{"id":3283,"date":"2017-01-18T21:34:16","date_gmt":"2017-01-19T05:34:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/garage-en-us\/?p=3283"},"modified":"2018-12-21T16:28:31","modified_gmt":"2018-12-22T00:28:31","slug":"fast-design","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http://approjects.co.za/?big=en-us/garage\/blog\/2017\/01\/fast-design\/","title":{"rendered":"Fast design"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Coffee<\/p>\n

You’re too slow!<\/h2>\n

Come on Designers\u200a\u2014\u200akeep up! With new books out on Design Sprints and Lean UX, the dozens of rapid prototyping tools now available, and thousands of Designers who can code up their own ideas, you\u2019d think that the Design community was moving faster than it ever has. But, that\u2019s just not true.<\/p>\n

“Design is doing some stellar work these days, but it isn\u2019t moving as fast as we need it to. Compared to the pace of Engineering or even Data Sciences, we seem to be stuck in the past\u200a\u2014\u200aclinging to old methods and mindsets. It\u2019s time to change that.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The fact is, the Design discipline itself is still relatively slow and way too self-conscious to go fast. Blame it how it\u2019s taught in schools I suppose, but Design as a whole has never really come to grips with just being done, letting go, and moving on.<\/p>\n

Conversely, I see Developers coding and Makers hacking as fast as they possibly can when new opportunities arise\u200a\u2014\u200aall done with little planning, researching, and exploring (as many Designers often do first). As both a Designer and Coder, I understand each discipline\u2019s methods, yet I find it puzzling that Design seems to be going in slow motion comparatively.<\/p>\n

So, here we are\u200a\u2014\u200athe bottleneck in the development process. Ironic isn\u2019t it? After all those years of complaining about Developers being too set in their ways to go faster, Designers are now the problem.<\/p>\n

How did this happen?<\/h3>\n

I\u2019ve been right in the middle of this shift over the last few decades working as both a Designer and Coder, so I can see it from both perspectives\u200a\u2014\u200abut it\u2019s still a bit puzzling.<\/p>\n

From the Engineering perspective, the rapid influx of freely available coding platforms, great toolsets, agile development methodologies, and young hackers just wanting to kick ass has quickened the pace of just about every aspect of a product team\u2019s lifecycle.<\/p>\n

Even Data Science is helping teams go faster. Data usage has become such a ubiquitous and expected part of the process that it\u2019s now strange to not use it to adjust in-flight plans or react to unforeseen situations. Data is rapidly becoming \u201cThe Decider\u201d for teams rather than relying on a more people-centric Design Thinking approach (that\u2019s a post for another day).<\/p>\n

In comparison, the process of Designing remains slow and still clings to the methods of the past. You know what I\u2019m talking about: indulgent explorations, multiple rounds of iterations, tiered approval process, nitpicking minutiae, and last minute \u201cimprovements\u201d by management.<\/p>\n

All that said, there is hope.<\/p>\n

Turning this around<\/h3>\n

Getting impactful Design done more quickly is not about working smarter or even harder. It also has nothing to do with learning the flavor-of-the-month design thinking methodology or how to effectively do rapid prototyping.<\/p>\n

We can accelerate getting to \u201cdone\u201d by leaving out some steps of our traditional Design processes, and not being afraid to leap ahead based on experience and gut instinct.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cWow. Really?\u201d say many classically trained Designers. \u201cThat sounds ridiculous. How can you do stellar work without user research, rigorously exploring the design space, iterating on designs, testing things out, refining them, or even starting over? Are you saying taking shortcuts in our process is the answer?\u201d<\/p>\n

Yes \ud83d\ude42 Go from A to B. Don\u2019t look back. \"A. Trust me, using this shortcut approach isn\u2019t as crazy as it sounds. Experienced Designers tend to do some best work when they are under time pressure. Not perfect perhaps, but good nonetheless. There will still be days you go home shaking your head in disbelief at the tradeoffs and shortcuts, but more often than not it\u2019ll be for a good reason\u200a\u2014\u200ayou actually jammed something out at light speed that you feel really good about.<\/p>\n

Adopt the mindset that not everything you produce will be truly great, but it will be finished and represent your best effort given the speed at which you were working to help the team move forward quickly.<\/p>\n

In that spirit, let\u2019s do a quick experiment\u200a\u2014\u200aset your normal way of working aside for a few minutes so we can discuss how to accelerate being done.<\/p>\n

INTRODUCING : FAST DESIGN<\/h2>\n

There\u2019s no magic here, just common sense\u200a\u2014\u200aif you need to go faster, find the quickest route from A to B. For any given task, envision what it looks like being done, and then go as fast as you can to make it real.<\/p>\n

Chances are you\u2019ll need to let go of a lot of your old process along the way. Don\u2019t be afraid to just hack things together. Take shortcuts. Do whatever it takes to be done, and then let go. Move on to something new.<\/p>\n

Try focusing on just a few things: \"Fast You probably do each of these already as part of your current Design or Development process. The difference here is that you may not consciously call these particular aspects out as important ways to streamline your process. They typically blend into the work or don\u2019t get acknowledged if you don\u2019t think about them as discrete steps or important achievements.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s try this out\u2026<\/p>\n

1. FIND THE ESSENCE<\/h2>\n

\"Step Think of this as the one thing you could say to someone that would simply describe what your doing and immediately make sense to them.<\/p>\n

I can\u2019t overstate how important it is to identify the essence of your project when you\u2019re first getting started. It acts as a beacon to guide your Design decisions and something to tenaciously hang onto throughout the entire development process. It\u2019ll need to come through in how you describe what you\u2019re doing, and be present in any interface or promotional material you create.<\/p>\n

Whatever that ends up being, the essence needs to shine through clearly to anyone who sees your work for the first time.<\/p>\n

Method<\/h3>\n

Finding the essence has to be done quickly. Don\u2019t overthink it.<\/p>\n