Developers don't want to be designers, but I think most of them do want to be better developers. Incorporating design thinking into software development yields higher value apps, more satisfied users, and better personal reputation. In this workshop, developers and other non-design team members can learn essentials, and walk out with some tangible techniques and skills to immediately start addressing routine app design. The session is interactive, with hands-on exercises as well as presentation of design techniques, principles, and a lightweight process for incorporating design into development. The focus is on interaction design and user-centric design, not aesthetics and layout. We'll discuss how to facilitate design meetings, reach group decisions, probe user work and task flows, fit design tasks to those flows, and evaluate designs to enter production coding with fewer blind alleys, backtrack, and rework. Some exercises will be in groups – bring others on your team if you would like to experience this workshop together.

You will learn:

• Why leveraging design thinking is essential for many teams
• Ways to discuss doing better design with managers above you
• Techniques and principles to perform design thinking