rob abbott, $105 million and 20 startups later, egg haus
TRANSCRIPT
$105 Million, and 20 Startups Later
Product Design Guidelines
Rob Abbott — EGG HAUS, Inc.
Designer Fair 2012 - Stanford d.school
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Rob Abbott abbott
Starting 2000, spent 7 yrs in User Experience and Design (UED) organizations at IBM, Fidelity, and eBay.
Left eBay to join Ribbit, which was acquired by British Telecom in 2008 for $105 million.
Founded EGG HAUS, Inc., a product design firm in San Francisco.
@
Buddy MediaCake FinancialCardpoolFlipboardFoodspottingInstagramJIBELiving ProofMetaCertModeliniaMuluMypad
NoisetoysOpen Home ProRecurlyScoop St.StitcherTracktopiaWikiinvestVuze (Azureus)Yummly
American ExpressAnheuser BuschAolBud LightCiscoConde NastDisneyDunkin DonutseBayMacys.comMarriot HotelsMyspace
3.5 yrs, Product Design and Mobile consulting...
Despite the culture shift, design remains a relatively low priority.
Most founders and core teams do not invest enough time in the design process.
Get involved, learn the process.
Design — Pick Two...
Trust your designers to make the right decisions.
Great designers are receptive to feedback, and iterate on holistic vision.
“We have five engineers, and one designer.”
Keep your team proportionally balanced to avoid stressing talent.
Both engineer and designer must be equally responsible and accountable for the implementation quality of the user interface.
Designers are not perfect, and neither are you.
Be a catalyst for design conversation, but do not dictate direction.
Challenge the team, “how can we make this better?”.
“I don’t code, but I do know how to open Photoshop.”
If you are not creating visual assets for release, you should not be in Photoshop.
Photoshop is the most inefficient way to visually communicate an idea.
If you plan to be the designer, educate yourself on the tools of design and the when and why they are used.
Design is not one dimension, and your designer shouldn’t be either.
Challenge your designer to deliver beyond his/her own expectations and capabilities.
Ask, “what can we remove [from the product, design, etc.]?”. Then ask again.
Simplifying your product simplifies the interaction, the design, and the experience, as well as exponentially decreases design time, build time, and most importantly time to market.
Shelve features (i.e. MVP).
Avoid spreading your team thin due to distributing too many tasks. Focus and prioritize tasks for the short-term.
If users do not understand the initial product value, the remainder of your product does not matter.
Only when you release will you know the value of your product. Do not invest in unfounded and untested assumptions.
