# Welcome to Obvious University! > 🌱 We must plant trees whose shade we may not sit in. At Obvious, we wear a few core values on our sleeve: **curiosity, craft** and **compounding**. A derivative of these values is that we work together to create something far greater than the sum of our individual output. That's Obvious University: a collection of practical how-to-guides to build delightful digital products, doing good consulting and nurturing an inclusive org culture. It’s distilled from many hours of research, trials and errors, thoughtful debates, and serious introspection. These resources are for everyone — colleagues, future teammates, founders, designers, engineers, communicators, people people... you name it. To that end, Obvious University is **public by default**. We hope you find it useful. Pick a topic—jump in! # Sprints The Sprint is a five-step process that helps businesses solve interdisciplinary problems that need novel solutions. It was developed by Google Ventures. ## Modules
Map/files/ShOeB4Yc14GvYrrMbTQR/pages/haxf4Levs6S7uaDNOepJ
Sketch/files/ztqDAP3eEhk1Q70VjaqS/pages/lhceOiOw2tNuWfwPndco
Decide/files/3zQ18mXmFLf5JDNtuuJB/pages/qspVTi5OumMCe0MOp1rJ
Prototype/files/ZEvC8eJPyoL30aBE8Zfw/pages/wbENLRBObPCvtHoZ8slY
Test/files/mtXQuXBDYKkzyhimoj8J/pages/ahZqzLoCiZA0MfM4vs3T
# Map ## 👋 Introduction On Day 1, think big & start at the end. Kick off the sprint by sharing knowledge, understanding the problem, and choosing a target for the week’s efforts. Monday’s structured discussions will help you align on goals and create a strong path for the rest of the sprint week. *** ## 1️⃣ Long-term goal Long term goals ensure you are able to zoom out before getting started. It helps you focus on the right problem, not just the one that may seem to be the most pressing right now.
> Keep the nature of the solution out when framing the long term goal. Frame the goal as the outcome we want to achieve. This allows for unexpected solutions to emerge later.
> An ambiguous goal can create uncertainty that will persist throughout the entire sprint. Adding specifics early on will ensure that everyone is working towards the same objective. *** ## 2️⃣ Short-term goal Defining a short-term goal provides a clear starting point for discussion and grounds the sprint in immediate and achievable outcomes. It would be the biggest bet you can take right now towards the long term goal.
> When defining a short-term goal, avoid solely focusing on finding solutions and instead consider the driving force behind the product.
> Think of your short-term goal as a milestone, while the long-term goal serves as an anchor that provides a sense of direction and purpose. *** ## 3️⃣ What could go wrong? Lurking beneath every goal are unexamined assumptions. This is your opportunity to turn those assumptions into questions, so you can find strong answers.
> Questioning assumptions can help you be better prepared for the unexpected and reveal potential long-term roadblocks early on. *** ## 4️⃣ Ideal Customer Profile This will help you ground discussions in the experiences of real people. If you have multiple possible ICPs, this exercise will help you narrow them down.
> Thinking of real people will help you understand how your customers make decisions and what challenges they might face.
> A strong bio is concise and engaging, and includes unique personality traits and interests. *** ## 5️⃣ Map the journey This turns each person’s perspective of the challenge, into a shared understanding. This will then serve as a basis for further conversation on opportunities and prioritisation.
> Capturing all of your actors and the multiple entry points they might have will help you make sure that you don’t leave out any steps in your product's journey. {% hint style="success" %} **Quick Tip:** During the sprint, you may notice questions on how you might solve certain problems. Have an observer take note of these and save them in a space that we’ll call a “**Parking Lot**”. Bring those back when they seem relevant. {% endhint %} *** ## 6️⃣ How Might We? Better ideas come from asking better questions. And framing a question as a “How Might We” helps you look for opportunities and challenges, rather than getting bogged down by problems or jumping to solutions too quick.
> Make sure your How Might We’s are positive and actionable, so that they encourage creativity and guide your team towards a successful outcome. *** ## 7️⃣ Sprint Hypothesis Narrow down the most ambiguous and risky part of the challenge to solve. This helps you validate or invalidate the opportunity confidently, and will give you an anchor for the rest of the week.
