Build Your Product Without Silos

A silo-less way to build your products

Bill Buxton is a legend in the field of computing, and his book Sketching User Experiences is a classic for those building products. The title is actually a bit misleading: the book doesn’t specifically cover sketching, but instead provides a detailed walkthrough of the process of building great products.

These pictures from the book illustrate the product development process with increasing levels of maturity:

1. Engineering builds something, sales tries to sell it (no design)

2. Design is introduced prior to engineering

3. The walls separating those groups are broken down; management and marketing are integrated so the product has a consistent vision and story

If you’re struggling to get your company to focus more on design, try painting this larger picture and treat it as a stepping stone.