Four skills you must learn to be a senior interactive designer

Want to be a senior interactive designer? Only "understand the business" and "solve the problem" can not constitute your core competitiveness, today this article Ali designer, from the book, ingenuity, extension, thinking four aspects, to help you reflect more of the value of the workplace, to collect.

Hong Ying: "Problem solving" is a lot of people to the definition of design, specific to the product/Interaction design field, in-depth understanding of the business and propose appropriate solutions is also a very basic and important requirements. But for the user experience/interaction designer, I think that "understanding the business" and "problem solving" in themselves are not enough to constitute the core competitiveness, on understanding the business, often multi-line switching to meet the needs of our focus on the operation of a certain line of business and PD; on solving problems, in fact, operation, PD Even development will have their own ideas, and sometimes can solve the problem, but the way is relatively simple and rough, the thinking is not delicate depth. Interaction design is not just for a specific business to understand and propose solutions on the line, as an interactive designer, we should also think more far-reaching, let themselves reflect more value.

　　Seeking the book: Data design and myopia anxiety

In many large companies, the concept of data design has been sought after, a variety of XX rate and the relationship between the KPI is also a measure of whether the designer to get the results of the authoritative indicators. But if blindly in the pursuit of data indicators of their own prosperity, or even for the unscrupulous, seemingly the business side and designers have the results, to solve the "increase XX rate to XX percent" business objectives, but may hurt users, triggering a greater experience crisis, damage more business interests.

Before I saw a slot in the knowledge of a taxi software customer service experience answer, refers to the time out to automatically disconnect artificial customer service, resulting in the need to queue up for waiting, repeated input content of the bad experience; But some people think this is a subtle design, because it raised the threshold of complaints, reduce the customer's complaints. I don't quite agree with the latter point of view, from the point of view of the platform data is really in the direction of business expectations, but we have to solve the problem is to "reduce customer complaints" it? It is more essential to appease customer sentiment and enhance customer satisfaction and loyalty to the platform. The self-deception of the data-oriented design seems to solve the business side of the demand, but in the distance between us and the user gradually drift away.

Reflect on yourself, also once in the design document "Design Goal" link simply written "To increase xx rate to xx percentage", without more in-depth thinking and elaboration behind the real scene, the nature of the problem, although the final solution to the appearance of the business demands, but it may be only a symptom is not a cure.

　Ingenuity: Making brand sense of design output

Intern period I feel like a flowchart, information architecture, wireframe these do not have to do too exquisite, can express the meaning of OK, and therefore recruit to a certain Mentor criticism, Mentor have a sentence let me remember very deeply: "You are a Designer, do all things should have Designer appearance." 」

In the design output quality sense, interactive designers than visual designers have a disadvantage, dribbble/behance and other sites are also less to see the performance of interactive designers. But even the logical, the middle output of the process, also should pursue the professional extreme design process, output and landing, as a brand to produce something beautiful, so that can help us more professional recognition, there are exquisite process story derivation of the program is also more easily accepted.

It's not easy to keep improving when the need is being bombed, take me for myself, a year ago set up a set of their own design document framework, but not very good in response to a variety of small requirements, but to stick to it, but lazy to omit a lot of things, document layout also different styles, January change the same; Recently in the reorganization and templating of their own design document framework (including the structure of the directory, layout style, etc.), hope that after the same as a brand to adhere to, so that others see "Oh, this is the guy to do the design."

　　Extension: Think one more step than the business side

Being led by the short-term goals of the business is something we don't want to see, so when we do design to meet the needs of the business side, we need to be more proactive in thinking about the next step after the user completes the underlying scenario, what the next step should be, and think about the extension of the solution.

Recently a demand has been received, there are a lot of lists in the list, Prd the basic requirements is to show the specific data of these lists, but when I restore the browsing scene, found that the user finished watching the list, there is no next move can be executed, the user behavior path is broken in the browsing node; But in the real business scenario, the user will have the next step of the offline drive, but the product does not provide a trigger point of action, based on this I put forward some of the list after watching the next incentive/spur interaction ideas to help users complete the Drive "The process, and the interesting copy of the text to express, the demo to the business side has been more consistent praise and recognition.

"Design-driven business" is encouraged in the team, but it is a difficult thing to say, and in the face of ever-endless "high priority" business needs, I am beginning to feel anxious that there is no time to dominate what I want to do.

But sometimes we have to admit that this is the norm, "design-driven business" does not necessarily mean that the design-led launch of a project is particularly difficult for junior designers who lack experience and prestige, and that with business needs, more micro-innovation, combined with the designer's own thinking, landed into a comprehensive solution, It is relatively easy to fall and get results, but also to help designers build a sense of achievement and self-confidence in a shorter period of time.

　　Thinking: Establishing a cross-boundary general thinking frame

Interaction designers understand the business is important, but in the continuous in-depth understanding of the business, but also consciously to establish a business-independent common cross-border thinking, framework and methodology, we can not be satisfied with one single, isolated business problems.

This is where I think interaction designers differentiate between product managers (business managers), the product manager and the business are more closely related, subdividing the business product managers, technical product managers, data product managers and other feeder lines, some product managers even 10 years in a specific business area, if the ability to understand the business, It's hard for us to spell them, and that's one of the reasons some people think interaction designers have a strong alternative to product managers.

I am in the observation of the Director, Director-level designers to participate in the review, will find that they for various types of business background of the design, can be based on the background information of the designer to quickly understand and give advice, there is no understanding of business contacts do not know what to say good situation. High-level interaction designers can communicate, understand, adapt to the business background and drive design execution at a faster rate, regardless of what kind of business they are thrown into, which is more prominent in the design consulting firm.

Interaction designers should learn to build a set of their own, continuous iterative perfect design thinking, framework and methodology in the project experience, change a line of business can also reuse, at the same time, the ability to learn and understand things quickly is also very important. I think this is a more important value for an interactive designer than a deep understanding of the business. Interactive design should have more general and cross-border capabilities, an interaction designer to understand a business is good, but if only in this business area to play, it is not a qualified interaction designer.