Kyle Bollinger (@WhoaKB) and Kristin Burkhart are the in-house design team for PureChat, an software tool enabling websites to offer chat-based support. Dividing their duties between product and marketing, Kyle and Kristin have developed a workflow that allows them to work swiftly and efficiently, while still experimenting with new industry practices.
In this conversation, we discuss company culture for a small SAAS startup, how designers collaborate with internal stakeholders, and unravel technical challenges around versioning and fast iteration.
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Show Notes & Links
- Kyle is a product-focused UI/UX designer
- Kristin is a marketing and web focused-design
- PureChat is chat software for websites
- SAAS
- Both Kyle and Kristin started at agencies, working for multiple clients, before going in-house with PureChat
“Creating something from scratch is very different than iterating on something.”
—Kyle Bollinger
- Prescott hates calling software-as-a-service a “product”
- Austin Kleon
- Show Your Work by Austin Kleon on Amazon
- Self-licking ice cream cone
“We're creating a living document through each other's work.”
—Kyle Bollinger
“The speed at which a company can operate is inversely proportional to how much time it takes to find the answer to a question.”
—Prescott Perez-Fox
- AxoSoft
- Nerf Guns
- Gangplank, co-working space in Chandler, AZ
- RIP LayerVault
- Wake
- Split-testing aka A-B testing
- The Information Diet by Clay A. Johnson on Amazon
- Sidebar.io by Sasha
- Medium, and the occassional article about Millennials and their cereal-buying habits
- Audible
- The Three Laws of Performance by Steve Zaffron & Dave Logan on Amazon and on Audible
- Sprint by Jake Knapp & John Zeratsky on Amazon and on Audible
- KyleBollinger.com
- KristinAshley.org
- Kyle Bollinger on Twitter
- Kyle Bollinger on LinkedIn
- Kristin Burkhart on LinkedIn
Tools
Techniques
- Continuous gather user insight, even if it’s only images or screenshot review
- Find a “theme” with each release or feature-set
- Get quick feedback from your teammates; no need for formal gatherings
- Work off the same agile board as your dev team
- Screenshare with your remote teammates
- Use InVision to create Brand Guidelines
- Try to answer the questions “Who do I talk to …” before they arise
- Keep your micro-iterations in a document; use a version-style naming system, eg.
screen1a-kyle-001
Habits
- Prank your officemates
- Continually monitor the site (heatmaps, split testing)
- Wake up early, get into the office and be creative
- Join office workouts and activities
- Share resources and findings with teammates
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