[IxDA Discuss] design by committee??

[John Schrag]

> Does anyone have any successful experiences to share regarding
> improving synergies between design/development?  I would
> ultimately like to see development focus on implementation
> and feasibility and let design focus on design (desirability -
> for those who have seen the diagram).  And this is coming from
> someone with a development background!

I hear you on this one.

One thing we've been doing with some success is getting all these people
together not for a 'design' meeting, but for a 'requirements' meeting.
This keeps everyone focussed on the problem they're trying to solve, and
not how to solve it.  I ask questions like "what should the user be able
to do when we finish this that they can't do now?  What other features
does this have to work with?".  When the discussion gets to UI design
(as it always does), I say "I've noted that idea, but let's not worry
about details of the UI design until we get all the requirements down."

I find that it is useful to have developers, marketers, QA, etc involved
at this stage, because they are often aware of technical, competitive
and business requirements which are beyond what your user studies might
have shown.  

We design the UI outside of that meeting, and then usability test and
refine it.  Then we bring it back.  We still run into debate about the
UI at this point, of course, but it's powerful to be able to say "Well,
it meets all the requirements we came up with together, and it tested
really well.  Which part of that do you want to change?"

-john schrag
interaction designer
autodesk