> A strong hypothesis focuses on the target customer and problem you are trying to solve. Here, you are taking a bet and finding a strong theme to follow. *** ### # Sketch ## 👋 Introduction Day 2 includes divergent thinking to bring out your best ideas. Start with gathering inspiration, and then carry forward to flex your visual communication muscles by sketching out potential solutions. Emphasise critical thinking over artistry. *** ## 1️⃣ **Lightning Demos** Get inspired by other solutions, and look at how others are solving the same problem. Its like playing with Lego bricks—gather useful components, and then convert them into something original and new.
> Searching for solutions to the same problem across different industries will broaden what you think is possible, and lead to an innovative solution. {% hint style="success" %} **Quick Facilitation Tip:** Remind the team early and often about what problems they're tackling. This will help them ground their sketches and generate meaningful solutions. {% endhint %} *** ## 2️⃣ Four Part Sketching It’s time to transform abstract ideas into concrete solutions. There will be no brainstorming as a group. Instead, work individually and try to put your thoughts down on paper. This will help make your ideas tangible. ### Part 1: Take Notes Refresh your memory before you commit to a solution. You’re allowed to use your laptops to look up references, or research specific details on older solutions.
> Collate your version of everything that’s happened so far. You will use this as a quick reference when you start sketching solutions. ### Part 2: Sketch Ideas Start jotting down rough ideas. Think of this exercise as a scratch pad for your ideas.
> This could be anything that gives form to an idea or thought. Don’t worry about interfaces yet. It’s okay to be messy and incomplete. {% hint style="success" %} **Quick Facilitation Tip:** Remind people that sketching isn't about creating a perfect drawing or showing off artistic skills. It's just a way to make their ideas tangible. {% endhint %} ### Part 3: Crazy 8’s Rapid sketches force you to push past initial ideas & get to stronger alternatives, quick.
> Think quickly and spend more time generating solutions to the problem, and not on beautifying each sketch. ### Part 4: Solution Sketch Bring your solution to life. This three-part storyboard turns the customer into an actor in your story, with the product acting like a scene that they interact with.
> Use words and comments to illustrate your sketch. The quality of your solution matters more than the artistry of your drawing. # Decide ## 👋 Introduction Day 3 is all about picking a direction. With a stack of solutions in hand, it's time to narrow them down and pick a focus for the prototype. Reshape open-ended discussions into efficient critiquing and quick decision-making. *** ## 1️⃣ Vote on solutions First, review the sketches from Day 2 and discuss their strengths and weaknesses. Then vote on our favourite sketches, and decide which ones to take forward. This discussion will help everyone think on their feet, and create a record of promising ideas.
> Giving the solutions enough space will let the team put more time and thought into examining each sketch, before placing their votes.
> Capture specifics about the solution sketches and opinions on sticky notes. This will help build on ideas that people have put thought into.
> Don’t digress into discussions on abstract new ideas. Its unlikely that a new idea will make sense to take forward at this point in time. Work with the ideas you already have.
> Don’t worry about what the group thinks. Stay unbiased, and true to your decision by keeping the product goals in mind. *** ## 2️⃣ Pick the core concept The decider gets super-votes, which will be the ultimate decision maker. The ideas with super-votes on them will be taken forward in the prototype, and will be tested for the sprint.
> Don’t worry about what the group thinks. Stay unbiased, and true to your decision by keeping the product goals in mind. *** ## 3️⃣ Create a **Storyboard** Think of how customers would interact with your product or service. Include just enough detail to help the team prototype on Thursday. This will help imagine the finished prototype, so you can spot problems and points of confusion before its built.
> Take the winning sketches and string them together - tightly connected into one cohesive story. {% hint style="success" %} **Quick Tip:** If the team is stuck discussing one idea, or when tough decisions appear, defer to the Decider. For smaller decisions, defer until tomorrow. {% endhint %} # Prototype # Test # Benchmarking ## 👋 Introduction Benchmarking is a way to rapidly build context about the domain we’re designing for. It helps us understand the needs of users and features that are table-stakes. Benchmarking also helps us build on top of well resolved solutions for validated user needs. *** ## 1️⃣ Understand the domain 1. **Identify competitors.** Identify 5-8 competitors. Ensure a variety in selection from immediate competitors in your geography and adjacent geographies, to competitors that build for a similar user persona and the best products in this category worldwide. 2. **Identify target audience** for each competitor. They may or may not be the same across the products you’ve chosen. Understand the objectives of the audience of each competitor. Identify their attributes and qualities. 3. **Create domain framework.** Turn attributes and qualities into axes of a 2x2 matrix to create a framework. Find your product’s placement or positioning in the domain. This clarity will help tremendously in making product decisions.
