Katie Dill: evaluation

Transcript context

…I just want to follow this thread a little bit. You talked about these opportunities to improve the checkout flow through a design lens. You could also think of it from like as a product manager I'd be like, "Oh wow. Let's just find all the things that people get stuck on and fix them." How is it that you see that from the quality design perspective versus like, "Oh, let's just move this metric and here's all the things that are stopping people." What would you say is the designer's lens on that, if there's anything there? Honestly, a pet peeve of mine is this way of talking about things as there's business goals and there's design goals. Because I think maybe the first conversation one should have is that, "What are we trying to build towards?" And I would think that folks that want to create really impactful products, they want to create quality products, and that they want to create things that actually serve their customers in a positive and beneficial way because they know that will build a stronger business in the long run. So yes, there may be slight prioritization details different through the process where a designer might be thinking more about the emotional experience and how somebody feels, because that's oftentimes how they're wired, and that is an important lens to bring on it. Whereas somebody else might just be like, "Well, just make the button bigger and they'll click it more often, and that's the outcome that we seek." So this is, again, why I was talking about how important it is to have multidisciplinary teams that work closely together because sometimes we are the checks and balances in the conversation. But I do think if we can align on what are we trying to build? Are we trying to build something great, then we can recognize the fact that it isn't just that utility is an incredible important part of that, but so is usability and so is desirability because these things together make something truly great. So beauty is an important part of that because it does make things more useful, it does make things more accessible, and that with these things kind of coming together you can build towards something better. I think that beauty on its own or just craft on its own without utility, I mean that's like, I don't know, that's like Blu-ray or PATH. Right? That does not lead to a high-quality product. So it is the combination of these things, and so it's like stepping towards that. But if you really want your product, those features, to be utilized for all that they're worth and to actually gain such esteem, and respect, and reuse, taking it to that next level and thinking about, "How do I make this actually an enjoyable use and that it really feels like it's meant for me and it maps my mental model," that craft and that quality of the execution of those details is going to be paramount. You mentioned this word beauty, and I wanted to follow on this a little bit of just ... This is a big question, but just what is great design? What is beauty? Is there like a objective definition where if a designer is like, "This is great design," is there just like, "Yes, that is true." Or is it just an opinion? How do you think about what is great design? What is beauty, Katie Dill?…

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