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Who is Patti Schank?
Dr. Patricia Schank is a Research Cognitive Scientist at SRI International. A comprehensive, professional biography presents valuable information about Patti, but it will not delve into specifics about her as a designer. |
The Road to Design
Patti began by studying math and computer science. She found herself doing "a lot of teaching along the way" and, after beginning work in the EMST (Education in Math, Science, and Technology) program at UC Berkeley, gained her first interface experience. She interned at Apple in 1989 in the Human Interface Group, and today has still never received any formal CHI training. |
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How she designs
Patti describes her design style in terms of what she should do versus what she does do. When starting on a project, she says that she should storyboard more, but instead tends to sketch out her ideas or composes HTML (she cautions against this as it can bog you down in details). Since storyboarding takes time, Patti prefers to get her ideas "out there" and then receive feedback. She likes all parts of the design cycle, but feels strongly that user testing is the key to a good design. In fact, as she talks about the need to "revise, revise, revise," she reaches for her copy of Jakob Neilsen's Usability. "Learning by doing" is one motto of hers, but at the same time, Patti warns against trusting your intuition (though it will get better as you go) without looking at data. |
Working with groups
Designing as part of a group is enjoyable for Patti. She appreciates spending more time in the beginning of the design process so that she does not "get stuck" later. She also mentions that this time investment means that she is "less likely to head down a trail that's not so good." One challenge that Patti finds when working in groups is the group member who has "zero experience" in web design. This person brings up added challenges to the design process when suggesting elements such as a large image which will be slow to load. In cases like this, Patti is always sure to "back up opinions with studies and data." Many times, Patti creates a design which is then passed off to another group to maintain. When asked how she might react to their changes in her design she states, "I try to be pretty Zen about that," but wants to see any data which supports the changes. |
| Sample Projects: | PALS | ChemSense | Tapped In |
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Designing her life
When posed with the question of what she would like to design, Patti responded first that she would like to take some time to write. She likened writing to design in that both require communication in a succinct manner. While drawing this connection, Patti began to see other "design processes" in her personal life. She has recently planned a vacation to Costa Rica and noticed that she followed an iterative process in her preparations. She completed research in books and on the web, she looked at itineraries that others had created, she paid attention to the feasibility of various aspects of the trip, and also consulted users who had already visited Costa Rica. It is quite likely that Patti will follow a similar process when planning her wedding next year. |
Design Environment
Patti prefers to design in her office or at home. Her office contains two computers, each with multiple programs open at any one time. She surrounds herself with the data that she finds so important in supporting her design ideas. She has many bookshelves filled with everything from Metaphors We Live By, Cognitive Science journals, and Communications from the ACM to programming resources in Java, Pascal, HTML, and UNIX to How to Create Killer Web Sites. Surrounding Patti's workspace are toys, pictures, and a radio. Though these elements are not vital to her design environment, they can offer assistance sometimes. Another source of help for Patti is the feedback she receives from her coworkers and her fiance. |
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Challenges she faces
The challenges that Patti faces in her designing are major, but she overcomes them wonderfully. Time is her number one enemy. At any one time, Patti is working on five or six projects. Although the context switching among projects is difficult, Patti enjoys working on multiple projects and working with different groups of people. Keeping in mind the iterative nature of design, available time is an important part of an effective design. She finds it "easier to do little tasks than big designs." In fact, she has two days to create a storyboard for a new design project. An added challenge to this particular project is that part of the design group works in Hawaii. For this reason, her storyboards must be created online rather than her usual written sketches. |
Lessons from Patti
Patti offers up many suggestions for aspiring designers. Most importantly, be prepared to back up all opinions with research. More specifically, try to prototype in the medium of the final project when possible. If you are creating a design using Java and your prototype is in Java, you can reuse many elements in the final design. The caution here is that once you make the investment in the code, the design becomes harder to change. Patti advises to look at various examples of designs when beginning the design process. For example, before she creates a new web design, she will research on the Internet for color combinations, and sometimes will "borrow source code." Finally, Patti advises designing a product in which the default will meet the needs of 60% of the audience. Going along with this, she cautions against "option-itis," preferring to err on the side of simplicity. The most important lesson Patti teaches new designers comes in the form of from her noticeable enthusiasm, optimistic attitude, and vast knowledge of design. These are the keys to success and enjoyment in design. |
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Content © 1999 Courtney S. Glazer |