Understand how designing a technology product in a startup environment is markedly different from product design at established companies. This book teaches product designers how to think and frame problems in the dynamic context of startups. You will discover how to enhance your soft skills that are often not taught, but are crucial to your success. In the emerging field of design for technology products, there are many books and resources covering the hard skills—such as visual design, interface design, prototyping, and motion design. These skills are necessary to design work; however, without an understanding of the true potential of design and the skills required to unleash that potential in a startup setting, the impact of design may remain at a production level and not reach a position where it can positively impact product strategy and the business bottom line. Hacking Product Design addresses that gap in knowledge. What You’ll Learn Gain foundational knowledge: know what startups are, the mindset designers should have when working in startups, and how to solve problems Generate product ideas, collaborate with others, and prioritize what to do to maximize the potential of those ideas Discover how to be successful in designing great products—know what to focus on and the principles to follow Who This Book Is For Those interested in becoming product designers in startups, including design students, junior designers, front-end engineers, and graphic and web designers who want to transition to designing technology products

Discover the techniques behind beautiful design by deconstructing designs to understand them The term 'hacker' has been redefined to consist of anyone who has an insatiable curiosity as to how things work—and how they can try to make them better. This book is aimed at hackers of all skill levels and explains the classical principles and techniques behind beautiful designs by deconstructing those designs in order to understand what makes them so remarkable. Author and designer David Kadavy provides you with the framework for understanding good design and places a special emphasis on interactive mediums. You'll explore color theory, the role of proportion and geometry in design, and the relationship between medium and form. Packed with unique reverse engineering design examples, this book inspires and encourages you to discover and create new beauty in a variety of formats. Breaks down and studies the classical principles and techniques behind the creation of beautiful design Illustrates cultural and contextual considerations in communicating to a specific audience Discusses why design is important, the purpose of design, the various constraints of design, and how today's fonts are designed with the screen in mind Dissects the elements of color, size, scale, proportion, medium, and form Features a unique range of examples, including the graffiti in the ancient city of Pompeii, the lack of the color black in Monet's art, the style and sleekness of the iPhone, and more By the end of this book, you'll be able to apply the featured design principles to your own web designs, mobile apps, or other digital work.

You can launch a new app or website in days by piecing together frameworks and hosting on AWS. Implementation is no longer the problem. But that speed to market just makes it tougher to confirm that your team is actually building the right product. Ideal for agile teams and lean organizations, this guide includes 11 practical tools to help you collaborate on strategy, user research, and UX. Hundreds of real-world tips help you facilitate productive meetings and create good collaboration habits. Designers, developers, and product owners will learn how to build better products much faster than before. Topics include: Foundations for collaboration and facilitation: Learn how to work better together with your team, stakeholders, and clients Project strategy: Help teams align with shared goals and vision User research and personas: Identify and understand your users and share that vision with the broader organization Journey maps: Build better touchpoints that improve conversion and retention Interfaces and prototypes: Rightsize sketches and wireframes so you can test and iterate quickly

The definitive playbook by the pioneers of Growth Hacking, one of the hottest business methodologies in Silicon Valley and beyond. It seems hard to believe today, but there was a time when Airbnb was the best-kept secret of travel hackers and couch surfers, Pinterest was a niche web site frequented only by bakers and crafters, LinkedIn was an exclusive network for C-suite executives and top-level recruiters, Facebook was MySpace’s sorry step-brother, and Uber was a scrappy upstart that didn’t stand a chance against the Goliath that was New York City Yellow Cabs. So how did these companies grow from these humble beginnings into the powerhouses they are today? Contrary to popular belief, they didn’t explode to massive worldwide popularity simply by building a great product then crossing their fingers and hoping it would catch on. There was a studied, carefully implemented methodology behind these companies’ extraordinary rise. That methodology is called Growth Hacking, and it’s practitioners include not just today’s hottest start-ups, but also companies like IBM, Walmart, and Microsoft as well as the millions of entrepreneurs, marketers, managers and executives who make up the community of Growth Hackers. Think of the Growth Hacking methodology as doing for market-share growth what Lean Start-Up did for product development, and Scrum did for productivity. It involves cross-functional teams and rapid-tempo testing and iteration that focuses customers: attaining them, retaining them, engaging them, and motivating them to come back and buy more. An accessible and practical toolkit that teams and companies in all industries can use to increase their customer base and market share, this book walks readers through the process of creating and executing their own custom-made growth hacking strategy. It is a must read for any marketer, entrepreneur, innovator or manger looking to replace wasteful big bets and "spaghetti-on-the-wall" approaches with more consistent, replicable, cost-effective, and data-driven results.

"Exceedingly well written and comprehensive." – Core77 "Hacking is really just today's name for the personal creative spirit that has always underpinned human ingenuity," writes Scott Burnham. Throughout this essay he traces hacking's evolution from the digital to the analogue world and shows how the resourceful spirit behind hacking is improving everything from design products to cities and public space. The essay features insight Burnham gained from years spent researching and working with design and urban hacking projects around the world. From this observation he details the benefits a hacking ethos can bring to products, services and cities: Hacking creates new engagements between the product and the consumer. Hacking mandates relevance and necessity in design. Hacking is resourceful. Hacking creates abundance from limited resources.Hacking finds the truth in systems. The text closes with "14 Ways to Get Hacked", showing how product makers or service providers can build in ways to encourage a more playful and resourceful relationship with your offering.

There are already plenty of resources available on design systems, but we haven't seen enough materials that address the human aspects, the way it shapes your organization or its outcomes. Hack the design system provides fresh perspectives around design systems, further contributing to the current conversations happening in the design community

For over a decade, Andrew "bunnie" Huang, one of the world's most esteemed hackers, has shaped the fields of hacking and hardware, from his cult-classic book Hacking the Xbox to the open-source laptop Novena and his mentorship of various hardware startups and developers. In The Hardware Hacker, Huang shares his experiences in manufacturing and open hardware, creating an illuminating and compelling career retrospective. Huang’s journey starts with his first visit to the staggering electronics markets in Shenzhen, with booths overflowing with capacitors, memory chips, voltmeters, and possibility. He shares how he navigated the overwhelming world of Chinese factories to bring chumby, Novena, and Chibitronics to life, covering everything from creating a Bill of Materials to choosing the factory to best fit his needs. Through this collection of personal essays and interviews on topics ranging from the legality of reverse engineering to a comparison of intellectual property practices between China and the United States, bunnie weaves engineering, law, and society into the tapestry of open hardware. With highly detailed passages on the ins and outs of manufacturing and a comprehensive take on the issues associated with open source hardware, The Hardware Hacker is an invaluable resource for aspiring hackers and makers.