Where’s the love? Well, often when two coworkers from very different backgrounds are expected to work together, it can be tough to find. Designers and developers can indeed get along with a little foresight on process and understanding of the obstacles along the project’s path. Join Chad Udell in discovering some of those key differences and learn how to overcome them in order to create a blissful state of collaboration

1. Developers are from Mars,
Designers are from Venus.
Chad Udell
360|Flex: Indianapolis - 2009
Wednesday, May 13, 2009

2. A little context
I’m a Designer
Wednesday, May 13, 2009

3. A little context
I’m a Developer
Wednesday, May 13, 2009

4. What’s the difference?
Let’s start with some generalizations.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009

5. What’s the difference?
Developers are killjoys, squashing
creativity to make a deadline or taking the
easy way out to build functionality in to
the application.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009

6. What’s the difference?
Designers are fun but reckless, they create
great work but aren’t concerned with the
bottom line.
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7. What’s the difference?
A little reality, please.
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8. What’s the difference?
A little reality, please.
While each may contain a grain of
truth, both are way off.
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9. We Need Both
We are on a team, right?
Work habits and
communication styles need to
be standardized to succeed.
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10. Change Needed
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11. Change Needed
Designers need to be practical
and able to move on when the
goals are achieved.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009

12. Change Needed
Designers need to be practical
and able to move on when the
goals are achieved.
You must remember the
scope of the project!
Wednesday, May 13, 2009

13. Change Needed
Wednesday, May 13, 2009

14. Change Needed
Developers need to realize that
design does matter.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009

15. Change Needed
Developers need to realize that
design does matter.
Ideas need to be able to
mature.
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16. Integration Points
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17. Integration Points
Process, Process, Process
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18. Integration Points
Process, Process, Process
“4D’s”
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19. Integration Points
Process, Process, Process
“4D’s”
What works for you and
your company?
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20. Integration Points
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21. Integration Points
Workflow?
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22. Integration Points
Workflow?
Who is in on that first meeting?
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23. Integration Points
Workflow?
Who is in on that first meeting?
Which team is serving which on
this project?
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24. Integration Points
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25. Integration Points
File Organization
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26. Integration Points
File Organization
Directory Structure is Not
a Battlefield!
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27. Integration Points
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28. Integration Points
Naming
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29. Integration Points
Naming
“blue mockup 8 14 08.psd” or
“mock1.psd”
what will mean more when the project is
complete?
visualrinse.com/2007/06/12/deep-thoughts-on-file-naming-
conventions/
Wednesday, May 13, 2009

30. Integration Points
SVN=OMG!
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31. Integration Points
Versioning
SVN=OMG!
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32. Integration Points
Versioning
SVN?
SVN=OMG!
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33. Integration Points
Versioning
SVN?
Version Cue SVN=OMG!
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34. Integration Points
Versioning
SVN?
Version Cue SVN=OMG!
GridIron Software’s “Flow” is a move in the
right direction.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009

35. Integration Points
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36. Integration Points
Taxonomy
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37. Integration Points
Taxonomy
Standardize the way you talk about things!
http://edweb.sdsu.edu/courses/et650_online/
mapps/Glossary.html
Wednesday, May 13, 2009

38. Integration Points
Taxonomy
Standardize the way you talk about things!
http://edweb.sdsu.edu/courses/et650_online/
mapps/Glossary.html
Are they wireframes or block diagrams?
Mockups or Comps?
Wednesday, May 13, 2009

39. Integration Points
Taxonomy
Standardize the way you talk about things!
http://edweb.sdsu.edu/courses/et650_online/
mapps/Glossary.html
Are they wireframes or block diagrams?
Mockups or Comps?
Don’t get overly jargon-y or use it as a
weapon. TLA dueling and art history barbs just
lead to animosity.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009

40. Moving Forward
Wednesday, May 13, 2009

41. Moving Forward
Development 101
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42. Moving Forward
Development 101
Designers, realize that pure Graphic Design will
not save you!
Wednesday, May 13, 2009

