Edit Introduction: In product design, in what aspects can we improve design efficiency? On the one hand, the innovation of design tools has promoted the improvement of design efficiency; on the other hand, certain design skills can provide tips to reduce the cost of design time. In this article, the author summarizes several tips for improving design efficiency. Let’s take a look.
In recent years, design efficiency in workflows has become increasingly higher.
This involves many reasons, one of which is that the innovation of design tools makes our workflow faster and easier . In recent years, design systems have undergone a large-scale evolution, including components and design libraries. We also have many proven methods, and in projects we can use these existing experience to quickly produce design solutions.
Generally speaking, design is a journey of finding solutions to problems. Here is another realistic statement: In today's global recession, companies cannot undertake a lot of design work as before, but they still look forward to getting similar results as before.
Let me share two basic tips that can help you design quickly. Of course, in terms of finding problems in , clarifying problems in , and solving problems in from shallow to deep, there are also many ways to improve design efficiency. Let's start with a simple one.
During the 8 hours of working time, the time spent designing and solving problems actually accounts for only a small part of it. There is a lot of time spent on repetitive behaviors that we can save.
1. Why should we improve the design speed? Why speed design?
or above are all correct reasons for faster design efficiency, but they are also for commercial reasons. I want to discuss this issue from the perspective of "designers are also human beings".
calculates income based on working hours. When we work from home, we should definitely calculate your work income based on "work results". First estimate your work cost and then start working. Don't worry about the time you need to spend.
You can do the same job in less time. Which method would you choose?
If you can evaluate and master the skills of efficient design well, as a designer, you will have more time to do other things. You can quickly complete the UI design, and then use the rest of to learn some new tricks or simply relax .
The world is growing rapidly, but that doesn't mean you have to keep running like a hamster running wheel. Just keep a high level of focus and improve work efficiency in a short period of time. Just do your job the way, and all that's left is your own time.
2. Compounding effect compounding effect 10
Dangdang! Now it’s the key point! we have to race against time .
Yes, every second. But when these behaviors become your habit, water accumulates into abyss, slowly, the time you save will gather into hours, days, and weeks. If you save a second or two on every little thing at work, you will eventually save more time than you think.
If a skill can help you save 8 seconds per hour, then the technique can help you save 4 hours of working hours in a year. If you use a lot of tips at the same time and work with the right mindset, you can save an hour a day.
Of course, based on the above ratio, the length of 4 hours cannot be placed on this screen
3. Master light shift, movement and re-shift Master the Nudge, Push Shove
Let's start with the basics. If you still use the mouse to move the UI rectangle to its target position, you should stop this immediately! Here are a few more efficient ways to move objects to the correct location .
1. Lightly move
to select the object , and press the arrow key on the keyboard.
In the example above, press the right arrow key and the blue box will move 1pt. The blue box will move as far as the number of times you press the arrow key.But how to move the object to 10pt at once? Pressing the arrow key 10 times will waste a lot of time, right?
2. Move
Move is a combination of SHIFT key and arrow key . supports moving objects 10pt at one time.
I know this is too simple for you. Let me talk about a basic operation, and then I will show you something cooler.
3. Removing
plugin allows you to do more. A Sketch plugin named "Nudge, Push, Shove" has added a "shove" option to help you achieve the above three requirements. When you press ALT+SHIFT and arrow keys at the same time, can use 15pt as the default benchmark , and quickly moves the design object . These three keyboard-based mobile tips are the basic operation to increase design speed. Maybe you already know it, let's take a look at something interesting now.
watch! It's magic!
You can combine lightly shift , moving , and re-shifting to combine , to reduce the number of clicks to complete a task . Let's take a look at the following special example: Here are two squares with a spacing of 63 pixels, and I want to adjust their spacing to 55pt.
63pt – 55pt = 8pt
What should we do? There are two ways to achieve the goal.
is the first "stupid method". Most students will choose to move the object 8 times in the early class to solve this problem. This is simple and direct, but you need to click on the arrow key 8 times. will take several seconds to .
There is another better way to achieve your goal. This requires you to have agile mathematical thinking , but once you try this operation, you will find that it can use a nudge to solve this problem in , which will greatly improve your work efficiency in .
As shown in the figure above, you can complete this operation by moving with 10pt as the benchmark and moving twice in reverse. This saves 5 key presses.
Of course you can also use re-shift based on 15pt, but this requires a little more effort and faster mathematical thinking.
4. Advantages of shortcut keys
Even if you can only save 3-4 seconds at a time, this is an operation you often do during the design process. Look at this from a long-term perspective.
You can save hours with this simple trick.
If you are designing in an 8pt raster system, you can use the plugin to change the default benchmark value of light shift/move/remove as required . For example, you can change the default benchmark value of from 1/10/15 to 1/8/16, which will greatly improve your work efficiency of .
4. DIY icon DIY Icons
If you are designing in already set specifications (such as design systems), this little trick will save you a lot of time. In general, if you want to add an icon to your project, you need to open the icon package to find it, copy it, and paste it in the correct location in the file. Or find a standalone SVG icon in your hard drive and pull it directly onto your artboard.
This is a very inefficient method.
Do you know? Those commonly used icons, such as arrows, v-lines, magnifying glasses... can all be quickly completed by through design tools. Many times, drawing a simple icon yourself is actually faster than searching for (must strengthen the practice of basic skills and do not rely too much on various icon platforms).
UI designers need to improve their work efficiency very much. Obviously, these tips for improving work efficiency in come from the usual practice of . Now you can start practicing, even if you are just a beginner.
Save this time will give you more time to learn other things . If you have more tips for improving efficiency, you can share them with me.
This article translation has been officially authorized by the author (the authorization screenshot is as follows).
Author: Michal Malewicz
Original text: https://uxdesign.cc/speed-techniques-to-help-you-design-faster-f61f4f37bce7
Translator: Zheng Yini; Reviewer: Liu Qianru, Li Zehui, Zhang Yutong; Editor: Sun Shuya
This article is translated and published by @TCC Translation Information Bureau. Everyone is a product manager. Reproduction is prohibited without permission.
question picture is from Unsplash, based on CC0 protocol
