Coda’s Post

The best way to build a pitch deck is to start with the outline using google docs or Notion. Why? Because it is a lot simpler to iterate and figure out the core narrative. Decks are the ultimate the best way to tell a story, but way too often founders get distracted with layouts and designs before nailing the actual arc and the story. Start with the simple deck outline where each slide is number and has a short name. Next, come up with more elaborate titles, key talking points and also design notes for each slide. Get feedback and keep iterating. moving things around and refining, until you are happy with the outline, the flow and bullets. Final step - pass it to a designer.

The best way to grow as a Product Designer is to add some skills to your toolset. ➡️ Take a first pass at writing copy before sharing with your team ➡️ Ask your engineering team how you can best prepare deliverables for hand-off The easier you can push a project from start to finish, the better you'll become!

Great point 🧬 🤖 ⚙️ Alex Iskold! End of the day, the deck is an exercise of storytelling. The story should be able to be told in a set of sentences. We recommend a similar approach to building a deck for fellows in the Startup Leadership Program NYC. Here is what we suggest: Rather than starting with a deck, start with 12 to 16 individual bullet points in a simple doc. If this is your first time making a deck, you may have 20+ bullets, and you will learn where to zero in while doing this exercise. You will get to the slides, but DO NOT START WITH SLIDES. Getting simple bullet points is hard at first because the story is unclear. That's the point of getting the bullets first. Focusing on just words means no wasted time formatting graphics, etc. When the visuals of a deck are not in question, we must do the ACTUAL work: clarity, narrative, and synthesis. That means both the content of the bullets and the sequence they are in. As a metaphor to film, think about this like storyboarding before getting on set and shooting a movie. The goal: I should be able to read the bullet points in sequence, understand exactly what the business is, and get excited. Each bullet is a point that the founder is asserting. In sequence, each successive point drives the conclusion that this is a great business within an attractive market that the founder understands. The story sets up the context and presents a path forward that investors want to fund. So, how do we get the deck?! Eventually, each bullet point becomes the title of a slide. That works much better than having a generic slide title that says "The Problem." Instead, the problem slide can say, "The ICP wastes X hours a week on Y, leading to Z costs." Every bullet point needs to make a conclusive point, assuming that it will be believed. That's what "asserting a point" means. Once we can assert a set of 12 to 16 conclusive points, we can move on to building slides that provide context and offer supportive evidence. Every step of the way, brevity is key. Dropbox DocSend data shows that a pitch deck is read in 3 minutes, so there is no room for deep research. We have to find a concise way to prove our assertion visually. That said, this is much easier to say than to do. When you're an expert working on your idea every hour of the day, you live in the details. Selecting which details to put forward can be harrowing. How do you know what bullets to use? What details to add? I love to show my bullets to startup friends who are not deep in the business and see what stands out to them. Sometimes, things may seem important, but they don't need to be shown; they could be discussed if asked. Something helpful to remember when making these bullet points is that their job is not to get an investment but to get a meeting. If we create 12 to 16 slides that can be read in 3 minutes and lead an investor to say, "I want to know more," it's a great success!

The power of Motion Guidelines in digital products, by Alejandra Hernández What's motion? What does it bring? Why and how documenting it? Some answers brought by Alejandra alongside examples et online documented Motion Guidelines (end of the article) This is something that came a bit late in our design system, but truth is motion isn't something developers usually are confident implementing. Adding a layer of documentation and some code examples using the same language they use is a key to helping them with the implementation. Personally, I love micro interactions and motion, when well implemented. But always keep in mind accessibility when you start making things move around the interface. (I talk about it in my next book, stay tuned: https://buff.ly/4b2Qdke) https://buff.ly/45hDysk

Remember this visual guide while designing your product or presentation. Your product may have groundbreaking features, but if users can't find them or understand how to use them, they might as well not exist. Visual hierarchy helps by organizing information in a way that's quick to read and easily digestible. Keep it clear, Keep it simple.

White papers, design docs, & user journeys. A.D. Slaton from Warner Bros. Discovery and Rob Ocel talk about great documentation from top to bottom. 🧠Learn tips for different documentation management styles, their benefits and pitfalls, and more! Check the link in the comments!

Ugh, Mondays. But hey, at least this one comes with a solution for a common design pain point ✨ Navigating the world of design systems can be like making a quest 🥲. Convincing your team to invest in a design system is no small feat—it's like assembling the Avengers. You've got the Product Manager, the Product Owner, the Developers, Quality Control, and yes, even fellow Designers. My tactic? A well-prepared plan that's as friendly and approachable as Google Sheets. It lays out the 'why', the 'what', and the 'when' in a way that everyone gets. Today's treat? I'm sharing my "Design System Master Plan" template on Google Sheets. If it's a hit, give it a thumbs up and share your thoughts on more resources you'd love to see! 👇👇👇 Template link 👇👇👇 https://lnkd.in/giqxh6ae #designsystem #uiuxdesign #productdesign #designops #template

Technology requires communication and in this podcast I share a little as to how I communicate.

Don't design the components for your design system on your own. Try pairing up with another designer where you co-author a component, in real-time. Benefits: faster authoring, components and patterns your team actually want, hedge against internal bias, squad-building, distributed sense of design system ownership. "Nothing great is made alone" 😁 Zeroheight on why and how to pair, as designers: https://lnkd.in/exB2jst6

If you're new to Design Thinking and Human-Centred Design, or just curious, you might find this useful. I've put together a list of resources that can get you started. There's everything from an overview of the process, through to a bunch of free templates and more. Get your hands on it here: https://lnkd.in/epdK2dxR