## 2️⃣ Understand features 1. **Start with the product architecture** of each competitor. The architecture will reveal key features. These are typically areas such as onboarding, support, home page, and any features in the bottom navigation of your app. This will give you a good overview of all kinds of capabilities being provided to users in your domain. 2. **Identify the goal of each feature** and qualities of an ideal experience. As you look at the same features being provided in each of the competitors, look for attributes of the flows and designs that make for good and poor experiences for users. You are likely to discover a lot of interesting ideas this way.

Key features for trading apps across the domain

*** ## 3️⃣ Understand JTBD 1. **Identify superset of JTBD** for each feature across competitors. Create a matrix of availability. This matrix will help you quickly separate the feature leaders and feature laggards in the domain. It will also reveal if there is a agreed set of features that are table-stakes.

Comparison list of all JTBD in the registration process of trading apps

2. **Collect screens for each JTBD** for each app and make note of what is and isn’t working well. The best way to do this is to use the app yourself and take screenshots or screen record flows end to end.

Comparison of scrip details page of trading apps

{% hint style="info" %} Sometimes the app may not be available in your region or you may not be eligible to use it. Youtube walkthroughs are a reliable back up. {% endhint %} *** ## 4️⃣ **Evaluate apps** 1. **Create a feature rating matrix** for the persona in focus based on notes, comparison and ideal experience. This will help you form an opinion of how well key problems in your domain have been solved by competitors. 2. **Give apps an average overall rating** as a simple average of the rating of all the individual features rounded up or down as needed. Make sure that each of the features are defined and grouped in a way so that they are equally important to the product. Doing so will help the average rating be an accurate representation of the overall product.

Comparison of trading apps by feature

*** ## Conclusion Through the benchmarking exercise, you will have built a deep understanding of the product space, broadened your idea of various solutions for the same problem, understood tradeoffs that competitors have made, and identified what constitutes as table stakes in your domain. This learning should help you with more informed usefulness research, defining product strategy for an MVP feature or Product, identifying the USP for your product, and area for innovation in your product. *** # Research Do research as often as you can. It’s the best way to build your intuition for the product space, for consumer sensibility, and conviction in your designs. When there is a doubt or lack of confidence, or when stakes are high, invest in research. ## Research guide
Research guide/files/TraE3BQ3hkYn173NLvLn/pages/U8c4fVPgCbSSkQgAJndL
## Research template
Research template/files/3zRuJRBfVKYCrQaIH0s6https://obvioushq.notion.site/Research-Template-Duplicate-me-f32ff40e08ab452287a8b04d8df2fb01
## Modules
How to recruit users/files/6vK0yasrkXV2BHB6vCbf/pages/iG7kyV4iP4dXQ3cTD9oP
How to conduct an interview well/files/vJxKN9fwHER1CxMxrGcC/pages/RP3zUVQ7Y3Wwm0efGoAb
How to take notes/files/6lGOcSEWVzdsqoV4GISu/pages/w898b4LrmJqVOt7RHfDo
How to prep for remote research/files/AtRXPTS3E8ttL9s0bEZ7/pages/SBKKdUdZj8f67zz18bGx
How to throw a watch party/files/Ipo5jRzZQqdHo4W6oexs/pages/OrDw20TyGomzUDCNWXrC
How to create artefacts/files/moSiwF5BepYpbBEvbGze/pages/UwMEyGeAVyE5jkL1ev5W
# Research guide ## 👋🏼 Introduction **3 steps is all it takes to do research.** Do it as often as you can. It’s the best way to build your intuition for the product space, for consumer sensibility, and conviction in your designs. **Get started with the** [**Research Template \[Duplicate me\]**](https://obvioushq.notion.site/Research-Template-Duplicate-me-f32ff40e08ab452287a8b04d8df2fb01)**!** *** ## 1️⃣ Build hypothesis Before you start your research, it’s important to answer what you are testing and how you plan to test it. In the [Experiment table](https://obvioushq.notion.site/5af9f90d9e3f447aa3a826fbc83b3cbd?v=62ef4070b663464f9d455276765c1613), fill the first three columns. * **Identify a hypotheses:** These are assumptions in your proposed design which you are testing. Be clear and opinionated about your hypothesis to get the clearest reaction to your designs. * **Create an experiment:** Write down the specifics of the task, the hypothetical situation, or the question you’ll ask to test each hypothesis. Be open ended in the phrasing here. “How, what, why…” type questions rather than “Would you do x or Y…” type