I sat in on this talk just a few months before we founded Say Yeah. For me this was a transitional time period, when I was making the change from “guy who designs websites” to “guy who cares about users”. Beginning with those first few projects at Say Yeah in the fall of 2008, our user-centerd design philosophy has been the foundation for our work over the past 6 years.

While keeping in mind that this talk was given two months prior to the initial iPhone launch, these points stick out to me as what would eventually become mobile first design process and the MVP movement.

• Remove features that aren’t being used when the benefit of simplicity is more than the benefit of the feature.
• Remove items to create visual simplicity.
• Figure out what you need to launch, the core features and watch how people use it.
• Get the site out there. Optimize later, when the site scales.

It’s impressive how adaptable this talk is to today’s emphasis on agile and lean product management. The talk is certainly as relevant now as it ever has been.

If you’re interested the event slides can be found on SlideShare, but read on now for my detailed notes.

MeshU – Notes from Presentations – 20/05/08

Iteration & You – Designing Adaptable Websites

Daniel Burka, Digg, Pownce

High Road Architecture

• Lots of planning, years to build and iterations take as much planning
• In websites, highly designed sites–flash, etc.

Low Road Architecture

• Quick, easy to build, change, adapt.
• In websites, built on frameworks, other peoples code/standards

Establish a Visual Language

• Design elements as a ‘visual vocabulary’ similar unified style for the entire site.

Desire Paths

• Builders pave walkways, people use the grass, they build their own pathways.
• Watch what people do, how they use the site, or app, and then help adapt.
• Figure out what you need to launch, the core features and watch how people use it

Adapt to Scale

• Get the site out there. Optimize later, when the site scales.

Subtraction is Iteration

• Remove features that aren’t being used when the benefit of simplicity is more than the benefit of the feature
• Remove items to create visual simplicity

Realign, Don’t Redesign

• Don’t take out the wrecking ball and restart – it’s very tempting, too much work.
• Make adjustments over time, instead of huge increment versions.
• Major redesigns can remove the pathways that users have developed over time – break user patterns.
• Use innovations of others, not your own, people understand how the things they’ve seen work. – Ie tabs, pagination, are intuitive and people know how to use them.
• Innovate only when needed, not for the sake of it.

Make Time for Iteration

• Build in time to change things to your past work.
• Research how users use the site.
• Improve on what you have, instead of just making new things.

Don’t Panic

• You’ll get feedback, wait and see before reacting.
• Take a breather then come back in a week, or month, and see what all users are thinking.
• Once you implement a feature, you have to maintain it.

Adapt to Survive

• Convince of why iteration is important, usually based on the bottom line. Set goals, try to reach them.
• Usability tests – simple as friends and a pizza – ie. These people, this background, have this problem.

Key Points

• Low road design is much easier to adapt.
• Realign, don’t redesign.
• Create a visual language and iterate it.
• You can’t predict all eventualities.
• Remove as much as you add.
• Don’t be over reactive.
• Make time for iteration.

Product strategy as a foundational skill

If you’re looking to bring fundamental product strategy methodologies and execution to your team, we’re here to help.

Get in touch

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I’m at Mesh today and tomorrow talking internet, apps, and marketing with a whole conference centre full of smart people.

Our buttons will be there too. So check the side of your cooler, and then be sure to come say hi.

The post Get your button on this week at Mesh. appeared first on Say Yeah!.

So, track us down at the perennial Mesh conference next week, May 25 and 26, and ask us what’s up (Matt, Danielle and I will all be there!). We’re happy to share some project highlights with you and even more excited to hear what’s going on with all the other great Mesh attendees.

In the meantime, we have updated our Clients page to highlight some of our ongoing Mobile, Web, and other work. Take a look and see you at Mesh!

And hey, if you can’t make it to the conference, the May 24 pre-party is open to all. It begins at 6:00p at The Drake.

The post See you next week at Mesh! appeared first on Say Yeah!.

Two big business events this week which will be of interest to entrepreneurs. Happening now is The Art of Management, with Mesh Marketing taking place this Wednesday.

On the lighter sider, tonight presents Tweetgasm v1.5: Movember Edition and coming up Friday: Likemind Toronto.

For devs: Rypple and Points.com are hosting a Thursday evening discussion on Google’s Web Toolkit.

Lots more on the go
As always, you can find all the great weekly events on Yeah Social’s TO Events Calendar. And feel free to add your choice events to the TO Events Calendar or reach out to us with some suggestions so we can keep everyone up to date.

The post Events for the week of November 15 to 21. appeared first on Say Yeah!.

Here are a selection of photos from a great evening.

Full set on flickr.

And don’t forget Mesh Marketing, a full day of marketing and PR insight Nov 17 in Toronto. Early bird tickets available until September 17.

The post Mesh after party photos from May 18, 2010. appeared first on Say Yeah!.

It’s spring in Toronto, which can only mean that it’s time to get the hell out of the house and off Twitter because the warm weather, and more importantly the Mesh Conference is almost here.

I will be skipping the official 2 day Mesh Conference because I like to leave marketing & media hooplah to Lee, but I won’t be missing the fantastic Mesh U conference on April 6th. With international superstars like Ryan Singer and Chris Wanstrath along side great local talent like Ilya Grigorik, David Gillis, Brydon Gilliss and Pete Forde, this year promises to be even better than last.

If you’re unfamiliar with Mesh U, it’s a one day event of workshops focused on design, development and management, but more importantly it’s a chance to get out of the office (ie. get off twitter) and talk to folks like you about the things you care about (suggested topics include poutine, facebook and beer).

My only gripe with the conference is the 3 track structure; design, development and management talks happen concurrently which means missing some interesting talks. Last year I stayed focused primarily on the design track and checked out the talks by Kevin Hale, Daniel Burka and Jon Lax, then strayed at the end of the day to the management track to check out Ryan Carson.

If you’re still not convinced, or just can’t make it out this year, be sure to check out some other fantastic (free) Toronto tech events including,

• DemoCamp
• VizThink
• AJAX & Ruby Pub Nights

You can find even more at the TorCamp wikipage

The post It’s spring, it’s Mesh time. appeared first on Say Yeah!.