There was Cain and Abel. The Hatfields and the McCoys. The Red Sox and the Yankees. The tale of supposed incompatible people is a tale as old as time. In the modern world of business and commerce, the common issue of creative designers and development engineers struggling to see eye-to-eye is a problem that can grind projects and businesses to a halt. The reality is that both groups need each other so why can't they just get along? Jack Cole, Director of Design, will serve as session mediator, walking you through his experiences in finding pathways to commonality that allow for growth, discovery, and innovative solutions. Key Takeaways: • A better understanding of how to communicate effectively with team members of all disciplines • Learning best practices that will help facilitate more project collaboration • Further debunking the myth of left-brain and right-brain thinkers Transcript from NYCDA & MotivateDesign U/X Lecture Series July 20, 2015 "Designers Are From Mars, Engineers Are From Venus" Jack Cole - Design Director

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D E S I G N E R S A R E F R O M M A R S
E N G I N E E R S A R E F R O M V E N U S
Jack Cole - Design Director // July 20, 2015

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Motivate Design is a UX-led design and innovation firm based
in New York City.
We’lltranslateyourbrandconceptintoengagingcustomerexperiences
that create value at every touch point.

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ABOUT ME
• 16 years as a user experience
and design professional
• Over 10 years working
within multi-disciplinary
in-house design and
development organizations
• Addicted to the “rush” of
creative problem solving
within a team environment
• Loves being a part of
something bigger than
myself
W h a s s u p ?

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T O N I G H T ’ S T O P I C
So... What’s the Deal with the Cheesy Title?

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• Written by John Gray in 1993
• Sold more than 50 million copies
• “Highest ranked work of non-fiction”
of the 1990s (CNN)
• Spent 121 weeks on the bestseller list
I ’ M S O R R Y
But Cheesy Titles Sell
I cover all of the basics to make any
relationship easier, to make any
relationship more successful and to
improve communications so that you
can get what you want in a relationship.
- J O H N G R AY, P H . D , A U T H O R

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T H E P R O B L E M
Why Can’t We All Just Get Along?

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P R O B L E M S P A C E
Defining the Issue
B U T. . .O P P O R T U N I T Y
At their best, Designers
and Development Engineers
can come together in order
to do amazing things.
Many from the two disciplines
don’t see eye-to-eye causing
friction and unnecessary road-
blocks that can prevent success.

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N O T A N E W T O P I C
Just Google It...
6 E A S Y S T E P SH A P P I N E S S & M A G I C I T J U S T M A K E S S E N S E
When designers
and developers work
together, they can
make magic happen.
- J O H N B O T I C A
W E B D E V E L O P E R ,
D I G I TA L T E L E PAT H Y
...designers and developers
should work together
to create a more complete
web project.
- C A R R I E C O U S I N S
D E S I G N M O D O
If you trust the people
you work with, you can
focus on finishing your
own tasks.
- K Y L E F I E L D E R
P R O D U C T D E S I G N E R /
M A N A G I N G D I R E C T O R ,
T H O U G H T B O T

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K E E P I N ’ I T R E A L
What Happens when Things
Get Complicated?
B U T. . .
Many articles and interviews reference
common best practices as primary
advice to readers–great in principle
but sometimes hard to do in real life
SPEAK THE SAME LANGUAGE
Familiarize yourself with the “lingo”
and principles of your counterpart’s field
of expertise
EDUCATE
Teach your counterpart the “basics”
of your field of expertise
CREATE TRUST
Acknowledge and convey that “we’re all
in it together” to form a bond and push
towards success

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P E R S O N A L E X P E R I E N C E
My Story of Partnering with Software Engineers

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PROJECT DESCRIPTION
Multi-national public facing overhaul
of digital footprint including:
• Company-wide rebrand of visual identity
• Fully-revamped CMS and support network
• Redefined approach to content generation
and distribution
• Multi-platform global and regional layout
structure and accompanying interaction
library
CHALLENGES
• A dizzying array of stakeholders at all
levels of the company with no one clear
decision maker
• Multiple teams (Marketing, IT/Dev, UX&D,
Digital Services) at odds with global/
regional goals and objectives
• Location, time zone and language, variances
(New York, Princeton, San Francisco,
London, Mumbai, Gurgaon)
• Some teams unaccustomed to Agile
Methodology
S T O R Y O N E // B L A C K R O C K
Follow the Sun (1 Project, 4 Time Zones)

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S T O R Y O N E // B L A C K R O C K
What I Learned
INTERPERSONAL SKILLS
• Identification and alignment
with primary development
partners—proved crucial
to any type of progress
• Established a firm user
experience and design
presence within the
project team to assure
that development was not
the only driver/decision
maker related to identifying
what was possible
HOLISTIC STRATEGY
• Consideration of both end
user expectations as well
as internal system and
content managers
• Voluntary involvement
in multi-disciplinary
planning meetings in an
effort to understand C-Suite
level business requirements,
ask questions, and collaborate
with developers to offer
potential solutions
FLEXIBILITY
• Recognition of varied work
schedules—fostered goodwill
through holding meeting/
working sessions at times
that were more than just
conducive to the office where
the UX team was located
• Anticipated opportunities
to over-deliver to assure
clarity and consistency
across a decentralized
development team

