Designing Systems at Scale
Summary
To be alive in the twenty-first century is to rely on countless complex systems that profoundly affect our lives, where small mistakes can turn into massive inefficiencies and failures. These failures seem to stem from very different problems, but their underlying causes turn out to be surprisingly similar. This talk will cover about the common threads of these failures, how they can be detected and ultimately prevented using various research disciplines – from market research to anthropology to data science. We need to get good at designing and building for systems to tackle multi-dimensional problems at the intersection of people and technology.
Key Insights
-
•
Judy Ellis taught that the key to good design is combining aesthetics, manufacturing knowledge, business understanding, and an appreciation of play.
-
•
Successful processes must be transparent yet become invisible in their application to empower creativity and decision-making.
-
•
Shopify divides work into product lines addressing audiences and service lines ensuring knowledge flow and organizational alignment.
-
•
Data types fall into two complementary streams: object-oriented 'what' data and context-oriented 'where' data.
-
•
The brain processes 'what' and 'where' data in different hippocampus areas before combining them for decision-making.
-
•
Qualitative, context-rich data (the where stream) reaches decision centers earlier and is critical for effective decisions.
-
•
Cross-disciplinary collaboration among UX researchers, data scientists, anthropologists, and market researchers maximizes insight quality.
-
•
Knowledge distribution is best managed by shaping the environment and workflows rather than micromanaging the process itself.
-
•
Leadership support and clear executive ownership are vital to sustaining centralized research and knowledge cycles.
-
•
Tools like Shopify’s merchant frustrations database improve asset visibility and continuous improvement for customer-centric decisions.
Notable Quotes
"Toy design is not about the toy itself but a tool that unlocks unlimited possibilities before a child."
"Successful operations must have well laid out and transparent process documentation but that process must become invisible in its application."
"Service lines bridge gaps between product lines by facilitating knowledge flow and alignment."
"Our brains are terrible at operating on only one type of information—object-oriented or context-oriented."
"It’s the context-related data gathered through qualitative research that reaches our decision-making centers first."
"UX researchers at Shopify travel across product lines to share expertise and knowledge continuously."
"Knowledge creation, distribution, application, and evaluation form a reusable circular process, not a linear one."
"Leadership is really important—having an executive who understands the value of the knowledge cycle is key."
"Shopify’s merchant frustrations tool tracks customer issues over time, making that knowledge available to all teams."
"Properly maintained, knowledge becomes a vehicle that probes the most hidden spaces of what’s possible."
Or choose a question:
More Videos
"What does it mean to bring a systems lens to a complex problem within the enterprise?"
Uday GajendarTheme One Intro
June 6, 2023
"It’s how you think about the relationships between people and these artifacts that makes a design system."
Dan DonaldDesign Systems as a Vehicle for Systemic Change
June 1, 2023
"Stakeholder support is pretty important because if people on your team just don’t have time, they’re not gonna be able to commit to their roles."
Feleesha SterlingBuilding a Rapid Research Program
May 18, 2023
"The foundation to getting good insights is system zero – the realistic, natural environment."
Jeff Ephraim Bander Ariane Rahn Philipp ReiterEye Tracking Gamechanger: Why Smartphone Eye Tracking will Revolutionize Your UX Research
March 11, 2022
"The little sounds that VoiceOver makes are like bird song; you only notice them when they're gone."
Sam ProulxUnderstanding Screen Readers on Mobile: How And Why to Learn from Native Users
June 6, 2023
"In the enterprise space, the UX function is added later. It’s not part of the company’s original DNA."
Jemma AhmedTheme 2 Intro
January 8, 2024
"I am a Black person, but I do not have every Black experience. Not having experienced something is not proof that it doesn’t exist."
Raven VealDark Metrics: Illuminating the Negative Impact of Digital Health Design
March 12, 2021
"Research isn’t just about building a great product; it’s about having a great company and stronger internal bonds."
Nicole Wright Ned DwyerDemocratizing Research at HoneyBook
March 9, 2022
"Experience mapping brought a new understanding that helped us draw former extremists into peace efforts."
Jim KalbachPeace is waged with sticky notes: Mapping Real-World Experiences
June 14, 2018
