Christophe Stolle - co/de/sign

Christophe Stolle from Precious Forever introduces the principles of codesign, of coders and designers working together, and gives tips for startups on getting started with design.

Christophe has worked in design agencies and other design environments and learned the good and bad of designers and coders working together. But, paraphrasing Steve Jobs, design is not only how it looks and feels, but how it works. The Wii remote, Christophe says, is a great example of good design. The way it works has been designed to fit people’s lives and ways of moving, and this in turn has served as an inspiration for many different applications.

Christophe shows the design process as a cycle of iterations and feedback, not only in the project phases, but also in the culture and teams. In their case, for example, the designers can sometimes be working with the tools that the developers are creating at the same time, in a continuous flow of co-working. 

For startups lacking a designer, Christophe recommends sketching user experiences (also pointing to the book by the same name by Bill Buxton). Sketches are quick and cheap, they are explorative and they can be ambiguous. Sketching helps in thinking through the early part of the design process, and is a skill that’s easy to pick up. 

Watch the video for guidance on codesign and watch more great videos on Passion Meets Momentum.