Instant Partnership: Bringing Customer Ideas to Life at Dreamforce
This year at Dreamforce, the Salesforce User Experience team got some hands-on customer experience — and some lucky Dreamforce attendees had a chance to bring their Salesforce ideas to life.
At Camp Design, team members met one on one with attendees, brainstorming ideas based on their needs and guiding them through the design process we use to build Salesforce products — and even prototyping their ideas in real time. The result was an amazing opportunity for the UX team to connect with our customers, hear how they use Salesforce, and help them understand a bit more about how the tools they use every day get made.
Get a taste of the collaborative magic in our Camp Design highlights video (bonus content: your host Alan Weibel in a Smokey the Bear-stye ranger hat):
Do It Yourself
Have an idea for a Salesforce feature, app, or improvement? Use this quick step-by-step design process inspired by Camp Design to turn it into a reality.
1. Get to Know Your Users
Before you start sketching your idea, think about exactly who you’re designing for. Learn how to identify your users and discover their needs with the UX Personas for Salesforce Trailhead module. Salesforce User Personas represent the day-to-day activities, motivations, and pain points of the people who use Salesforce, drawn from our research with thousands of customers. Download the personas and use them to help you design, develop, and implement the best possible Salesforce experience for your users.
2. Define and Sketch Your Idea
Now that you know your target user, download our Camp Design template, then use it to articulate your idea in a user story — a brief description of a specific task or activity using one of your personas.
Use this template to write your user story:
As as [Persona name], I want to [Task I want to do] so that I [Impact of completing this task].
Here’s an example:
As a Deal Closer, I want to log all of my interactions with my customers, so that I can follow up with them and provide the information they need to make purchasing decisions.
So what would that look like? Get your ideas out of your head and onto paper with a quick sketch. Congratulations — you’re ready to prototype!
3. Make a Prototype
Time to build and test your prototype. A prototype is a preliminary version of a product or idea that lets project stakeholders test user interfaces, and serves as the base for your final product.
Get to know prototypes — and how to build them with Salesforce Lightning Design System — with the UX Prototyping Basics Trailhead module.
Next, choose a prototyping tool to take your sketch to the next level. At Dreamforce, we partnered with Avonni Creator, an interactive, drag-and-drop prototyping tool with Lightning Design System elements and components built in, to turn attendees’ sketches into functional prototypes. Sign up for a free Avonni account to prototype your idea.
4. Test and Iterate
Once you’ve built your prototype, get some fresh eyes on your idea. Seek out feedback from users who match your target persona and have similar goals. (Learn how to talk to your users and discover what they need with the UX Research Basics Trailhead module.) Then iterate, iterate, iterate — and you’ll be well on your way to making your ideas a reality.
Follow us at @SalesforceUX.
Want to work with us? Contact uxcareers@salesforce.com
Check out the Salesforce Lightning Design System
Special thanks to Alan Weibel, Ayesha Mazumdar, Jason Kriese, and Lisa Gluskin Stonestreet