questions. * **Define success criteria:** This helps you be clear about what counts as successful performance of the design. It could be a click, it could be the time taken on the screen, it could be selection of the specific option based on what you’re testing
*** ## 2️⃣ Test with users * **Recruit users:** If you have a user base already, that’s an easy place to recruit from. Make sure you filter for the kind of users you are likely to use the feature you’re testing and are active users of the product if that’s important. For additional help with recruitment, refer [How to recruit users ](/strategy/research/how-to-recruit-users)and [Recruitment Script](https://obvioushq.notion.site/Recruitment-Script-e57d5b50a2424cd0bcd037fdc761a015). * **Prepare an interview guide:** Use the [Interview Guide template](https://obvioushq.notion.site/Interview-Guide-7488bb1e6a5a456eb63cfe710023e9ab) to identify your warm-up and wrap up questions to put participants at ease. * **Take notes during interviews:** Take notes yourself or with the help of a note-taker. Observe behaviour, comprehension, and inferences. Note these observations down rather than taking verbatim notes. In the [Experiment Table](https://obvioushq.notion.site/5af9f90d9e3f447aa3a826fbc83b3cbd?v=62ef4070b663464f9d455276765c1613), fill the “Notes” and “Results” columns for each participant:
* **Determine results:** Mark overall success / failure of each hypothesis with each participant. As a rule of thumb, if it’s not a strong yes, it’s a no. This default will help avoid mediocre designs and help the team take the harder decisions necessary to build performant products. *** ## 3️⃣ Synthesise Insights * **Write your insights:** For each hypothesis, identify number of success / failure across participants. Go through the notes you’ve taken and identify reasons or patterns for the result. Continue this step for all hypotheses to gather all the insights from the study. * **Create recommendations:** Once insights are in, step back and identify the unsolved aspects of the designs, or new Jobs to Be Done (JTBD) that might have surfaced. It might even be aspects of designs to retain as is. Stay away from ideating at this point. * **Assign next steps:** The study is incomplete until each recommendation is either assigned an owner or is clearly marked as not important to act on at this time. In the [Experiment Table](https://obvioushq.notion.site/5af9f90d9e3f447aa3a826fbc83b3cbd?v=62ef4070b663464f9d455276765c1613), fill the last three columns.
*** # How to recruit users ## 👋🏼 Introduction A research study is only as useful as the participants we speak to. Ensure the people you’re speaking to are a good representation of the audience you’re building for. *** ## 1️⃣ Identify sources When you’re sourcing users, think about where they are likely to hang out, which physical or online spaces they are likely to frequent and where they engage with others. **For existing users or customers:** * Reach out to your customer support or data analytics teams for a list of users. * Use a simple “Want to give us more feedback?” on your website, product, newsletter. * Post on your twitter, instagram or facebook accounts. **For broad or generic audience:** * Use discovery platforms like Instagram and Facebook. * You could also use community groups on Discord, Reddit, WhatsApp, and Telegram. **For specific or niche audience:** * If the team is familiar with the space they are building in, they will already be part of personal or professional networks their users are part of. * Ask recruited participants to suggest or introduce you to 1-2 people who might be interested in helping you out in a similar capacity. * Use filters on platforms like LinkedIn if your audience is active there, or Google Maps for hyperlocal business like *kirana* shops or restaurants, etc. * Join online communities or groups on Whatsapp and Facebook which your users are part of and are active on. * Visit places or events where your customers are likely to congregate — conferences, seminars, training sessions and social events. {% hint style="info" %} **Recruitment agencies** like *Market Mirror* are good if the above options don’t work. Typically, the fees for recruitment agencies includes their fees as well as participant incentives. Lead time needed in this option is typically longer too. {% endhint %} *** ## 2️⃣ Create ad template A simple ad or a message on the channel of your choice, is a good way to get the attention of a couple of hundred users. When you’re creating the ad: 1. **Don’t reveal the subject** of the research or the kind of customer you’re seeking. Your screener questionnaire will help with unbiased filtering. 2. **Clearly call out the incentive**, date and duration of research, and include the link to your screener survey.
