Yan Lim’s Post

I want to talk about making choices in the course of design. There is a really fascinating interplay between listening to and centering the user, and choosing the right route that works for your business. Essentially, the user defines the reality, and your business strategic choices define what you do with the reality. The user's world is the landscape, and your design/strategy is the pathway through it. There are always multiple roads, so which one is right for you? First, before you do anything else, you have to center the user and unpack and understand the landscape. This is done through prototyping and testing ENOUGH DIFFERENT IDEAS that you get an overall map of the solution space. The answer to what the range of possible right answers are, that lives in the users. Then new insight emerges-- core tradeoffs, options for market segmentation, feature clusters, different focuses to double down on, etc. This happens through SYNTHESIS (for us, it's the UNDERSTAND phase of Prototype Thinking). Then, in the upper left corner of the Synthesis Board, there is an underappreciated little bucket called DISCUSS. What goes in that bucket is all those pivotal topics where we have to circle back and figure out what our own priorities are. Those answers live within US, the business. Every round of testing creates key existential choices; and before going into the next round of testing and refinement, we have to make those choices. Here's an example: I was recently working with a brilliant friend and client who had figured out a great way to untangle teams getting stuck in their workflow in a particular way. She was thinking about turning this into a bigger offering, so we ran a Prototype Thinking Sprint on it. At the end of the first round of synthesis, the results clearly said the majority of users wanted much more in-depth tooling with step-by-step directions, a sort of Pipdecks-like format for her solution. Being an extremely user-centric leader, she was ready to dive in and design the next version of the tool from the pile of detailed feedback we had. I stopped her and said, "Wait, I know this is what the users are saying, but is this really the business you want to be in?" And honestly, it really wasn't. Step-by-step team dynamics consulting tools is a brutally red ocean, and no matter how good her product was, it would have to live or die by marketing. The vision of the product that the users asked for simply wasn't a match for her team on any level-- capability, effort investment, or long-term strategic goals. But there was a second weaker signal in the data, a direction that was more about thought leadership and curation. That option didn't come with immediate validation, but there were a number of smaller positive signs and it was ripe for another round of design to really try to tease out a stronger response. (continued in comments)

Is siloed design and development slowing your workflow? 🚨 The Washington Post has cracked the code using the "Component Sprint" process. Here's how to implement it and boost your efficiency. 👇 1. Kickoff: Charting Impact vs. Effort Weekly meetings to evaluate component ideas based on impact and effort, with input from all stakeholders. This involves effectively prioritizing potential ideas using an impact vs. effort matrix. 👉 Why It Matters: Aligns teams on priorities, ensuring everyone's voice is heard and encouraging shared ownership. 🎯 Action Step: Implement a clear prioritization process. Use tools like  Atlassian Jira to capture feedback and align on impactful ideas early. 2. Concept: Defining Scope & Goals Collaborative tools like FigJam define goals, gather diverse insights, and align on requirements. This phase includes setting clear objectives and assessing scope with input from both tech and non-tech teams. 👉 Why It Matters: Ensures a shared vision and clear expectations, democratizing the design process. 🎯 Action Step: Facilitate open brainstorming sessions to define achievable goals. Use tools like FigJam to capture and categorize insights collaboratively. 3. Design, Implementation, and Refinement Continuous dialogue between designers and developers. Initial designs are tested and refined iteratively, ensuring both tech constraints and visual design are addressed cohesively. 👉 Why It Matters: Balances design aesthetics with tech feasibility, enabling creative solutions and preventing last-minute compromises. 🎯 Action Step: Maintain ongoing conversations between design and development. Emphasize flexibility and iteration to ensure cohesive solutions. 4. Documentation and Feedback Document insights, decisions, and plans during the sprint. This includes creating a record of decisions and feedback to ensure transparency and continuity. 👉 Why It Matters: Provides a clear reference for future development and onboarding, ensuring all team members understand the component's intent and usage. 🎯 Action Step: Develop thorough documentation throughout the sprint. Use it as a blueprint for implementation and a record of decisions to facilitate ongoing improvements. 5. Delivering the Final Product Deliver all components simultaneously in Figma and code libraries. This coordinated release ensures consistency across design and development. 👉 Why It Matters: Prevents mismatches between design and implementation, ensuring that everyone works with the latest assets. 🎯 Action Step: Coordinate releases between design and development teams to ensure simultaneous delivery. Use version control to manage updates. Adopt these strategies to enhance collaboration and efficiency in your design process. If you're a founder/team navigating the design journey, we're here to help. Explore how we can collaborate! 👉 https://lnkd.in/dYGeBMhc Read more 👇 https://lnkd.in/ekKyPdkp

