Section 27.3. Efficient Production for a Fast Market


27.3. Efficient Production for a Fast Market

Creating good usability for a single feature can take months of research, testing, and iterative design. But in demanding market conditions, we're often forced to create designs in much less time. This can weaken design and can even end up costing more time and expense if design flaws are discovered after code has already been written. In such a fast-paced environment, here are a few tips for making the most of your time:


Get as much design time as possible from management

Remind them that cutting time from the beginning of the design process often means doubling or tripling time and expense later in the cycle when unforeseen design problems occur.


Form teams early

A process that works well for us involves getting key people from engineering, marketing, and QA together to serve as consultants to the designers throughout the design process. It's remarkable how many problems can be eliminated early so that when development begins to code, there are virtually no issues. This also means that the spec will be better understood and that you will more likely get the end product that you want. Documentation and support should also be involved early so that they can learn the design gradually as it's developed, instead of having it dumped on them when it's done.


Make sure that engineering is involved early

This relates to the previous point, but it is worth stressing on its own. Engineers can help guide design decisions that are easier and faster to develop and that have little or no effect on market requirements. Inclusion is much better for ensuring that your requirements will be understood and developed correctlymany errors occur when design is done in isolation and then dumped on development in a long, tedious document. Finally, including developers in the design creation process makes them take ownership and share in the excitement of the product, which in turn leads to a better product.


Spend concentrated effort with the whole team when you can

Especially at the beginning of the project, getting the core team members to focus on the design together for a half day often eliminates a lot of emailing and guessing and is more efficient than bothering people for five minutes at a time throughout the day and week.


Test

Even if formal usability testing has been cut, you can still find fast and creative ways to test. Some of the most valuable feedback I've gotten is through co-workers who are not directly involved with my project. One of our designers brings in his friends and family to watch them use the software. It's amazing how many problems we can find and eliminate in just a couple of hours a week, saving on support costs and delivering a much better product to our customers.


Don't write until the design is done

We focus mostly on pictures, iterating them as we perfect the design. Only when the pictures are generally approved by decision-makers in the company do we start to write down the interaction details. Words are tedious and time consuming to change. Pictures are much less so.


Use as few words as possible while still getting the facts across

We know that our customers don't like to read anything, and I've found that people inside the company aren't much different. The spec that design, QA, and documentation will work from should be as small as you can make it, with as few words and repetition as possible. As with the previous point, people are much more inclined to look at pictures than to read, so use more pictures than words.


Use prototyping if possible

It is amazing what you can miss in a design that's written on paper and what you can catch when you can actually interact with the product. A prototype is an invaluable way to find flaws before heavy-duty coding and documentation begins.


Involve executives and higher-up decision-makers as you go.

This lets them feel that they are a part of the process, helps them understand the design, and is a good way to ensure that your design won't be changed late in the game by an executive who has been left out.



Security and Usability. Designing Secure Systems that People Can Use
Security and Usability: Designing Secure Systems That People Can Use
ISBN: 0596008279
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2004
Pages: 295

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