*** ## 3️⃣ Screen your users 1. **Start with attributes of people** you want to talk to. This is the user persona. Think about attributes of users you want to avoid for this research study. 2. **For each attribute,** think about what exact criteria you will use to determine if they qualify for the study. This could be specific numbers, range of numbers or specific keywords. 3. **Turn the criteria into a form** such that it doesn’t reveal the right answer when participants read the questions. 4. **Keep the form crisp,** between 5-7 questions. If the form is longer, you might risk people not completing at all. 5. **Add a short introduction** before the questionnaire to give users context. After they’ve completed the form, thank them and inform them with what they can expect as next steps.
{% hint style="info" %} **Google Forms** is a great tool for creating screeners and collecting the responses in a spreadsheet that’s easy to share and collaborate on. {% endhint %} *** ## 4️⃣ **Recruit users** **5 users is the magic number** for qualitative studies. You’ll get most of your insights with this number. If the results don’t give clear patterns for the success or failure of key hypotheses or questions, consider doing 5 more interviews. 1. Once you’ve shortlisted participants, give them a call and then send brief emails with: * Context and incentives. * Available dates and times for their appointments. * Instructions to arrive ten minutes early — to “check-in.” * Good directions to your office by car and public transport, along with links or landmarks. * Your phone number in case they have questions, need to reschedule, need help finding the way, or for troubleshooting help during remote interviews.
For a starting point for the call and email refer — [**Recruitment Script**](https://obvioushq.notion.site/Recruitment-Script-e57d5b50a2424cd0bcd037fdc761a015) 2. **Schedule interviews with breaks** between calls, break for lunch, and time to debrief at the end of the day. Conducting interviews can be tiring. Ensure you give yourself time to stretch your legs, and have a word with your team between sessions. *** ## 5️⃣ R**educe No-Shows** No-shows are inevitable. But we can try to keep them to a minimum. 1. **Offer an incentive that’s big** enough to motivate people to show up. ₹1000 gift cards for 60-minute interviews work well. You can experiment to see what the right amount is for your customers. 2. Recruit one or two extras in case of inevitable “no-shows.” 3. **Don’t start recruiting too far in advance.** Unless recruiting participants who are hard to find or schedule (e.g. oncologists, executives, astronauts), recruit just a few days before the interviews. That way the appointment is fresh in their minds, and conflicts are less likely to arise. 4. **Avoid scheduling interviews** on Mondays or immediately before or after holidays. 5. **Call participants to remind** them about their appointments the day before. 6. **Elicit several responses** from your recruits in the days leading up to the study to make sure they’re engaged. 7. After the first call with them, send an email asking them to reply to confirm receipt. Use a subject line like “Reply to Confirm — Usability session scheduled on February 29 at 1 pm” 1. If any recruits aren’t responsive to these emails and call before the study, it’s okay to be skeptical, make up an excuse to cancel, and schedule someone else. *** ## Further reading [No more “no shows” — how to make sure your research participants actually show up](https://library.gv.com/no-more-no-shows-how-to-make-sure-your-research-participants-actually-show-up-598219b14549) [How to find great participants for your user study](https://library.gv.com/how-to-find-great-participants-for-your-user-study-da20f98dad9e) [Finding “hard to find” customers for research](https://library.gv.com/finding-hard-to-find-customers-for-research-7847af187955) [Rapid user research: how to survey 400 users and interview 10 in three days](https://library.gv.com/rapid-user-research-how-to-survey-400-users-and-interview-10-in-three-days-11e9b0a9475) [The GV research sprint: Start recruiting participants (day 1)](https://library.gv.com/the-gv-research-sprint-start-recruiting-participants-day-1-8fa0bc1c8e71#.nkqzupq63) [Itoday Apéro #8 - Michael Margolis - The Research Sprint, a pragmatic path to UX Research (LIVE)](https://youtu.be/SRa1aLHGQZA?t=1200\&feature=shared) *** # How to conduct an interview well 👋🏼 Introduction A good interview feels like an honest conversation with a friend. A good interviewer is able to make participants feel comfortable, smoothly move from topic to topic, get clear impressions on the hypotheses, and do it in a way that participants don’t feel like they are being interrogated or tested. {% hint style="success" %} There are many small things you can do to ensure a smooth interview. We’ve listed some of them here. Get comfortable with one at a time rather than trying to master all of them together. {% endhint %} *** ## 1️⃣ Be a good host #### **Smile!