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PROJECT DESCRIPTION
Evolving the ease of use for investors
to update profiles and preferences within
TDA’s secure log-in environment:
• Review and assess the current information
architecture, functionality, and interactions
• Incorporate the profiles and preferences
user experience and infrastructure to be
in line with other recently redesigned
TDA domains
• Connect user preference choices to CRM
network to improve customer relationship
responsiveness
CHALLENGES
• Multiple legacy back-end infrastructures
in need of either sunsetting or a revamp
in order to make UX improvements
• Over-leveraged project managers causing
potential lags in the progress of the effort
• Development engineers traditionally
accustomed to receiving requirements/
design concepts and building with little
engagement with outside team members
S T O R Y T W O // T D A M E R I T R A D E
Saving a Seat at the Table

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S T O R Y T W O // T D A M E R I T R A D E
What I Learned
INCLUSION
• Recognized issues with
previous releases being the
lack of knowledge share—
pushed for development
partners to be included in
preliminary meetings (even
when they didn’t want to be)
• Established UX’s presence
in the Dev department—made
efforts to engage through
general technology inquiries
and visiting for impromptu
brainstorm sessions
INQUIRE TO EDUCATE
• Actively engaged PMs and
development to understand
the back-end environment
in order to challenge the
team to consider non-
traditional solutions
• Readily recognized the
collective wisdom of project
team members—welcomed
open dialogue around the
design concepts presented
TRANSPARENCY
• Explanation of design thinking
and approach in random
discussions encouraged
more sharing across teams
• Over-documentation in
wireframe specs aided
in development paying
closer attention to the
user experience details
• Honest estimation of UX
deliverables was met with
appreciation by all

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PROJECT DESCRIPTION
Pharma client looking to innovate in the
mental health space to improve medical
adherence in patients:
• Refocus patient-facing app usable
for people dealing with cognitive issues
• Incrementally improve functionality
of existing app in development for review
and approval from the FDA
• Build understanding, empathy, and a viable
strategy that considers the needs of all
stakeholders involved in the use of the
app-based system
CHALLENGES
• Previous efforts around project was entirely
driven by development with user experience
and design considered an afterthought
resulting in a disjointed experience
• Partnering development vendor was also
previously responsible for design effort
and was removed­from the project
• Lack of clarity around FDA technical design
filing regulations causing redundancies and
inconsistencies in documentation, wasted
time, effort, and general confusion resulting
in difficult project meetings
S T O R Y T H R E E // P H A R M A C L I E N T
Keep Calm and Course Correct

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S T O R Y T H R E E // P H A R M A C L I E N T
What I Learned
CONFLICT RESOLUTION
• Practiced professional
decorum when meetings
devolved from reviewing
tasks to exchanging insults
• Mined channels of agreement
with vendor partners to press
project objectives forward
• Included development
engineer leads in off-site
conceptual workshops
removing them from their
normal working environment
PERSPECTIVE & EMPATHY
• Remained focused on “why we
are here” related to the effort—
improving the lives of patients
struggling to “achieve their
version of normal”
• Recognized the frustration
of vendor partners who
were previously accustomed
to working with in-house
design team following
a different design and
development process
ACCURACY
• Paid close attention to
unique documentation
demands—designed a fluid
design specification process
accounting for change
management requests
• Clarified design concepts
explicitly as possible—
opened additional lines of
communication for developers
to receive immediate feedback
on inquiries

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L I V E YO U R P R I N C I P L E S
They Govern How You Think, Work, and Act

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L I V E Y O U R P R I N C I P L E S
W E A L L D R I V E
No carts and horses
Collective ownership

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L I V E Y O U R P R I N C I P L E S
Y E S , A N D . . .
Build on each other
Build on what we do
Over-deliver

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L I V E Y O U R P R I N C I P L E S
E X P L O R E ,
D E S I G N ,
R E F L E C T
& R E F I N E
Follow the process
Live the mindset

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L I V E Y O U R P R I N C I P L E S
D E L I V E R
E XC E L L E N C E
Substance
Simplicity
Sophistication
Kick-ass solutions

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L I V E Y O U R P R I N C I P L E S
G R O W T H
T H R O U G H
P O S I T I V E
I N T E R A C T I O N S
Planting not fishing
No assholes

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A D V I C E F O R T H E R E A L W O R L D
My Two Cents on Working Better with Team Members

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R E F R A M E
Shameless Plug but it Works!
Dig deeper
into why you can’t
do something.
Usually, you can,
you are just
choosing not to.
#REFRAME
SHIFTING YOUR MINDSET
Reframe your mindset and see problems
not as annoying, insurmountable, irrefutable
obstacles but as amazing, juicy, creative
opportunities.

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J A C K ’ S K E Y T A K E A W A Y S
Because We All Love Lists
YOUR EGO IS NOT YOUR AMIGO
Walking into an engagement where you
think you’re the smartest person in the room
is a bad start. Be nice and professional—
always.
ESTABLISH YOUR PROCESS
Being clear and up front about how you work
then identifying how team members operate
sets expectations that don’t become surprises
later on down the line.
DEVELOPMENT IS PART
OF THE DESIGN
Considering what is possible at the outset
is the starting point for where to challenge
convention.
ADAPT
Be ready and willing to adjust the course of
a project, plan, or relationship when things
aren’t working.
ASKING “WHAT IF”
Engaging in collaborative ideation with multi-
disciplinary team members can produce
surprising results.
LIVE THE DREAM
Approaching any engagement as your next
opportunity to do something amazing with a
team of new people that you can share ideas
from and leverage each other’s best attributes
is the reason why we’re all here (or at least it
should be) so make the most of it!

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T H A N K S A M I L L I O N