01
Start with the situation.
Understand who the product is for, what they need to do and why the work matters now. Name the task, the audience and the business reason before choosing the form.
See the clinical information hierarchy ↗Manifesto · working commitments
Ten commitments
Direction · Craft
Est. London
Direction · Craft
Est. London
How we
work.
The commitments behind the work: make complex software understandable, give it a distinctive identity, and build it to keep developing.
02
Make the direction tangible.
Use the artifact that helps the decision: a sketch, a prototype, a written argument or a working slice. Give the team something specific to assess.
See capture and organisation ↗03
Choose a useful first release.
Agree the core workflows and make the important parts work together. Define what the first release needs to teach us, then keep its scope small enough to test that question.
Try the working identity engine ↗04
Design the whole experience.
Identity, interface, language and behaviour belong to the same product. Build continuity from the first impression to the everyday task.
See the identity and product together ↗05
Stay close to the work.
You collaborate directly with the person designing and building. Keep decisions and implementation connected throughout the engagement.
See engagement options ↗06
Make scope and price clear.
Agree deliverables, milestones and fees before work begins. Discuss new requirements before they change the commitment.
See scope and starting fees ↗07
Give technology a useful role.
Choose tools around the task and the constraints. Make the result understandable to the person using it.
See on-device programme and history ↗08
Share progress.
Show the work as it develops. Bring questions and trade-offs into the conversation while there is time to act on them.
See the working commitments ↗09
Test the awkward states.
Check the keyboard, the small screen, the empty state and the interrupted task. A convincing hero screen is only the beginning.
Read the studio design review ↗10
Leave something the team can use.
Define the source files, implementation, documentation and support in the scope. Build systems that can continue beyond the engagement.
See an extensible identity system ↗