** Imagine you’re the participant — you’re meeting new people, in a new location, to try a product you’re not familiar with, and you’ll be under observation. Throughout the interview, keep the customer’s comfort in mind. Use body language to make yourself friendlier. #### **“We are testing the product, not you”** Participants will tend to feel that they are the ones being tested. Clarify that any response they feel naturally is what we’re looking for. We’re seeking their help to test the product. #### **Warm up to the core questions** Don’t jump into the tasks and specifics right away. Build context slowly by asking 2-3 warmup questions. For example, if it’s a fintech app, ask about the apps they use, what they use them for, when was the last time they opened it for, etc. *** ## 2️⃣ Mindset #### **Dry run the interview** with a friend or colleague. Look for bumpy transitions. Look for where the prototype needs polish or fixing. Notice misses in copy or stitching of the prototype. Tweak and repeat as needed. #### **Don’t be dependent on the script.** Write a script to find a flow. Memorize it, but don’t rely on it entirely during the interview. If you keep looking at the script through the interview, it’s going to feel forced and you won’t be able to focus on what the user is saying. You’ll need all your attention to drive the conversations toward insights. #### **Be authentically curious.** When you’re truly fascinated by the user’s reactions and thoughts, you will be more engaged and so will the user. #### **Keep it personal and concrete** Help users avoid hypotheticals and generalisations. Users might use phrases like “People think...“, “Everyone wants…“, “I always…”. When this happens, gently ask for recent, personal examples from their life. #### **Don’t pitch** The goal of a research study is to observe and listen to users’ frank feedback — not to convince them your product is wonderful as is. *** ## 3️⃣ Questions #### **Ask “Who/What/Where/When/Why/How?”** questions Don’t ask leading questions like “Would you…” “Do you…” “Is it…”. These will tend to predetermine the answers for the user or get you a “yes/no” answer.
**Ask broken questions and make room for silence.** Allow your speech to trail off before you finish a question. Silence encourages the customer to talk without creating any bias.
**Don’t help your users too much.** When users get stuck, try not to jump in immediately or guide them towards the answer. It’s okay to observe users figure out the prototype on their own. It’s the moment of truth, it’s where the insight lies. Give them a minute, and try to understand what they are thinking with questions like: * “What is this? What is it for?” * “What do you think of that?” * “What do you expect that will do?” * “So, what goes through your mind as you look at this?” * “What are you looking for?” * “What would you do next? Why?” #### **Answer questions with questions** Users will inevitably ask questions about the product. When this happens, gently reflect them back by asking questions like, “How do you think that would work? What else might you try? How might you get assistance to figure this out?” *** ## 4️⃣ **Further reading** [From ‘Sprint’: The Five-Act Interview](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9ZG19XTbd4) [Sprint: Friday](https://library.gv.com/sprint-week-friday-7f66b4194137) [How to Build Better Rapport For Better Research Interviews](https://library.gv.com/how-to-build-better-rapport-for-better-research-interviews-869952b6a71d) [Get better data from user studies: 16 interviewing tips](https://library.gv.com/get-better-data-from-user-studies-16-interviewing-tips-328d305c3e37) *** *** # How to take notes ## 👋🏼 Introduction Note-taking is more than just transcription. The goal is to go beyond surface-level details and capture meaningful insights, mental models, and implicit biases. *** ## 1️⃣ Mindset #### **Look at the world through participants’ eyes**. Try to forget that you know the product. See what the product experience feels like for someone without all that context. Build your intuitive empathy for the user. #### **Be curious** **Y**ou’ll see users make choices that you’re excited about, but also do things that may disappoint or frustrate you. Approach all of the sessions with curiosity and an open mind. Don’t dismiss actions that don’t fit your expectations or understanding. #### **Designate a note-taker** When starting out, it’s helpful to have a note-taker with you. That way, each of you can maintain focus on your roles. It will also help to debrief between calls so you’re capturing information while it’s still fresh. {% hint style="success" %} As you get more comfortable with conducting an interview and better at identifying which observations are insightful, you may choose to play both roles yourself. In this case, have a notebook handy to jot down key observations. Keep 5-10 mins to reflect on your notes and enrich them before moving to the next interview. {% endhint %} *** ## 2️⃣ Observations #### **Initial reactions say a lot**. Look for expressions or comments that indicate what the user might be feeling as soon as they see a screen or the prototype. #### **Don’t jump to conclusions or solutions**. Stay with observations during the interview. There will be time to talk about possible solutions in the debrief at the end of the day and in the following weeks. Don’t make premature changes to the product or prototype during the sessions.