43. Moving Forward
Development 101
Designers, realize that pure Graphic Design will
not save you!
Change the toolset to meet development specs.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009

44. Moving Forward
Development 101
Designers, realize that pure Graphic Design will
not save you!
Change the toolset to meet development specs.
When things are slow, opt to take on some
typically “developer” tasks.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009

45. Moving Forward
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46. Moving Forward
Design 101
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47. Moving Forward
Design 101
Developers, no one likes programmer art!
Wednesday, May 13, 2009

48. Moving Forward
Design 101
Developers, no one likes programmer art!
Use palettes from sites like Kuler or ColourLovers
to avoid eyesores.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009

49. Moving Forward
Design 101
Developers, no one likes programmer art!
Use palettes from sites like Kuler or ColourLovers
to avoid eyesores.
Skins and themes for your apps are out there.
Check out Scalenine.com for some great Flex
themes.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009

50. Moving Forward
Design 101
Developers, no one likes programmer art!
Use palettes from sites like Kuler or ColourLovers
to avoid eyesores.
Skins and themes for your apps are out there.
Check out Scalenine.com for some great Flex
themes.
Use great stencils for your wireframes,
Graffletopia, Balsamiq, etc.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009

51. Changing Process
Wednesday, May 13, 2009

52. Changing Process
Teamwork FTW!
Wednesday, May 13, 2009

53. Changing Process
Teamwork FTW!
Parallel Design and Development Tracks
Wednesday, May 13, 2009

54. Changing Process
Teamwork FTW!
Parallel Design and Development Tracks
Rapid App Development (Blend, Catalyst)
Wednesday, May 13, 2009

55. Changing Process
Teamwork FTW!
Parallel Design and Development Tracks
Rapid App Development (Blend, Catalyst)
Proximity matters:
Down the Hall vs Over the Wall.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009

56. Changing Process
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57. Changing Process
Tech to try
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58. Changing Process
Tech to try
Let your designers help with XML (yes, even
designing schema)
Wednesday, May 13, 2009

59. Changing Process
Tech to try
Let your designers help with XML (yes, even
designing schema)
Have your Devs prep some graphics and maybe
even do some skin design from time to time
Wednesday, May 13, 2009

60. Changing Process
Tech to try
Let your designers help with XML (yes, even
designing schema)
Have your Devs prep some graphics and maybe
even do some skin design from time to time
Does your toolset allow for component creation?
Teach your designers how they work!
Wednesday, May 13, 2009

61. Changing Process
Tech to try
Let your designers help with XML (yes, even
designing schema)
Have your Devs prep some graphics and maybe
even do some skin design from time to time
Does your toolset allow for component creation?
Teach your designers how they work!
Create APIs for the designers to use!
Wednesday, May 13, 2009

62. Changing Process
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63. Changing Process
Presentation and Pitching
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64. Changing Process
Presentation and Pitching
Unified front!
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65. Changing Process
Presentation and Pitching
Unified front!
Who leads? Who follows?
Wednesday, May 13, 2009

66. Growing Forward
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67. Growing Forward
How do you keep the afterglow?
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68. Growing Forward
How do you keep the afterglow?
Lunch and Learns
Wednesday, May 13, 2009

69. Growing Forward
How do you keep the afterglow?
Lunch and Learns
Sharing “AHA”s via a team blog
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70. Growing Forward
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71. Growing Forward
Realizing the benefits
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72. Growing Forward
Realizing the benefits
Measuring
Wednesday, May 13, 2009

73. Growing Forward
Realizing the benefits
Measuring
End of Project recaps
Wednesday, May 13, 2009

74. Growing Forward
Realizing the benefits
Measuring
End of Project recaps
Keeping up with trends and tech
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75. Following Up
visualrinse.com
Wednesday, May 13, 2009

76. Following Up
visualrinse.com
This presentation for download
Wednesday, May 13, 2009

77. Following Up
visualrinse.com
This presentation for download
Reading list
Wednesday, May 13, 2009

78. Following Up
visualrinse.com
This presentation for download
Reading list
More posts on this topic - category: “ria”
Wednesday, May 13, 2009