The Flywheel / Development / 06 Designs
Designs
Design what each chunk looks and feels like to the hero, before anyone builds it.
The tool for this step
The Canvas
Design the moment, not the screen. Design what each chunk looks and feels like to the hero, moment by moment, before anyone builds it.
What it is
Designs decides what each chunk looks and feels like to the hero, before anyone builds it. If the Sketchbook is the blueprint, the Canvas is the interior design: what each room is like when you walk in.
You are designing what happens to a person, not screens. A screen, a letter, a voice, a person or an object are only the carriers. One Canvas per chunk, covering the moments it serves.
How to run it
What you produce
The Canvas: design the moment, not the screen. Design what each chunk looks and feels like to the hero, moment by moment, before anyone builds it.
Examples
The kitchen moment
The peak was reading the letter standing in the kitchen. So the envelope opens with one hand, the letter fits on a single folded sheet, and the sticker falls out last, as a small surprise.
Where it goes wrong
- Designing screens instead of momentsA tidy interface can still deliver nothing. Start from what happens to the person.
- Losing their wordsOnce the team writes in its own voice, the design drifts toward the company.
- Testing only with the teamThe personas and the real people are the fastest judges of whether it still delivers.
- Sanding off the peakPolishing usually removes exactly the strange detail people loved.
What it hands on
The Foundry builds each chunk from its Canvas.