2013/UK/Experience Design

Archived from https://etherpad.mozilla.org/indiewebcamp-ux, please help clean up.

Most of the information from this session can be found on Aral's blog post: http://aralbalkan.com/notes/indie-data/

Below are notes from the session that may not have been in the blog post.

Aral: Design is not something done by focus groups. Having a focus for design is critical. There is no way to make a product that meets the needs of your users unless you have a focus.

If you are a developer in the room right now, you are also a designer. Whether you are aware of it, the decisions you make will show themselves in the end product.

Why do we continue to perpetuate the myth that designers and developers are so different?

Design should be done for your own needs first, then for your users. Designing "for everybody" is a lure.

Brennan: should there be an "install wizard" for mailpile? No, that is pandering to an old model of experts vs newbies, seams vs seamless. How do we make it easy to use for people? Look at what the end goal is for the experience.

Aral: we need projects that are explicitly competing with the consumer space that allow people to own their own data. Things like mailpile are the first ones attempting this.