Summary
In this talk, Dave explains that inflection points in product or business complexity become evident through user confusion and chaos, often recognized too late when a consultant like himself is brought in. He emphasizes starting research by engaging with end users and seasoned subject matter experts, especially in complex industries like wind turbines at GE. Uday builds on this by highlighting the importance of aligning diverse perspectives through the 'three in the box' model involving marketing/business, engineering, and UX representatives, with an added wild card from orthogonal fields to spark innovation. Dave also discusses managing design systems through established agile methods, treating them as living software products with ongoing backlogs, prioritization, and quality assurance. They tackle challenges like 'IIDX washing,' where teams superficially adopt design systems without genuine UX improvements, and stress the need for deeper understanding beyond UI skinning. More effort is placed on facilitating workshops to teach teams how to use design tools effectively rather than on the design system itself, reinforcing the synergy between creative collaboration and robust tooling.
Key Insights
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An inflection point is often detected when users express confusion or surprise during usability tests of long-used products.
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Consultants like Dave are typically brought in after a product has passed its inflection point and complexity causes chaos.
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The 'three in the box' model aligning marketing, engineering, and UX heads enables better cross-functional collaboration.
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Introducing a wild card from an orthogonal field can spark innovative thinking within product teams.
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Researching complex domains starts with extensive conversations with end users and subject matter experts.
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Design systems must be managed like software products with private backlogs, prioritization, and QA.
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Superficial adoption of design systems ('IIDX washing') can lead to replicating old UI without real UX improvements.
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Confronting teams about UX goals and user problems is necessary to combat misuse of design frameworks.
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Most design team effort goes into workshop facilitation and training rather than maintaining the design system itself.
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Combining creative workshops with tangible design system assets enables fast prototyping and effective feedback loops.
Notable Quotes
"One sign you've passed an inflection point is when you hire me as a consultant."
"When users say, oh my goodness, I didn't know it did that, that's a sign of overwhelming complexity."
"The three in the box model brings together marketing, engineering, and UX heads to align goals."
"I like to introduce a wild card from an orthogonal field to spark frontier thinking."
"I start by talking to the people—end users and subject matter experts with decades of experience."
"We treat the design system like a software product, with a privatized backlog and QA."
"IIDX washing is when teams replicate existing UI elements and claim better user experience without deeper changes."
"We confront teams by asking what problems they're solving and who their users are to avoid superficial UX."
"We invest much more effort in workshop facilitation than in maintaining the design system itself."
"Creative conversations combined with a design system let us prototype fast and get quick feedback."
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