Designing in the Open

9 April 2013

Font used Adelle Sans ThinTime to develop this presentation: 198 minutes

Conversation started at Mozilla offices — LondonCC license 1.0 for this presentation

kwamecorp is a social

enterprise

All our dividends go into the creation/investment of more

projects for more positive social impact

R&D Lab working for very large

corporations=

0.0 to 1.0 open index

Private equity fund that

invests in ideas (start-ups)

=1.0 to 3.0 open index

we work as two entities

&

We’ll explain these numbers in the end

Strategy Concept Prototype Development

What we do @kwamecorp

It’s never truly linear but the goal is to release products/

services that have a positive impact in people’s

lives.

Value proposition

What we do, simplified

it’s all about validation and the best way to validate is

to prototype quickly in native environments

Value reality

Our only purpose is to add value to the

user

Positive impact

This means everyone in a project keeps their focus on one

thing:Adding value to end users

PMs, Designers, Coders... all busy

applying their skills, but all share a vision:

Adding value to end users

Strategy Concept Prototype Development

Action point:

Define value proposition that can be broken down into

small parts and validated

and yes, value propositions change, but usually a"er they are validated

1. The value proposition needs to

be simple.

2. Value proposition does not change until it is validated.

3.Value proposition is the glue

that keeps everyone in check.

Does open design create a be#er

product?

The big question is

Idea Product/Service

Idea Product/Service

Closed design

Open design

If we take these two approaches

Which one will add more value to the

end user?

Open ≠ InnovativeWe work on some secret stuff that is

not less innovative

1

There is no such things as fully open or

fully closed designAction point: assess the Open index

of a project before you start

2

We do know that Open design == more conversation

& conversation leads to more learning

& more chances to cross pollinate.

3

So how to make Open design add

more value to users

than closed design?

First you need to understand our universe and its

players

Our universe looks like this from the

outside

Code

UX

UI

1. Core has been open for a long time, loads of conversation

around it. A meritocracy of

coders. 2. Design layers appear open

because they are visible. Reality:

UX / UI has always been very closed because

it’s not as objective as

code. Subjectivity

prefers closed environments.

In fact, our universe is more like this

Code

UXUI

We marry design and coding in triangles

which are validated as quickly as possible

Validate

Strategy Concept Prototype Development

Code

Triangle serves to:

1. Show, don’t tell. Play.

2. Make sure everyone is aligned in the value proposition.

3. Validate.

UXUIValidate

This means designers need to become more objective

and more focused on validation

coders have been for a while

Many different players involved. All have egos, desires...

1. Make triangles cycles shorter.

2. The shorter the more focused and objective.

3. The more focused the quicker the validation.

Code

UXUIValidate

Code

UXUI

Validate

Open design questions

Must the 3 atoms be open so that we can add more value to

the end user?Which one is easier to open first?

Design and code conversations should

be around value proposition

open a conversation to everyone it

becomes very noisy

The issue becomes how to manage noise

because when you

Coders have meritocracies and a

much more value oriented approach

they have been doing it in the open for years

Designers don’t. They tend to be less

objective.

not focused on value to user

How can designers open their process

up?

when? How?

Design is NOT the beginning NOR the end of the process

Well first they need to come to grips that

The beginning is value proposition

The end is value reality

Code

UXUIValidate

Design is one of the tools to get there

what should designers open?

So,

Value proposition is

translated into feature sets.

Open feature sets up for discussion. Invite

solutions.

Your goal is to validate it through feature sets. Agree on those and

open them up to collaborative approach.

Don’t open up initial value proposition.

Fearnoise

but don’t panichave a strategy

Be certain that

Openness does not kill differentiators

&

You are not going to get less competition because suddenly

everyone is collaborating

Ok, now for a conclusion

Beginning End

If you mix the Anatomy of projects

launch

public stuff happens

private stuff happens

learnings from CCcreative commons

WithLawrence Lessig’s

we came up with a Taxonomy of design openness in projects

0.0

1.0

Closed

Open in beginning and end

Open in beginning and end, and

punctually between

Open

2.0

3.0

Applied thesis

----

to kwamecorp projects

Fairphone OS2.0

Impossible.com2.0

BOND2.0

Khan Academy1.0

S Educate

Frameblast0.0 2.0

SAMSUNG Galaxy0.0

Wonderful work but no conversation (well it’s internal)

Would be great to share value propositions though.

Touchwiz

In all that has been said, the most practical tool (beyond our validation process) in opening up our design process has

been Dropbox.

Curious fact:

Join us for a conversation @ our London Soho

showroom94 Berwick st.

It’s open.@kwamecorp

Thank youinfo@kwamecorp.com