Want to know the secret to making great products? It’s focusing on the right thing at the right time. That means determining what the right things are, and when to do them, which isn’t always the easiest task. It’s no longer enough to simply have good intentions–it’s imperative that the products being designed aren’t doing more harm than good. So what are some rules to ensure that products meet all of this criteria?
- Determine what goals you won’t budge on. No matter what.
This needs to be done before starting on your product to determine absolutely what you think your product must do before it is shipped. New companies are under a lot of pressure and are prone to changing their minds on items that should be non-negotiable. That is why it is important to determine what is critical in the beginning so you can avoid making the wrong tradeoff later on in development. - Find talent. Both “fits” and “misfits.”
Greatness is only achievable with the right people. And diversity is really good for design. When your engineers and designers are diverse, it also benefits the product from inception, and as our products become increasingly wearable, this goes double. If we only let certain people design our products, we only get the products that those people want. Different backgrounds, perspectives and experiences will make your product more appealing to the masses. - Let the product drive your style.
For this rule, you must consider two main things: speed and caution. Unfortunately you can’t have both at the same time, so early on you must decide what your approach to prototyping will be by where you fall on the spectrum between speed and caution. Some of where you land will depend on the number of products you will be manufacturing—the more you’re making the more cautious you will probably need to be. - Start with the hardest problem first.
Most businesses focus on the things they know instead of what they want to accomplish that they aren’t even sure is possible. Start by figuring out what tasks or components will be hardest and do those first. When you begin with what is known or easy, you’re potentially adding significant periods of time to the end of the product’s design trying to back track and solve the challenges. - Build ugly prototypes.
If your early iterations aren’t hideous, there is a risk that someone will look at them and fall in love with them. In the beginning, your focus should be on the hardest engineering problems instead of the details of how the product will look. People can anchor to a design’s details before you are ready to lock down the bigger elements. Wait until closer to the end of development to add polish to the product’s look. - Converge quickly or reset.
Doing this can help you from going down the wrong path for too long. Believe it or not, too much prototyping can be a bad thing. One way to recognize that you are on the wrong track is when your new iterations are only showing tiny incremental changes. If you aren’t closing in on your goal, then you know it is time to either change that goal or change your assumptions. Leaders can encourage their team to share that things aren’t working by improving how they respond when they do receive bad news. - Iterate like crazy.
Doing this is how you get from good to great, especially if you focus those iterations on the most “high touch” parts of your design. Creating multiple iterations helps you to focus on the tiny details that will be what the people who use your product will notice. - Prototyping should be fun.
If it isn’t fun, then you’re over-constraining your engineers or you are being too restrictive.
While many people may already know these rules, too few actually apply them consistently and rigorously. And if you get truly stuck, go back to the beginning and ask: Why are you building the product and who are you making it for?