What is Design Why does it matter

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What is Design?Why does it matter?

• David Vronay
• Research Manager
• Windows UI Strategy
• Microsoft, Inc.

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Dave Vronay

• Current Role
• Research Manager, Windows UI Strategy (MSX)
• Previous Roles
• Research Manager, Microsoft Research Asia Center
  for Interaction Design
• Researcher, Social Computing Group, Microsoft
  Research
• VP Technology, ImaginEngine (childrens software)
• Researcher, Human Interface Group, Apple
  Computer, Inc.
• Educational Background
• Philosophy
• Cinema Production
• Game Programming (self-taught)

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Class Process and Agenda
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Class Structure

• Five day seminar
• No Previous Design Experience Necessary
• No programming required
• But the lectures will assume a knowledge of
  programming concepts
• Participation both inside and outside of class
• You will only learn this stuff by trying it
  yourself

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Assignments

• Every Seminar ends with an assignment
• Each days lecture builds on the assignments of
  the previous day
• Assignments can be done individually or in groups
• I recommend diverse groups

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Getting the most out of the seminar

• Do the assignments
• Use the TAs
• Take advantage of your instructor
• Ask questions!!
• I am around outside of class
• davevr_at_microsoft.com
• Embrace the concepts
• Dont just focus on the work
• Make it relevant to what you do every day

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What is Design?
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MSX and Design at Microsoft

• MSX Microsoft User Experience Team
• In reality, MSX focuses on Windows, not all
  Microsoft products
• Shell, IE, Media Player
• Not MSN, Office, Money, Halo, etc.
• Set enforce style guidelines
• Define the computing experience for the rest of
  the world

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What does MSX do?

• Interaction Design of Windows!
• What is interaction design?
• Making something look good

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What is Interaction Design?
Device Capabilities Device Limitations
User Needs and User Abilities
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What designers do

• Understand the user
• Needs, capabilities, desires
• Understand the problems
• Frustrations, confusions, inabilities
• Propose solutions
• enable technology to meet the users needs
  without exceeding the users capabilities
• Test Everything
• Design decisions are not opinions, but are
  strenuously tested in formal usability studies
• Iterate as necessary
• Design is a process of moving ever closer to (but
  never reaching) the mythical ideal solution

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Common Design Myths

• MYTH Designers are artists
• Truth most designers are not particularly good
  artists, and most artists are not good designers
• MYTH Designers are really creative
• Truth Design is much more about being
  methodical than creative. Designers want to test
  and measure every possible approach and variable
• MYTH Designers come in at the end to polish the
  final work
• Truth Design should start as early as
  possible. The longer you wait, the less benefit
  you can get from design. Ideally, design should
  start before any other work.
• MYTH Designers are aloof and in their own world
• Truth Designers do not do any technology!
  Therefore, it is essential that we collaborate
  with other groups (like yours).
• MYTH Design is a luxury
• Truth Actually, design can be especially
  valuable in cost-conscious projects because it
  can stop you from going down dead-ends
• In general, design is just a method for solving
  problems!

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Roles in Design

• Interaction Designers
• Design the user model and overall flow
• Visual Designers
• Design the look and feel
• Industrial Designers
• Design the hardware
• Usability Experts
• Psychologists, sociologists, anthropologists
• Prototypers
• Fast programmers who help realize designs
• Production Team
• Artists, Animators, Musicians
• Production Managers
• Internal Tools

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Why does design matter?
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A History of the World

• Stone Age
• Bronze Age
• Agricultural Age
• Industrial Age
• Information Age
• And now, the Conceptual Age

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Welcome to the Conceptual Age

• Programming has become a commodity
• Today China India
• Tomorrow, Vietnam
• Soon, gone all-together
• Technology is not enough
• How the technology fits into the human lifestyle
  is what determines success
• Example iPod, cell phone, etc.

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What skills are needed?

• Everything that was needed before, plus
• Deep Understanding of Technology
• Sense of Aesthetics
• Concern for the human condition
• Love of perfection

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Design in the Software Development Process
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The Old Way
Code
Ship!
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The Old Microsoft Way
Write Spec
Coding
Testing
Ship!
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The Current Model
Design and Write Spec
Coding
Testing
Ship!
Usability
Serious problem discovered!
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A Design-Centric Model
Define Problems Goals
Design Solutions
Rapid Prototype
User Test
Less than perfect
Write Spec
Close to perfect
Coding
Testing
Ship!
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In summary

• Design produces a better product
• Iterate and test many versions instead of just
  one
• Design saves money
• Rewrites and changes are discovered during
  prototyping, while they are still cheap to fix

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Now it is your turn!
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Current calculator is unchanged from Windows 1.0
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Time for a redesign
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Lets design Calculator XP!
?
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Assignment 1 Calculator XP

• Redesign the calculator to make it better than
  the one currently shipping in XP
• Produce a simple walkthrough that explains your
  design
• PowerPoint, Acrobat, HTML, etc.
• No more than three pages
• Do not write code

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Understanding the space

• Problems with current design
• Limitations with current product
• Capabilities of the computer
• Features we could have
• Uses and users

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