Remote design is on the rise. It's imperative that designers get the skills they need to work effectively in distributed teams.

1. DESIGNING REMOTELY
Effective Techniques for Remote Design
#remotedesign

2. @JimKalbach

3. 1. Background on Remote Work
2. Factors of Remote Design
3. Tips, Techniques, Tools
4. Q&A
AGENDA

4. REMOTE WORK

5. Why is it every time I ask for a pair of hands,
they come with a brain attached?
HENRY FORD

6. PETER DRUCKER
The most valuable asset of a 21st-century
institution… will be its knowledge
workers and their productivity.

7. ROBERT KAPLAN
& DAVID NORTON
“Linking the Balanced Scorecard to Strategy” 1996
REMOTE WORK

8. Benefits
Flexibility
Less costly
Productivity
Reduced absences
Talent for employers

9. Isolation
Lack of routine
Communication
Social aspect missing
Dependence on technology
Image by Britt Selvitelle https://www.flickr.com/photos/bs/2245640803/
Disadvantages

10. Misconceptions
1. Remote work is new

11. Misconceptions
1. Remote work is new

12. 1976

13. Misconceptions
1. Remote work is new
2. Remote work means being far away

14. Allen Curve

15. Sqwiggle
Presence Matters

16. Double Robotics
Presence Matters

17. Misconceptions
1. Remote work is new
2. Remote work means being far away
3. Remote work is permanent

19. Misconceptions
1. Remote work is new
2. Remote work means being far away
3. Remote work is permanent
4. Remote work is for all companies

20. Companies without Offices
Basecamp (formerly 37 Signals)
WordPress.com/Automattic
Genutec
GitHub (100 employees)
Kalypso LP
MCF Technology Solutions
ProofHQ
Treehouse
Copyblogger (source)
YouNeedABudget
StackExchange (50/50)
MySQL (70/30)
GrantStreet
SoftwareMill
Mozilla
10up
Art & Logic (70 employees)
AsmallOrange
LullaBot (35 employees)
AppendTo (23 employees)
UniversalMind (65 employees)
Basho (115 employees, 50% remote)
ScrapingHub (60 employees)
UpWorthy (37 employees)
http://scottberkun.com/2013/how-many-companies-are-100-distributed/

21. ROBERT KAPLAN
& DAVID NORTON
“Linking the Balanced Scorecard to Strategy” 1996

22. 1. Remote work is new (no, it isn’t)
2. Remote work means being far away (not really)
3. Remote work is permanent (actually, it’s fluid)
4. Remote work is for all companies (maybe not)
Misconceptions

23. REMOTE DESIGN

24. Unique Challenges
• Visual thinking
• Divergent thinking
• Iterative work

25. Survey on Remote Design
• 275 designers from around the world
• Mostly digital product designers
• Companies from one to over 10,000

26. Frequency of remote design

27. Challenges of Remote Design

28. Quality of design work

29. Factors of Remote Design
1. INTERACTION
2. WORKSPACE4. RESULTS
3. PROCESS

30. Factors of Remote Design
1. INTERACTION
2. WORKSPACE4. RESULTS
3. PROCESS
DIGITAL FIRST

31. 1. INTERACTION
SPLIT TEAM

32. 1. INTERACTION
SPLIT TEAM MIXED TEAM

33. 1. INTERACTION
SPLIT TEAM MIXED TEAM ALL REMOTE

34. 1. INTERACTION
45% 23%6%
Combination 25%
SPLIT TEAM MIXED TEAM ALL REMOTE

35. Recommendations
• Meet in person
• Post designs daily
• Schedule standups & reviews
• Go “all remote” for meetings
• Ensure everyone joins individually

36. 2. WORKPLACE

37. Digitally Defined Workplace

38. Hangouts 43% Skype 43% Internal Drives 34%
GoToMeeting 32% Google 31% Evernote 16%
WebEx 24%
…
What’s App 18%
…
Box 14%
…
Basic Collaboration
CONFERENCING CHAT FILE SHARING
66% 43% 54%

