Design, Code and Prototyping — Medium | Saeid Taheri Rich Fulcher illustration on Dribbble by Saeid TaheriRichard Fulcher during our Hangouts session March 22, 2017.

I got to talk to Richard Fulcher on Hangouts as the prize for winning The MaterialUp Onboarding Challenge. Here’s what I learned:

1. How to see details others miss

• Practice empathy

Try to see the product from the perspective of the user. Ask “what is the first thing I see?” or “what is the first read of the screen?” and “what are the elements that visually popped out?” and “do I trace my eyes from top to bottom?”

• Use the squint test

Display your design on screen, take a step back and squint your eyes to distort your vision. Through the blur you’ll see the most dominant items.

• “To edit your own work, read the screen backwards”

Work your way up in reverse, from bottom up — the way some writing editors do — to bring a fresh perspective to the content in front of you.

• Study motion from macro to micro

When it comes to motion it is a bit tricky to see the details, so first give yourself time to take in the overall motion. Then focus on the individual components of the motion.

2. Solicit the critics frequently

As a designer, it’s crucial to constantly ask to be critiqued by other designers, to see what they see that you don’t, Fulcher said.

To engage their attention, show multiple outputs instead of just a final piece. Instead of saying, “Here’s this finished thing I’ve done,” say, “Here’s three in-progress items I’m thinking about. Which resonates with you?”

3. The future: Motion, VR, VUI

The three most rewarding design fields of the next few years are Motion design, VR and VUI.

Watch Showcase App Interaction Concept, by Saeid Taheri

• Motion Design

“Motion is gonna be a part of every interface constructed,” Fulcher said.

He’s been asked alot what skills designers should learn, and his answer always is motion design.

My assumption is that motion design communicates a message, it can even be the message itself. Here’s the best explanation I found.

Daydream VR, by Sharon Correa

• VR Design

He said Google does not have many VR designers on staff. Instead, it hires a lot of conceptual artists experienced in “just building environments.”

I think it’s an exciting age for designers. Although VR is primarily used in the entertainment industry, it can also encompass everything from training and health care in surgery simulation for instance — to ux development, in order to bring costs and risk down.

Here’s an interesting article I found on VR design.

Artificial Intelligent voice recognition exploration, by Gleb Kuznetsov

• Voice UI Design

“Thinking about voice is a good way to kind of rigorously think about interaction design in general.”

Related to VR design I found out conversational UI is a new medium for those who are seeking to make technology serve humans.

Fantastic! We’re using #VoiceUI at @Sense_ly to help patients manage their health. https://t.co/6CTCgKA8Wd

 — @cpearl42

Google IO this year will have a couple of design sessions on VUI which is definitely interesting to follow. For an introduction into VUI, he recommended Designing Voice User Interfaces: Principles of Conversational Experiences, by Cathy Pearl

Designing Voice User Interfaces: Principles of Conversational Experiences, by Cathy Pearl

He also recommended the following books for interaction designers:

Interviewing Users: How to Uncover Compelling Insights, by Steve PortigalSketching User Experiences: Getting the Design Right and the Right Design, by Bill Buxton

4. Designers with T-shaped skills

In order to communicate best Google’s brand voice, it tries to hire designers who are “good general problem solvers,” in addition to possessing deep experience in their particular specialties, Fulcher said. They should be able to look at problems in different states and be good critics.

T-shaped designers have depth of skill and experience in one discipline, represented by the vertical stroke, plus breadth of experience across other disciplines, represented by the horizontal stroke.

(Personally, I like to say I strategize like a generalist and deliver like a specialist.)

T-Shaped model

5. Define your style as a designer

Do not be afraid of employing the typical methods, Fulcher said. Just have a solid sense of your interests by knowing how you’d approach a problem, how you’d work with the team, and which techniques are working really well for you in particular circumstances.

He said most designers fall into the following categories:

• Formal process-oriented designers.
• The ones who analyze, get to the first version quickly, run users through it, and learn more by iterating.
• Those who can detect the problem areas quickly and focus on the micro issues.

Conclusion:

I think designers who want to succeed, need to dedicate to learning vast fields of knowledge. It’s essential to be a highly skilled communicator, and be open to criticism — to both give it or seek it. VR and VUI are major breakthroughs so they will be in demand, just like motion design.

Many thanks to Matt Aussaguel CEO of the Uplabs community for providing me this great opportunity through the community’s first design challenge.

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