Sullivan - The design studio method: creative problem solving with UX sketching

I would like to thank my wife, Susan Sullivan, for her unwavering support. As always, she was patient through my writing and revisions. At dinner, my wife and I would talk about the book with our son, Sean Sullivan. If you want some sharp perspective, share your thoughts with a smart, 15-year-old teenager.

Next, I want to thank Anita Cator. When I decided to do my first design studio project, Anita immediately stepped up to the challenge. Anita and her design team (Ryan Merritt, Sam Oh, Kimberly Richards, Trey Pace, Cason Swindle) would offer many suggestions to improve the overall process. Anita and I have spent hundreds of hours planning, organizing, executing, and perfecting the methods presented in this book. Anita is a first-rate designer and thought leader.

I want to thank my mom (Edith Sullivan), brother (Kevin Sullivan), oldest sister (Sharon Davis), and sibling rival/sister (Lisa Bell). My step-children (Laura Martinez and Joseph Vatalaro) have made me proud.Thanks to Laura's husband, Frank Martinez, for late-night laughs and iced tea. My big, fat Irish family includes: Steve, Kim, Paul, Cassidy, Tanner, Kaylee, Connor, Tim, Alan, Brad, Austin, Tammie, Tyler, and Alyssa. I am blessed to have support from each of you.

I love you, Mom! I miss Dad every day!

A special thanks goes to my co-workersAnna Harasimiukand Kris Courtney. You have taught me many lessons about design, usability, business, project management, and life. It has been my pleasure (and honor) to have worked with you for almost 10 years.

J. Schuh has been a wonderful co-conspirator on the creation of this book. I have enjoyed our conversations and his illustrations. We did encounter a happy accident with one illustration. One of my original sketches was misinterpreted by J. Schuh into a completely different concept. His drawing was too good to dismissa happy accident! This illustration forced me to rethink and rewrite an entire section of the book. With my words and his illustrations, you get a "Sullivan-Schuh One-Two" reading experience. He was challenging some ideas, while cheerleading other ones.

For me, partnership starts with J.

The reviewers of the book gave so much advice and time. Thank youPreston McCauley, Marti Gold, Aaron Irrizary, Marc Gilpin, Anita Cator, Nathan Shedroff, J. Schuh, and Susan Sullivan. Aaron Irrizary's comments forced me to restructure six chapters. Marti Gold's comments moved entire sections around the whole book. When I first saw the comments in red ink from Susan Sullivan, I thought someone had bled on my second draft.

It takes a tribe to write a book. You will always be my tribe.

A very, very special thanks to the Big Design Conference team: Keith Anderson, Lara Becker, Jeremy Johnson, Candy Bernhardt, Fred Janis, Lorie Whitaker, Joshua Winegardner, Adam Polansky, J. Schuh, and A.J. Wood. We put on a great design conference each year. I am inspired by each of you!

Special words of encouragement were greatly appreciated during some late nights of writing: Mitch Todd, Lissa Duty, John Nossal, Molly Holschlag, Tony Cecala, Brenda Huettner, Adam Connor, Elizabeth Rosenzweig, Russ Unger, Dana Chisnell, Joshua Hall, Stephanie Brisendine, Cassini Nassir, Eva Warren, Ken Tabor, and many others. I am such a Mitch Todd fan.

Lastly, I want to thank two people at Focal Press: David Bevans and Mary LaMacchia. David, you believed in me. Mary, you guided me through the production process. Your enthusiasm for the project was contagious.

I am so stoked! Enjoy.

Welcome to the first edition of The Design Studio Method book. Design studios are sketching workshops, where key stakeholders produce sketches individually and critique them with a group. On the surface, design studios appear to be simple to do: sketch and critique.

The single best thing you can do at the start of a project is a design studio.

Yet, most people do not run very effective design studios. Over the past 10 years, I was appalled to see the lack of structure and focus in design studios. Participants would argue, compete for attention, ignore other opinions, and so on. Leaders did not seem to grasp the importance of providing simple rules to help people focus, thinking tools to help people envision different perspectives, and ways to more effectively work with remote people and get executive support.