39. Hangouts 43% Skype 43% Internal Drives 34%
GoToMeeting 32% Google 31% Evernote 16%
WebEx 24%
…
What’s App 18%
…
Box 14%
…
Basic Collaboration
CONFERENCING CHAT FILE SHARING
66% 43% 54%

40. Hangouts 43% Skype 43% Internal Drives 34%
GoToMeeting 32% Google 31% Evernote 16%
WebEx 24%
…
What’s App 18%
…
Box 14%
…
Basic Collaboration
CONFERENCING CHAT FILE SHARING
66% 43% 54%

41. Online Prototyping
44% of don’t use an online prototyping tool.
Marvel 13%
UX Pin 10%
Proto.IO 9%
Internal Tool 8%
…
48%

42. Online Testing
59% of don’t use online testing tools
UserZoom 21%
Other 14%
OptimalWorkshop 11%
Internal Tool 9%
…
37%

43. Virtual Whiteboard

44. • Agree on communication stack
• Get good audio
• Use multiple devices
• Get to digital quickly
• Prototype & test online
• Use a virtual whiteboard
Recommendations

45. QUESTIONS

46. 3. PROCESS

47. 3. PROCESS
DISCOVER DEFINE DELIVER

48. 3. PROCESS
DISCOVER DEFINE DELIVER
UNCERTAINTY CERTAINTY

49. IDEO.org – Design Kit: The Course for Human-Centered Design

50. Remote Brainstorming
Jeff Gothelf
“Remote collaborative brainstorming and sketching”
http://www.jeffgothelf.com/blog/remote-collaborative-brainstorming-and-sketching-part-i/

51. Remote Design Thinking
Hanno.co
“Getting into remote design thinking with Murally”
https://logbook.hanno.co/remote-design-thinking-with-murally/

52. Sketching
Nathan Curtis, “Sharing Sketches Remotely”
http://www.eightshapes.com/blog/2011/08/19/sharing-sketches-remotely/

53. Pattern Library
http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2012/09/create-pattern-library-with-evernote-fireworks
Kris Niles, “Creating a Pattern Library with Evernote and Fireworks”

54. Work asynchronously
• Plan independent tasks
• Create videos, screencasts
• Maintain momentum
Plan real-time meetings
• Timebox activities
• Leverage multitasking
• Digitize on-the-fly
Recommendations

55. 4. RESULTS

56. Revelation®

57. Dot Voting

58. Flexible
Portable
Shareable
Extensible
Copy-able
Archive-able
Digital First Opportunity

59. Recommendations
• Leverage advantages of digital
• Find new patterns
• Reduce documentation
• Make work transparent
• Foster conversations online

60. Pilot an all-digital effort

61. Future Trends

66. Final Thoughts

67. Work is not a place,
it’s what you accomplished with others

68. “In the human economy, the most
valuable workers will be hired hearts.”

69. @JimKalbach
LinkedIn Group: Effective Remote Design
Workshop: “Mapping Experience”
UX STRAT Conference, Tuesday Sept 8, Athens GA
Danke schön

70. Skype
Google hangouts
GoToMeeting
WebEx
Lync
Slack
Skype
Google
What’s App
Lync
Tools
InVision
Marvel
UX Pin
Proto.io
UserTesting
UserZoom
Other
OptimalWorkshop
Mural
LinoIt
BoardThing
StormBoard
RealtimeBoards
DropBox
Google Drive
Internal Drives
Evernote
Box
CONFERENCING CHAT FILE SHARING
ONLINE PROTOTYPING ONLINE TESTING ONLINE WHITEBOARDS

71. • Jeff Gothelf, “Remote collaborative brainstorming and
sketching”
• Sqwiggle (always-on remote collaboration tool)
• Nathan Curtis (EightShapes) “Sharing Sketches Remotely”
using the IPEVO
• Kris Niles, “Creating a Pattern Library with Evernote and
Fireworks”
• Revelation by FocusVision
Use Cases

72. Partial remote work
WFH
Misconceptions

73. Doug Engelbart, 1968