A design system is a framework that standardizes design at scale using reusable components, patterns, and guidelines to ensure consistency and efficiency across digital products. It streamlines design and development processes, enabling teams to work faster and maintain visual coherence. However, creating and maintaining a design system requires time, resources, and continuous updates. And it can also be an Atomic, Agnostic or "simple" branded. Organizations can choose to adopt, adapt, or create custom systems based on their needs and project scale. And it can also save time and money. https://lnkd.in/dNbXU7FQ Nice start reading that leads you to deep dive other articles to learn more about this amazing topic. #DesignSystems #UXDesign #DigitalDesign #DesignOps #DigitalConsistency #DesignGuidelines #DesignTools

💡12 Questions to ask when building a new design system Questions cover business & strategy, implementation, adoption and impact. ✅ Business & strategy 1. How will the design system contribute to our business goals? Understand the alignment of the design system with business objectives, such as speeding up the development process, maintaining brand consistency, and improving user satisfaction. 2. What are the costs and resources required to build and maintain the design system? Assess the current state of product design (both UI design and code) and evaluate the investment needed in terms of time, personnel, and tech stack for the initial development and ongoing maintenance of the design system. 3. Which stakeholders will be involved in building a design system?  Who are your key stakeholders? And what wants, needs, desires, and concerns they have regarding the design system. ✅ Implementation 4. How will the design system be integrated into the existing workflow? Understand the process changes needed to adopt the design system within current project workflows and toolsets. 5. What is the process for updating and evolving the design system? How team members contribute to the design system so it's kept up to date with business needs, design trends, and technology advancements. 6. How will the design system handle accessibility and inclusivity? Ensuring design changes adhere to accessibility standards and promote an inclusive user experience. ✅ Adoption 7. How comprehensive is the design system? Will it cover all our product needs? Assessing the scope of the design system to ensure it meets the needs of various products and platforms. 8. How well will the design system be documented? What information do designers and developers need from a documentation site? A process of documenting the current state of the system and updates. What parts of the documentation will be automated? 9. What support is required for teams adopting the design system? Understanding the resources available to help teams learn how to use the design system effectively. ✅ Impact 10. How will we measure the impact of the design system on our projects and products? What metrics and KPIs can be used to evaluate the effectiveness of the design system in improving efficiency, consistency, and user satisfaction? https://lnkd.in/dS7PyuTx 11. How flexible will the design system be? How easily can it adapted to various products or sub-brands? How flexible the design system is to accommodate different requirements for different products or brands within the organization. 12. What examples or case studies demonstrate the successful implementation of the design system? Real-world examples of how the design system has been applied to projects to understand its benefits and challenges. 🖼 Design system by Rangle.io #designsystem #designsystems #UX #UI #productdesign #userexperience

Let’s learn now

🍊 Let's talk design! Specifically designing a user interface for the government using ServiceNow. I'm looking for people who design with 508 compliance in mind. Those who know accessibility and understand branding. I'd love to discuss with you what your experiences are. It can be here or in a dm. For fun, here is a website I refer to when designing with the government in mind. #uxdesign #uidesign #servicenow #federalgovernment #uxuicertified #508compliance #accessiblity

