Designing Products People Love

Table of contents

1. Praise
2. Acknowledgments
3. Preface
   1. Products Are for Customers
   2. Why This Book Is for You
      1. This Book Is For You
      2. What’s in the Book
         1. The product creation model
            1. Hunt and synthesize
            2. Build
            3. Test and level up
            4. Launch, monitor, and start over
   3. How to Use This Book
   4. Shareable Notes
   5. Do This Now
4. 1. Why Products Exist
   1. What’s Product Design?
   2. Product Design’s Heritage
      1. Lillian and Frank Gilbreth: Revolutionizing Industries Through Observation
      2. Henry Dreyfuss: The Founding of Human-Centered Design
      3. Neil McElroy: Inventing the “Brand Man”
      4. Scott Cook: Bringing the Brand Manager to Technology
   3. Why the History Matters
   4. What the History Tells Us
      1. Upgrading Ethnography for a Digital Era
      2. Time-Tested Techniques in Modern Products
         1. Dropbox
         2. Apple
            1. Time Machine
            2. iPhone
            3. iPhone 6 and 6 Plus
         3. Product Hunt
   5. So What?
   6. Shareable Notes
   7. Do This Now
5. 2. How to Create Products People Want
   1. Avoiding “Ego-First Development”
      1. Find Product Ideas with Sales Safari
      2. Plot the Pain
   2. What Does a Product Designer Do?
   3. Shareable Notes
   4. Do This Now
6. 3. What Are We Building Here?
   1. Defining What to Build
      1. Party Like It’s 1991
      2. Keeping Everybody Focused
      3. The “Working Backwards” Approach
      4. Create a Product Guide
   2. Shareable Notes
   3. Do This Now
7. 4. User Interfaces Begin with Words
   1. Really? Start with Words?
   2. Creating User Flows
   3. Writing Your Screens
   4. Traits of Good Interface Copy
      1. Who’s the Audience?
      2. In What Tone Is It Written?
      3. What’s the Context?
      4. Are You Being Consistent?
   5. Shareable Notes
   6. Do This Now
8. 5. Tangible Trumps Theoretical
   1. Prototypes: Worth 1,000 Mockups
   2. Bigger Than a Buzzword
   3. Goals of Prototyping
   4. Readying for Consumption
   5. Shareable Notes
   6. Do This Now
9. 6. The Mechanics of Interface Design
   1. The Push and Pull of Prototypes Versus Pixel Perfection
   2. The UI Stack: Five States of Interface Design
      1. What’s the UI Stack?
         1. Ideal state
         2. Empty state
            1. First-time use/onboarding
            2. User-cleared data
            3. No results
         3. Error state
            1. No! Yes! Maybe?
         4. Partial state
         5. Loading state
            1. Skeleton screens
            2. Assuming success with optimistic actions
         6. A hypothetical example
            1. Our hypothetical messaging app
   3. Ergonomics: Thumb Zones and Tap Targets
      1. Designing for Thumbs?
         1. Enter the Thumb Zone
            1. Choking up
      2. Thumb-Friendly Interfaces in the Wild
         1. Airbnb
         2. Tinder
   4. Cross-Platform Design
      1. What Do Your Customers Need and Expect?
      2. What’s Specific to the Platform?
      3. What Are the Use Cases for Each Device?
   5. Shareable Notes
   6. Do This Now
10. 7. The Psychology of an Experience
    1. Products and Psychology
       1. Loops
          1. Additive actions
          2. Giving value, then asking for feedback
          3. Variable rewards
       2. Aesthetics and Personality
          1. Airbnb
          2. Tinder
          3. USAA Bank
          4. Uber
          5. Eat24
       3. Animation and Motion
          1. Slow in, slow out
          2. Staging
    2. Shareable Notes
    3. Do This Now
11. 8. Interpreting Feedback and “Leveling Up” Your Product
    1. It’s a Creative Journey, After All
    2. Leveling Up
       1. Team Critiques
          1. Start with who helped to define the product
          2. Break down company silos by opening up design reviews
          3. Open up to a private, internal beta
          4. Encourage bug filings
          5. Communicate updates often
          6. Address the toughest first
          7. Trust in the research
       2. Customer Feedback
          1. Identify the right customers
             1. Existing customers
             2. Potential customers
          2. How to analyze customer feedback
    3. Don’t Squander Your Gains
    4. Shareable Notes
    5. Do This Now
12. 9. Shipping Is an Art—and a Science
    1. The Invention Versus the Manufactured Article
    2. It’s Ready When It’s Ready
    3. Being “Chief of Everything”
       1. It’s Not Over Yet
13. A. Further Reading
14. Index
15. About the Author
16. Copyright