A 40-minute presentation given at Webstock 2010 in Wellington NZ by Daniel Burka

1. Embracing evolution
Ge ing iterative in your approach to design
Daniel Burka @dburka
“Amoeba”, Heather Gonsior, 1984, 47x30 in., EGL coral pink, Chartpak and ink on paper, acrylic
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2. Your website sucks
Trust me, it could be a lot be er
Flickr user: Creativity+ Timothy K Hamilton
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6. Photo: Vermin Inc (CC Licensed)
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14. Dear Digg,
Go fuck yourself.
Your pal,
— J.G.
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16. Photo Credit: Joi Ito
“If you review your first site version and don’t feel
embarrassment, you spent too much time on it.”
Reid Ho man, LinkedIn
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17. Take chances and release
Build with the expectation of change
Listen and iterate
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18. How buildings learn: What happens a er they’re built
Stewart Brand
Read this book...
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19. High road architecture
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21. Low road architecture
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23. Build a castle in no time!
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24. Desire paths
Don’t waste time trying to predict everything
Credit: Phil Gyford
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28. Credit: kimballhoman
Realign, don’t redesign
Cameron Moll is awfully clever... read it on A List Apart
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30. Subtraction is iteration too
Try to remove as much as you add – don’t be afraid to prune
Credit: Rev Dan Catt
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34. xx
x x x x
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36. Really listen to your users
Both explicit and implicit feedback are crucial
Credit: Flickr user ‘Paulgi’
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37. A case study
Digg comments
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38. Step 1
We got it out there
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39. Step 2
We added sophistication
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40. by dburka 20 minutes ago
Of course, what McCain is trying to avoid anyone noticing is that the problem isn't regulators failing to do
their job; it's that that man he tapped to write his economic policy - Phil Gramm - removed oversight of the
instruments that are laying waste to the finance sector from the regulators' job descriptions.
Reply to this comment
by marktrammell 16 minutes ago
We all know McCain is incompetent when it comes to the economy, and that Phil Gramm sold out the
finance sector. You would think they would have brought in someone with substance when Phil hit the road.
5 Replies to this comment
by dburka 14 minutes ago
We all know McCain is incompetent when it comes to the economy, and that Phil Gramm sold out the
finance sector. You would think they would have brought in someone with substance when Phil hit the road.
Step 3 5 Replies to this comment
by kurtwilms 12 minutes ago
We kept revising
We all know McCain is incompetent when it comes to the economy, and that Phil Gramm sold out
the finance sector. You would think they would have brought in someone with substance when
Phil hit the road.
Reply to this comment
by kevinrose 10 minutes ago
Friday, February 26, 2010

41. Establish goals
Add multiple levels of nesting
Reduce complexity of nesting
Discourage top-posting
Increase participation
Improve quality of discussions
Address scaling issues
Make things feel simpler & improve interactions
Friday, February 26, 2010

42. by dburka 20 minutes ago
Of course, what McCain is trying to avoid anyone noticing is that the problem isn't regulators failing to do
their job; it's that that man he tapped to write his economic policy - Phil Gramm - removed oversight of the
instruments that are laying waste to the finance sector from the regulators' job descriptions.
Reply to this comment
by marktrammell 16 minutes ago
We all know McCain is incompetent when it comes to the economy, and that Phil Gramm sold out the
finance sector. You would think they would have brought in someone with substance when Phil hit the road.
5 Replies to this comment
by dburka 14 minutes ago
We all know McCain is incompetent when it comes to the economy, and that Phil Gramm sold out the
finance sector. You would think they would have brought in someone with substance when Phil hit the road.
5 Replies to this comment
by kurtwilms 12 minutes ago
We all know McCain is incompetent when it comes to the economy, and that Phil Gramm sold out
the finance sector. You would think they would have brought in someone with substance when
Phil hit the road.
Reply to this comment
by kevinrose 10 minutes ago
Friday, February 26, 2010

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45. Measure success
Add multiple levels of nesting
Reduce complexity of nesting
Discourage top-posting
Increase participation
Improve quality of discussions
Address scaling issues
Make things feel simpler & improve interactions
Friday, February 26, 2010

