Product design and development often involves many people of different roles who enter and leave at different parts of a project. However, this can cause communication problems and responses that sound like "you're the designer", "that'll take too much time", or "that's not my job" when people attempt to collaborate.
In this talk, Catt discussed methods used to cross silos in order to speed up the design and development process while also building camaraderie, agency, and transparency. She also discussed ways to encourage teams that may be reluctant to change and ways to get upper management on board with a more collaborative design process.
2. @cattsmall
I’m Catt Small!
● Product Designer at SoundCloud
● Previously worked with companies such as
Bedrocket, NASDAQ OMX, & ParksByNature
● Game artist & programmer
● Event Organizer for Tech Under Thirty
● Co-founder, Code Liberation
3. @cattsmall
We’ll talk about:
● The benefits of collaborative design
● Ways to collaborate on design
● Crossing silos created by traditional teams
● Getting the higher-ups on board
6. “Americans now own four
digital devices on average...”
& spend “...60 hours a week
consuming content across
@cattsmall
devices”
Nielsen, 2014 U.S. Digital Consumer Report
12. @cattsmall
Quicker production
Kickoff
Research
& Design
Sprint
Design
Review
Modify
Designs
Design
Review
Modify
Designs
Design
Review
Tech
Review
Modify
Designs
Tech
Review
Dev
Sprint
QA &
Launch
13. @cattsmall
Quicker production
Kickoff
Research
& Design
Sprint
Test &
Review
Modify
Designs
Test &
Review
Modify
Designs
Test &
Review
Dev
Sprint
QA &
Launch
31. @cattsmall
Feedback
Can you try using
this design? Let me
know your thoughts.
Okay!
Designer Developer
32. @cattsmall
Chats & link-sharing
I think you’d like this conference, what do
you think? http://flowcon.org/
Very cool!
Check out the design I just posted. LMK when I can
come over and chat|
35. @cattsmall
Propose your ideas
I think this would
be beneficial.
Can we try it?
Hmm!
Designer Manager
36. @cattsmall
Try without approval
People loved
sketching! It also
increased our
efficiency.
Designer
Great!
Manager
37. @cattsmall
In summary:
● Collaborative design makes teams more
efficient & better at communication.
● There’s no one-size-fits-all solution for
collaboration; compromise when needed.
● Ask people for involvement & feedback.
● Take initiative and apologize later – things
don’t always sound good on paper.