How to give someone a convincing design in 30 minutes

As a designer, have you ever had this experience: someone asks you for design advice in an email, "Please take a look at it for 5 minutes," and then he uses the Mansi to describe all the limitations; someone to help you through the communication software, "please help to spend 15 minutes to give us a better design plan", But it took 5 minutes for him to describe the system to you when you were gone.

In general, some projects are systems that work backstage, for example, look at the work data, platform stability and so on, interaction is extremely complex, they need a designer to help to take stock of their own department of the plan, in his consultation with you, often in the interior has been heated discussion, only because of indecision, please judge. So, in front of you is how to give people a convincing design in 30 minutes.

The first step: Pay attention to (a moment)

In any case, the expectations of others derive from your trust, especially because other departments may have heard about your name and asked for an urgent time. Most simply, your reply should be timely and polite, your reply has the theoretical basis of design, your answer to be easy to understand, in order to win the respect of each other.

Step Two: Understanding the problem (5 minutes)

Most of the problems arise when we don't understand each other and start to say what we think, and if you want to save time, don't interrupt, and in the first five minutes listen to the other person's narrative and ask questions more comprehensively, as if you knew nothing about the design theory. If you do something this time, I suggest if you hand it well, just listen and draw the description of the problem, and circle the key nodes according to your understanding.

Step three: Start with the user, clarify their main operation (8 minutes)

After a general understanding of the system, the next essential is to ask the user and their main operation. Who is the main user of this project is the source of all thinking, their technical capabilities, day-to-day operating hours, etc. are implicit design conditions. List it and let everyone agree.

Note here: When you ask, "which operation is more frequent than other operations?" "If the other person's answer is similar to several operations, this is the worst answer, do not believe, either he did not think about it, or the whole project has a fatal problem."

One of the mistakes beginners often make is that they want to do too many tasks on the same interface, such as managing tasks (adding, deleting, etc.) and assigning tasks to the same interface. Of course, an interface can also carry two kinds of operations, but the user's main operation does not mean what he does in the interface, but what he wants to accomplish, can do does not mean that he can understand, so from the main operation, an interface to complete a major task is more secure.

Fourth Step: Use design details to serve the main operation (14 minutes)

Good interaction designers like chefs, users, scenarios, the main task is your raw materials, these raw materials are so ordinary and easy to understand, but how to cook a good dish, must be derived from your craft, the final output is wonderful is the process of processing.

There is no shortcut to explore the day-to-day accumulation of the brain (Pattern Library), review the basic principles of design, more than 14 minutes out of the solution (constantly challenging themselves), to solve the problems users may encounter.

Fifth step: Answer it, put it down (3 minutes)

Finally, outline your plan and reach a consensus with each other. To know that within 30 minutes must not give a perfect solution every time, put it down, do their own thing, when you have time, if a flash, and then back to the design plan, additional e-mail may be more than other people's expectations.