How can you create products that successfully find customers? With this practical book, you’ll learn from some of the best product designers in the field, from companies like Facebook and LinkedIn to up-and-coming contenders. You’ll understand how to discover and interpret customer pain, and learn how to use this research to guide your team through each step of product creation.
Written for designers, product managers, and others who want to communicate better with designers, this book is essential reading for anyone who contributes to the product creation process.
Understand exactly who your customers are, what they want, and how to build products that make them happy
Learn frameworks and principles that successful product designers use
Incorporate five states into every screen of your interface to improve conversions and reduce perceived loading times
Discover meeting techniques that Apple, Amazon, and LinkedIn use to help teams solve the right problems and make decisions faster
Design effective interfaces across different form factors by understanding how people hold devices and complete tasks
Learn how successful designers create working prototypes that capture essential customer feedback
Create habit-forming and emotionally engaging experiences, using the latest psychological research
Chapter 1Why Products Exist
What’s Product Design?
Product Design’s Heritage
Why the History Matters
What the History Tells Us
So What?
Shareable Notes
Do This Now
Chapter 2How to Create Products People Want
Avoiding “Ego-First Development”
What Does a Product Designer Do?
Shareable Notes
Do This Now
Chapter 3What Are We Building Here?
Defining What to Build
Shareable Notes
Do This Now
Chapter 4User Interfaces Begin with Words
Really? Start with Words?
Creating User Flows
Writing Your Screens
Traits of Good Interface Copy
Shareable Notes
Do This Now
Chapter 5Tangible Trumps Theoretical
Prototypes: Worth 1,000 Mockups
Bigger Than a Buzzword
Goals of Prototyping
Readying for Consumption
Shareable Notes
Do This Now
Chapter 6The Mechanics of Interface Design
The Push and Pull of Prototypes Versus Pixel Perfection
The UI Stack: Five States of Interface Design
Ergonomics: Thumb Zones and Tap Targets
Cross-Platform Design
Shareable Notes
Do This Now
Chapter 7The Psychology of an Experience
Products and Psychology
Shareable Notes
Do This Now
Chapter 8Interpreting Feedback and “Leveling Up” Your Product
Scott Hurff is a product designer and author. He started his first company while in college, and became the youngest entrepreneur-in-residence at Kodiak Venture Partners in Boston. Scott has led product design for products used by millions of users in a variety of areas, including video sharing, entertainment, and consumer mobile apps.Scott teaches designers how to bring their designs to life and writes about what makes products great at scotthurff.com. His work has appeared in a variety of publications, including Die Zeit, Quartz, Gizmodo, Business Insider, and Gamasutra.