46. Measure success
Add multiple levels of nesting
Reduce complexity of nesting
Discourage top-posting
Increase participation
Improve quality of discussions
Address scaling issues
Make things feel simpler & improve interactions
Friday, February 26, 2010

47. Measure success
Add multiple levels of nesting
Reduce complexity of nesting
Discourage top-posting
Increase participation
Improve quality of discussions
Address scaling issues
Make things feel simpler & improve interactions
Friday, February 26, 2010

48. Measure success
Add multiple levels of nesting
Reduce complexity of nesting
Discourage top-posting
Increase participation
Improve quality of discussions
Address scaling issues
Make things feel simpler & improve interactions
Friday, February 26, 2010

49. Measure success
Add multiple levels of nesting
Reduce complexity of nesting
Discourage top-posting
Increase participation
Improve quality of discussions
Address scaling issues
Make things feel simpler & improve interactions
Friday, February 26, 2010

50. Measure success
Add multiple levels of nesting
Reduce complexity of nesting
Discourage top-posting
Increase participation
Improve quality of discussions
Address scaling issues
Make things feel simpler & improve interactions
Friday, February 26, 2010

51. Measure success
Add multiple levels of nesting
Reduce complexity of nesting
Discourage top-posting
Increase participation
Improve quality of discussions
Address scaling issues
Make things feel simpler & improve interactions
Friday, February 26, 2010

52. Measure success
Add multiple levels of nesting
Reduce complexity of nesting
Discourage top-posting
Increase participation
Improve quality of discussions
Address scaling issues
Make things feel simpler & improve interactions
Friday, February 26, 2010

53. One long year...
( I’m sorry )
Credit: Flickr user xjrlokix
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54. Then we got it right
Well... sort of -
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55. Gather feedback
Explicit and implicit
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56. Set new goals
(Idea is to avoid feature creep and gauge success)
Make things feel simpler & improve interactions
Improve performance
Add most requested functionality
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57. Create some comps
Somewhere to start discussion
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58. User test #1
Focus group novices and experts
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59. Ask for more feedback
Really? Yes.
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60. Create refined comps
In this case html/css/js comps
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61. Implement
Work closely with the development team
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62. User test #2
Task analysis
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63. Launch it!
It works? It works!
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64. Launch it!
It works? It works!
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65. Launch it!
It works? It works!
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66. Launch it!
It works? It works!
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67. Achieved goals?
Make things feel simpler & improve interactions
Improve performance
Add most requested functionality
Friday, February 26, 2010

68. Achieved goals?
Make things feel simpler & improve interactions
Improve performance
Add most requested functionality
Friday, February 26, 2010

69. Achieved goals?
Make things feel simpler & improve interactions
Improve performance
Add most requested functionality
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70. Achieved goals?
Make things feel simpler & improve interactions
Improve performance
Add most requested functionality
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71. Done? Nope
Start on next iterations
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72. Still weak for casual visitors
Done? Nope
Start on next iterations
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73. Still weak for casual visitors
Scales technically, but not socially
Done? Nope
Start on next iterations
Friday, February 26, 2010

74. Still weak for casual visitors
Scales technically, but not socially
Pseudo-pagination is cool, but not great
Done? Nope
Start on next iterations
Friday, February 26, 2010

75. Still weak for casual visitors
Scales technically, but not socially
Pseudo-pagination is cool, but not great
Hard to keep up-to-date with your conversations
Done? Nope
Start on next iterations
Friday, February 26, 2010

76. Still weak for casual visitors
Scales technically, but not socially
Pseudo-pagination is cool, but not great
Hard to keep up-to-date with your conversations
Onerous registration to comment
Done? Nope
Start on next iterations
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77. Stay fit: adapt to survive and thrive
If iterative design isn’t instinctual, be convincing
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78. Thanks! I’m dburka
digg twi er flickr clustershot last.fm
daniel@deltatangobravo.com
slides will be on slideshare.net/dburka
... and this is Ursula
Friday, February 26, 2010