Warm Gun: 10 Things to Know About Design

by October 12, 2010

In his 10 Things Non-Designers Should Know About Design talk at the Warm Gun Design Conference in San Francisco, Jason Putorti shared some lessons about the value of design for Web applications. Here's my notes from his talk.

  • Design can change businesses. Mint had a trust issue since it required people’s bank accounts to work. Visual design made it feel credible and trustworthy.
  • User experience: how a person feels about using your product. You can break down user experience in smaller parts: sign up flow, customer service, etc.
  • Customer experience is the sum of all interactions a customer has with your experience: good, bad, and bland. Assign values to what is positive/negative. This helps you focus.
  • Great design talks benefits not features. “Understand your money” vs. “twenty configurable charts”.
  • Great design doesn’t make the user think. People don’t read, they scan. Make it easy to find the core essence of an application. Design is copy –use the minimum number of words you can.
  • Great design thinks in flows not screens.
  • Great design process creates great stories. Think about how your system would work if it were a human. How would it work if it were magic?
  • Uses design as a lever. Best marketing tool you can have is a well-designed application. Align your revenue with valuable and legitimate user tasks.
  • Great design has a bible that helps preserve a consistent voice for customers.