
• #22: Remember what I said earlier, try and sell your ideas – what makes them good? What are you not happy about? Which aspects do you think are worthy of further exploration? Probably the most important aspect of design studio Can also be the hardest to master The idea is that we evaluate all ideas in a friendly and collaborative environment Focus on evaluating each sketch in terms of how well it addresses the stated problem, for the stated audience Identify aspects of the design which you think should be considered further, and those you think should be discarded ticks and crosses Group critique helps overcome individuals’ biases flash out details not considered in each sketch Avoid problem solving and suggestions Focus on how the design does or does not meet the problem statement/needs Use personas to keep focused and away from personal preferences
• #23: Steal within teams and across teams – stealing is not only OK, it is encouraged Take into account the feedback you received, but just as importantly the good and bad aspects of other’s designs What would you like to incorporate in the next iteration of your design
• #24: recap
• #27: Avoid personal opinion, to avoid it being taken personally
• #28: Facilitation includes setup keeping time keeping people focused