Think First: My No-Nonsense Approach to Creating Successful Products, Memorable User Experiences + Very Happy Customers

181 Pages·2015·2.69 MB·English

by  Joe Natoli

“A very practical guide to success in business.”
DR. DON NORMAN
DIRECTOR OF THE DESIGNLAB, UC SAN DIEGO
NIELSEN NORMAN GROUP
BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF THE DESIGN OF EVERYDAY THINGS
“For designers and developers working on any interactive project,
understanding strategy and user experience is an increasingly necessary
skill. Joe Natoli’s Think First demystifies these foundational ideas and, like
any good user experience, is written in a very conversational, easy to read
style. Highly recommended!”
ILISE BENUN
FOUNDER OF MARKETING-MENTOR.COM
AUTHOR OF 7+ BOOKS
“Think First is a practical guide to UX that makes sense of strategy and
structure. Highly recommended!”
PETER MORVILLE
PRESIDENT, SEMANTIC STUDIOS
AUTHOR OF INTERTWINGLED: INFORMATION CHANGES EVERYTHING
“Nailed it! In the vein of Rework by Jason Fried, Think First is an insightful,
iconoclastic handbook. It unrelentingly strips down aspects of software design
to the brass tacks. Joe must possess some magical nutri-design juicer which
he’s used to extract the nutrients of dozens and dozens of textbooks, websites,
references and experience and is providing it to us in a single, filled-to-the-rim
shot glass of realistic scenarios, approaches and tools.
Too often we focus on the user interface design or technology aspects, but
in this book Joe pulls us by the ear and points our noses at ‘can you
articulate the goal, and what is its value?’ Tape the pages of this book to
your wall as a daily reminder.”
JONATHAN COOK
ASSISTANT VICE PRESIDENT OF ENTERPRISE
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY & ARCHITECTURE,
NATIONAL COMMITTEE FOR QUALITY ASSURANCE (NCQA)
“Joe fundamentally changed the way we approach design. With a new focus
on the underlying design principles, we are able to make decisions grounded in
fact, not opinions. We now understand the subtle changes that transform a
good design into a great design. The practices we now employ are improving
every step of our development practice; from prototype to final product.
Joe’s influence is evident in all of our work.”
PATRICK TOOHEY
SENIOR SOFTWARE ENGINEER, METTLER-TOLEDO
“Joe has always been a step ahead of me, offering expert advice and
producing results that one can only hope for. He has always been the
consummate professional — 5-stars, in every way, every form, every month.
Joe is a hard-working problem solver of the first order, and I’d give him a 5-
star recommendation to anyone, anytime.”
MARYELLEN MOONEY
CREATIVE PROMOTIONS DIRECTOR, BON APPÉTIT MAGAZINE
“Joe effectively and uniquely brings the two worlds of IT and Design
(sometimes at odds) together in order to develop a product or system that
works for both the business and the customer. Joe is intelligent, insightful,
innovative and extremely talented. His experience and reputation precede him.
Expect results.”
MIKE MATTHEWS
CREATIVE DIRECTOR, BROADRIDGE
“What you’ve put together is pure excellence. I’m new to UX Design and
have already learned essential advice, principles and methods that I can apply
to our product. I hope to share this new knowledge with my team in hopes to
get our product and features to the high quality we’ve been reaching for.”
RYAN SAMSON
STUDENT, UXD FUNDAMENTALS COURSE
“Incredible. Joe’s class is really impressive and really helps me reflect [ on
improving ] my work. I feel like I’m learning more in this course than in all
the time I spent in college!”
PAOLO ORIONE
STUDENT, UXD FUNDAMENTALS COURSE
“Greatest UX course I have ever taken. Joe’s numerous real-world examples
provide an in-depth understanding of UX. Whether you’re a developer or
designer, this course will show you what UX really is.”
CATHY FANG
STUDENT, UXD FUNDAMENTALS COURSE
“Great knowledge and insight! Joe walks you through the course with ease,
playfulness, humor, and great insight. With conversation-like ease, Joe
exposes insights that you may have never thought of, reasoning behind each,
and clear solutions. This course has so many transferable qualities; you will
benefit, regardless of the type of design your career path follows.”
CHITA HUNTER
STUDENT, UXD FUNDAMENTALS COURSE
“I found that my knowledge of user experience design didn’t even scratch
the surface of what Joe covers. I now realize the importance and necessity of
knowing and understanding each element of User Experience — and how each
element is essential to the overall quality and success of your site or app.
This is thorough training that you will only get from someone that has years
of experience. I guarantee you will never look at user experience design the
same.”
CAROL
STUDENT, UXD FUNDAMENTALS COURSE
“Mr. Fred Rogers said in an interview ‘The best teacher in the world is
somebody who loves what he or she does and just loves it in front of you.’
Going through this course, I was reminded of this phrase over and over again.
Joe clearly loves what he does, and he inspired me to love UX too! The course
material is extremely well thought out, and it is delivered with a contagious
joy. Wonderful experience.”
PETER DAMOC
STUDENT, UXD FUNDAMENTALS COURSE
Except where other works are noted within, this book is © 2015 by Joe Natoli, under a Creative Commons
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Photography by Jarred Sleeth.
ISBN 978-0-9863448-1-7
Published in Baltimore, Maryland, USA by Twofold LLC.
Give Good UX is a registered trademark of Twofold LLC.
Twofold/Give Good UX titles may be purchased in bulk for educational, business, fund-raising, or sales
promotional use.
For more information, please email [email protected].

for Eli, who has always believed.
This is often said, but bears repeating here because it’s true: this book would
absolutely, positively not have been possible were it not for the following
people.
My wife Eli, for the question that started it all: “why don’t you write a
book?” Your seemingly endless supply of patience, support,
encouragement and clear-eyed advice is nothing short of astonishing.
To have you as a partner in every aspect of life is more than I could
ever dare to hope for; I love you more than I can ever possibly explain.
My children, Julianna, Sabah and Sophia, who continue to teach me
some of life’s most challenging, most enduring and definitely most
valuable lessons. I love you all very, very much.
Brad Kell, for countless hours of editing and proofreading, always
pushing me to make things clearer, crisper and simpler. I am forever
grateful for your herculean effort and your friendship.
Joe and Eva Barsin, along with Gerry and Aimee Bracken, who
have always been the first in line to get behind anything I’m doing.
Your support, your encouragement and most of all your friendship
mean the world to me.
Mike Matthews, for picking me up more times than I care to admit
and insisting the way forward was possible. For always making
yourself available over the last 20+ years, to offer guidance and
wisdom, and sometimes just a friendly ear. You have given me much
more than I can ever repay, and I am deeply honored to call you friend.