Recently when I’ve been asked to turn around some design work in an unreasonable timeline, I’ve started to look at it as an opportunity to do some good work. It could actually be a great time to turn on iterative design techniques and agile-like methods to get some great things accomplished.
Chris Conley turned me on to the concept of “dailies” at last year’s UXWeek conference. He showed how movie studios pull different aspects of their work together on a daily basis to ensure they’re always integrating and they’re always focusing on problems and solutions in the context of the final product experience. One day the focus may be on lighting and sound, and the next day the issue might be pacing and character development.
So here’s some of the thinking I’ve been trying to apply to turn these uncomfortable requests into smarter design practices:
- Relax the defenses. You’re in this process together, and what’s being asked of you probably addresses some significant concerns, or else it wouldn’t be needed yesterday. Take a deep breath. Proceed.
- Listen. What’s really being asked for? What’s the problem they’re trying to address? They may be saying “new design comps,” “new wireframes,” or “revised prototype,” but that may be the only way they know to ask for what they really actually need. The real need might be, “something to help me sell this idea” or “a complete view of the required functionality.” The real need could be matched by something much smaller in scope than was asked for.
- Isolate the issue. After listening, some probing questions can help determine what dimensions of the design work really needs to be delivered on. Focus on the gap between where you are and what you need. Articulate this gap. “What we have now are several loose concepts, but what you need is something to assure you that the back-end development work you’re doing isn’t going to have to be heavily reworked.”
- Qualify the importance. Is closing the identified gap really the most important thing to take care of next? Where does it rank amongst all the normally planned activities?
- Design for the gap. A rule of thumb from the 3D product development world is “prototype what you don’t know.” The same concept applies here. Fall out of love with that comprehensive documentation system that rivals John Nash’s Beautiful Mind for its complexity. Design using ONLY the dimensions and scope of the solution that correspond to the solution, temporarily ignoring the rest.
- Set Expectations. What you are capable delivering in short term is an iteration on the isolated issue of concern. You’re not reworking everything — you’re only touching the aspects of the work that can help everyone move forward.
