Kevin Clark Senior Product Designer Shopify Great Wide Open 2016 Atlanta, GA March 16th, 2016

1. ANTI
FRAGILE
DESIGN

2. KEVIN CLARK
Senior Product Designer, Shopify
@vernalkick
HELLO!

10. DESIGNING
AT SCALE

11. 01 / EVERY USER
IS DIFFERENT

12. So who do we design for?

13. OURSELVES?

14. THEIR LIFE OUR LIFE

15. We can’t design solutions for
problems we don’t understand

17. Good design isn’t
MAGIC

18. USER RESEARCH

19. It’s about understanding how another
person thinks — what’s going on inside her
head and heart. And most importantly, it’s
about acknowledging her reasoning and
emotions as valid, even if they differ from
your own understanding.
— INDI YOUNG
PRACTICAL EMPATHY

21. https://medium.com/design-x-data/are-you-a-good-driver-how-designers-use-data-to-get-to-the-truth-3c534fcaf9d2
DATA

22. Behavioural data shows us what
people really do, and how it differs
from what they say.
— MATT COOPER-WRIGHT
IDEO

24. EMPATHY

25. https://medium.com/tab-design/empathy-for-big-audiences-d0b1c5167ca2
IDENTIFY
MINDSETS & CONTEXTS

26. — What is going through someone’s head when they are
trying to achieve X?
https://medium.com/tab-design/empathy-for-big-audiences-d0b1c5167ca2
IDENTIFY
MINDSETS & CONTEXTS

27. — What is going through someone’s head when they are
trying to achieve X?
— What are people likely to be feeling when they want Y?
https://medium.com/tab-design/empathy-for-big-audiences-d0b1c5167ca2
IDENTIFY
MINDSETS & CONTEXTS

28. — What is going through someone’s head when they are
trying to achieve X?
— What are people likely to be feeling when they want Y?
— In what context is someone going to be doing Z?
https://medium.com/tab-design/empathy-for-big-audiences-d0b1c5167ca2
IDENTIFY
MINDSETS & CONTEXTS

30. The best interface is the
one within reach
— CAMERON MOLL

33. DESIGN SYSTEMS
THAT CAN EVOLVE
AND ADAPT TO
USERS’ NEEDS

34. A design system is a definition of the
architecture, content, visual and templates
to produce [...] a consistent and effective
product experience.
— NATHAN CURTIS

37. BroccoliUNITED STATES

38. Green PeppersJAPAN

39. HockeyUNITED STATES

40. SoccerUNITED KINGDOM

41. YOU CAN’T DESIGN
WITHOUT REAL DATA

44. 02 / EVERYONE HAS
DIFFERENT NEEDS
FAIL

45. To see what my friends are up to
To relieve boredom
To look at my friends' pictures
To procrastinate
To send messages to my friends
To let my friends know what I'm up to
To post my own pictures
To look at funny videos or links
To find friends from my past
0 1 2 3 4 5
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0191886911005149
WHY DO YOU USE FACEBOOK?

51. THE WHOLE TEAM NEEDS
TO CARE ABOUT DESIGN
04 /

53. SHIP FAST AND ITERATE
Show early

54. SHIP FAST AND ITERATE
Show early

55. DEFAULT TO OPEN

56. FRESH EYES

57. — Describe the problem you’re trying to solve
— Indicate what type of feedback you’d like to receive
— Present your work, don’t sell it
PRESENTER

58. — Highlight problems, not suggest solutions
— Ask lots of questions
— Be candid
AUDIENCE

59. — Make sure that people stay on track (15-20 minutes)
— Make sure everyone has the chance to speak
— Make sure the feedback given answers the right questions
FACILITATOR

60. It’s uncomfortable…

61. It’s uncomfortable…
at first.

62. You want to wait until it’s perfect

63. You want to wait until it’s perfect
Except it’s never perfect

64. You want to wait until it’s perfect
Except it’s never perfect
So you’re never done

65. You want to wait until it’s perfect
Except it’s never perfect
So you’re never done
And you never share it

66. WORK IN PUBLIC

67. OPEN
SOURCE
DESIGN

68. STYLEGUIDES

72. Share what you know!

73. DEALING WITH
COMPLEXITY
05 /

74. “But I only need this one extra feature!”
×1000000000

75. SOFTWARE
COMPLEXITY
OVER TIME

76. SOFTWARE
COMPLEXITY
OVER TIME

78. If your UI even vaguely
resembles an airplane cockpit,
you’re doing it wrong.
— JOHN GRUBER
http://daringfireball.net/linked/2008/12/01/fahey-bulk-rename-utility

79. SOFTWARE
COMPLEXITY
OVER TIME

80. THE SWEET SPOT

82. DECIDE ON DEFAULTS
RATHER THAN OPTIONS

83. HAVE A SINGLE WAY OF
DOING SOMETHING

86. CHOOSE
PERSONALIZATION
OVER CUSTOMIZATION

88. SO WHAT IS
ANTIFRAGILE DESIGN?

89. It breaks if you drop it
FRAGILE

90. It stays the same if you drop it
RESILIENT

91. It gets stronger with every hit
ANTIFRAGILE

92. EMBRACE
UNCERTAINTY
Lesson #1

93. Lesson #2
BE VULNERABLE

94. Lesson #3
DESIGN YOUR
PROCESS

95. Doing things
10%
90%
Staring into space
thinking about how
to do things better

96. THANK YOU
@VERNALKICK