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗨𝘀𝗲𝗿-𝗖𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰 𝗗𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝗶𝗻 𝗦𝗼𝗳𝘁𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗗𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 🚀 In today's fast-paced digital world, creating software that truly resonates with users isn't just a nice-to-have—it's a must-have. User-centric design is at the heart of successful software development, ensuring that products are functional but also intuitive and enjoyable to use. 𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗨𝘀𝗲𝗿-𝗖𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰 𝗗𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝗠𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀: 𝟭. 𝗘𝗻𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗱 𝗨𝘀𝗲𝗿 𝗦𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘀𝗳𝗮𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: By focusing on the needs and preferences of users, we create experiences that delight and engage. Happy users are more likely to become loyal customers and advocates for your product. 𝟮. 𝗜𝗻𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗨𝘀𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆: When we design with the user in mind, we make it easier for them to achieve their goals. This leads to fewer errors, less frustration, and a more seamless interaction. 𝟯. 𝗛𝗶𝗴𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗔𝗱𝗼𝗽𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗥𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀: Software that is easy to use and meets user needs is more likely to be adopted quickly. This means faster ROI and a stronger market presence. 𝟰. 𝗥𝗲𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗲𝗱 𝗦𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗖𝗼𝘀𝘁𝘀: Intuitive design reduces the need for extensive user training and support, saving time and resources for both users and developers. 𝟱. 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗲𝘁𝗶𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗔𝗱𝘃𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗲: In a crowded market, user-centric design can be a key differentiator. It sets your product apart by providing superior user experiences that competitors can't match. 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗨𝘀𝗲𝗿-𝗖𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰 𝗗𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻:- 𝟭. 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁 𝗨𝘀𝗲𝗿 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵: Understand your users' needs, behaviors, and pain points through surveys, interviews, and usability testing. 𝟮. 𝗜𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗧𝗲𝘀𝘁: Continuously refine your design based on user feedback. Prototyping and A/B testing can help identify what works best. 𝟯. 𝗙𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗔𝗰𝗰𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆: Ensure your software is accessible to all users, including those with disabilities. Inclusive design is essential. 𝟰. 𝗖𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗼𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗔𝗰𝗿𝗼𝘀𝘀 𝗧𝗲𝗮𝗺𝘀: Involve designers, developers, and product managers in the user-centric design process to create a cohesive experience. At Boostr Netwave, we believe in the power of user-centric design to transform software into tools that users love and rely on. Our approach puts users at the center of everything we do, leading to innovative and effective solutions. Would you be ready to create software that your users will love? Let's talk:- https://lnkd.in/gBR6qkQS #softwaredevelopment #userexperience #uxdesign #productdesign #techinnovation #customersuccess #boostrnetwavesolutions

Is Your UI Library a Silent Killer? Unveiling the Power of Design Systems!! Ever feel like your design team is stuck in inconsistency chaos? UI libraries have limits. Let’s explore a few takeaways I learned about Design Systems - the ultimate game-changer for a seamless user experience. Key Takeaways: 1. Design System vs. UI Library: A UI library is a collection of components, while a design system provides guidelines on using those components to ensure consistency across designs. 2.Treat it as a Product: Design systems benefit from a product-oriented approach. Identify your users (designers & developers) and their needs to optimize their workflow. 3.Collaboration is Key: Strong collaboration between designers and developers throughout the process is crucial for maintaining consistency between design and development. 4.Practicality over Fancy Naming: Focus on clear and functional naming conventions for color tokens and components for better scalability. 5.Atomic Design: Utilize the Atomic Design methodology to break down components into smaller, reusable parts for faster assembly and updates. 6.Evolving with Business Needs: Design systems should adapt alongside product evolution. Involve cross-functional teams and empower them to contribute based on their needs. 7.Accessibility Matters: Integrate accessibility best practices from the beginning to create inclusive products usable by everyone. 8.Adoption is a Challenge: Create comprehensive training materials (videos, workshops) to encourage adoption by all relevant teams. 9.A Never-ending Process: Design systems require ongoing maintenance, updates, and bug fixes. Version control helps track changes and avoid regressions. 10.Think for the Future: Build design systems with scalability and flexibility in mind to accommodate future needs and enhancements.

