How to sell design, No handoff, Unlocking creativity within design system constraints
147: Using storytelling to sell designs, How be a designer that developers love to work with, Design system as a set of constraints that guide the behavior and look&feel of the product.
Welcome to this week's 🔥 Campfire — a subscriber only edition, delivered each Friday, highlighting the most interesting findings on product design, freelancing, career, and personal growth.
How to sell design
Good designers show UI and prototypes, trying to convince stakeholders that their work is important.
Great designers tell stories to sell the dream.
If you think the same way, you'll love Anton Sten's article "How to sell design".
When I present a client different types of designs, it's actually part of the process… it's utilizing the different stages of the design to further define the design.Page briefs help me focus on ensuring I have the right sections, actions, and goals for each section.Wireframes then help me focus on ensuring the hierarchy and visual real estate between each section is appropriate. Wireframes tend to go into more detail on each section and may even contain copy.Visual design then showcases how those wireframes come to life. It demonstrates how we ensure an optimal balance between different types of content and how it should be clear, attractive, engaging, and informative.A concept design wraps is typically an MVP blend of the three above. It could be a visual design of a single page to showcase a style direction, wireframes to showcase how navigation could work within a design framework.
We are exposed to storytelling daily: through books, movies, articles, and YouTube videos. Luckily, as Anton points, storytelling in design won't cost as much as filming a movie.
In his writing, the author points us to a set of 'guidelines' for the story.
The No Handoff Method
Engineers frequently tell designers that their designs are challenging to develop or that certain features will cause the system to slow down. Overall, the handoff is usually a very frustrating process. No Handoff Method author describes it the best:
Project handoff. That universally hated period of inefficiency and frustration, throwing your work over the fence hoping there is someone on the other side to catch it.
Designers and developers need to work closely together when building a product, but there are many obstacles between them. A lack of collaboration between designers and developers can decrease efficiency and increase project turnaround time.
The No Handoff Method closes the gap between product/design and engineering teams by iterating as a team.
Read the full article
If you've ever found yourself wondering what you can do to be a designer that developers love to work with, read about practical ways to become your dev team's favorite designer.
Unlocking creativity within design system constraints
A design system is an underlying layer of design, and clients and companies often don't pay too much attention to it. However, companies that design at scale reap all the benefits by investing in the design system.
When using a design system, there's a constant battle between consistency and creativity. But the design system is now law for breaking which you'll be jailed. Instead, the design system is a set of constraints that guide the behavior and look&feel of the final product.
Josh Ferrell put's it well in his article "Unlocking Creativity within Design System Constraints":
Design boundaries and limitations are inherent in design. When designing for a large brand like Shopify, your work must align with their company while avoiding resemblance to competitors. Instead of perceiving these constraints as handcuffs, use them to challenge your thinking.
Further in his writing, Josh explains the three kinds of deviations that come up in a design system:
Unintentional divergence
Intentional but unnecessary divergence
Intentional, meaningful divergence
Read the full article