Design Insights - #29 Model for Conducting UX Workshops, Important Things About Product Design, Motion Design and More

What does it take to create a product design that works? From choosing a right colour scheme to enhancing its emotional value, there are many things to be incorporated into your product design which we have discussed in this article.

Simply put, digital product design is a practice of creating the design that not only looks good, but also serves a functional purpose. Digital product design is a field of design with its own methodologies, beliefs and semantics. It is more than creating an aesthetically pleasing design.

Don’t facilitate and contribute at the same time. It is hard to play both roles well. Because the facilitators act as authority figures throughout the exercise, their contributions will be taken at a high regard (which defeats the purpose of many of our UX collaborative exercises). Better to stay neutral. If you do not have the luxury of a dedicated facilitator, try rotating facilitators for each activity. The benefit here is twofold: (1) you avoid recurring bias, and (2) you build up a facilitation competency within a team.

Iterate and improve this model after practice. Just as we iterate on our end products, we should iterate on our own processes. After guiding a group through an activity, document what went well and what didn’t. Where did participants ask you the most questions? Where did you find it hardest not to insert your bias? These insights will help you improve your practice over time.

Observe other facilitators. The quickest way to learn as a facilitator is to experience other facilitators. Everyone has a unique style. Observe others and analyze on how they present, execute, and reflect on an activity. A skilled facilitator has a framework that he or she feels confident adapting to any exercise.

Material Design’s new suite of tools and guidelines—all in one place

Design is the art of continuous problem solving—an active cycle of investigating and validating needs, crafting and developing ideas, and creating solutions. Over the course of its life, a digital product is shaped by many hands. The effects of this collaboration can be seen in the quality of a product’s identity and implementation, as well as in the strength of the community it builds. In an effort to make all of Material Design more accessible, we’re bringing our existing work together in one place, Material.io.