As a product designer, you’re easily replaceable if all you do is deliver designs to developers. To add more value and make yourself a strategic partner, work on your ability to deliver insights and vision. To become that kind of designer, you need to: Be heavily involved in product discovery ------------ The common issue I hear is, “My PM already does this.” If you’re leaving this entirely to a PM, start splitting up responsibilities now, but do it from an attitude of support and humility: “I’m interested in doing more discovery work. Can I help you out by dividing up the work?” Not from entitlement: “I should be doing this; it’s a designer's job as well.” Understand their process; if they're more senior and you haven’t done much discovery work, help and learn; otherwise, see if you can augment it with your own additions. If you want this collaboration to last, highlight how their contributions have helped you achieve better results. Big them up, praise them publicly, and share how the collaboration benefits the designs. Gather and report customer feedback ------------ Ideally, talking to customers, but there are also other ways to get insights: support chats, sales calls, product reviews, social media, surveys, and user tests, for example. Reporting on these insights helps shape the future of the product, increasing the value and scope of your contributions and shifting you more towards a knowledge worker than a pure delivery worker. Talk to stakeholders ------------ To use your design skills to create a vision of the product's future, you need to talk to product and engineering leadership to understand their goals and what’s feasible. That way, you can ensure that whatever artefacts you create are practical, aligned with their ideas, and can be used in conversations that build alignment. In summary, to become a more strategic partner: - Talk to stakeholders - Collaborate in product discovery - Gather and report customer feedback Use all of that context to: - Deliver insights, not just designs - Use your design skills to create a vision of the future --------- If this is helpful, you'd like my course to become a more strategic designer. It starts Nov 11, and there are still a couple of seats left: https://lnkd.in/dnvcfR5h Here's what a recent student said about it: "I really enjoyed the course and was refreshing to have exposure and meaningful context on how to bridge the gap from an individual contributor to a leader and strategic partner within an organisation. Dan's vast experience in many leadership positions helped simplify unknown territory for us."

About a week ago, Nathan Curtis started publishing a short article series about Design Systems Generations. Since we are currently in the middle of a design system generation change at Intact, this is the perfect read for me to get kind of an outside view and input for our work. When reading through the first article, I reflected on a few key parts of our change: Cause: Why are we changing? Well, there was not a single reason, but a few of them... - Redesign features (slight changes and accessibility improvements in the UI) - Rearchitect features (translate tokens to code, integrate our existing 2 Design Systems for two products in a single Multi-Tier Design System, ...) - Switch framework (from Adobe XD to Figma) Scope: What is changing?  I would say a lot - developers would probably refer to our change as refactoring: the core parts of the Design System are restructured, while we're not changing its original functionality or UI (with some exceptions that would have been adjusted in the existing system anyway - however, this is an extra effort for the planning of the change to not mix up the transfer with general changes).  Besides this general change, we are moving to a different platform, change tools and practices (like review process, handovers - some of it only possible due to tool integrations like Figma - Atlassian Jira or the Code Snippet Editor by Jake A. for closer design-developer collaboration) And how big is our change? Talking about impact - huge!  Talking about cost - I would say it's an investment rather than cost. On the long term it saves money, reduces maintenance and increases consistency across different products within our product ecosystem. And yes, it's going to be a hard piece of work - but it's definitely worth it. Can't wait to see the Design System version jump from 1.* to 2.0 If you are facing a similar challenge, I highly recommend you to read the articles - here are the links to the first two: Defining: https://lnkd.in/dh4vNMBX Naming: https://lnkd.in/dxMrGtWf Can't wait to read the upcoming articles on Naming, Adopting, and Retiring Design System Generations. #DesignSystems #UX #UserExperience #Design #Process #Governance #DesignSystemGenerations