#### **Beware of taking comments literally**. Watch what participants do vs. what they say. Try to observe if their body language mirrors what they are saying. For example: Are they are looking disengeged while saying it’s interesting? Or are they saying that they want to pick one of the options but they look a little confused? These are good conversation openers — ask them why they look confused or what about it they are finding interesting. #### **Look for opportunity areas** Identify opportunities for improvement or innovation. Frame observations as How Might We (HMW) questions and note the HMWs down in the notes section for each participant. *** # How to prep for remote research ## 👋🏼 Introduction > “Remote testing has many advantages. You can choose from a much wider pool of users. People are in their own environment where they're comfortable, rather than some testing lab or office where they feel on display. And once you transition to the prototype, in most cases the tester won't even see you anymore (because they switched tabs) and they get more comfortable talking than they would in an in-person test.”— Amr Khalifeh, AJ\&Smart *** ## 1️⃣ **Before the call** #### **Check if they have a reliable setup when recruiting.** For remote research, users need a good internet connection, access to a laptop with a video camera, and a quiet place from which they can take a call. Video calls on phones while sharing a prototype don’t work too well. #### **Send a how-to guide.** Don’t assume your interviewee has used the meeting or prototyping software you’re using. Give them simple step-by-step instructions in the email for them to complete any setup needed. #### **Expect people not to show up.** Sending people reminders helps them remember that there's a human on the other end who will be in trouble if they don't show up without prior notice! Recruit 2-3 extra users in case the scheduled ones don’t show up. #### **Setup an extended display if possible.** You’ll need to be able to share your screen, observe participant actions and facial expressions, have talking points handy, and jot down quick reminders or follow-ups. #### **Use remote access features on a tool like Zoom** This removes the need to share links, and the interviewee having to navigate the link on their end. With the remote access feature, participants can interact with the prototype through screen sharing. #### **Be creative in low connectivity** environments There are many ways to conduct research in low connectivity. You can record prototypes as a video and send them over WhatsApp while on call. The video downloads completely so the experience is not patchy for the user. *** ## 2️⃣ **On the call** #### **Keep your video on** It automatically adds a ton of warmth and presence to the interview. #### **Be extra friendly** Video drains about half the energy from a conversation, so you’ll have to project more energy in your interviews, be extra attentive, and give lots of verbal and non-verbal clues that you’re listening. #### **Hide your team** Having the full team visible in the room can be intimidating. Make sure your teammates turn off their video. Ideally, find a way to hide or minimize them in the video call with your customer. #### **Keep time for setup** After a user joins, make sure you account for time needed for any troubleshooting *** ## 3️⃣ Prepare to T**roubleshoot** #### **Be patient when something goes wrong** It can be frustrating to guide participants to finding the mic button on Google Meet or when they click the Leave Call button by mistake and you’re waiting for them to come back. Remember it’s hard for everyone, and you can make the situation better by being kind. #### **Have a reliable channel for communication with the participant in case of glitches** Whatsapp is a decent option. Be patient, and lighten the mood while you try these steps from AJ\&Smart’s troubleshooting cheat sheet. | Scenario | How to help users | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Customer’s webcam doesn’t work or they don't want to share video | Tell them it's okay. Don’t worry about it. It’s not a must-have. | | Customer’s mic doesn’t work | Help them troubleshoot (be prepared to tell them where to click in your conferencing tool and Mac/PC settings). Be prepared to call them on their cell and use that for audio. (Tip: have some Skype credit to call internationally, have Skype Call Recorder installed to record the call) | | Customer’s screen sharing doesn’t work | Guide them to where they should click. Be prepared to guide them on exactly on how to do it (e.g. "Now click Add to Chrome. Do you have it? Cool, you can close that and go back to the video call and try clicking the screen sharing button again...") | | Customer’s computer is too slow to load the prototype or screen share | Have the prototype open and your machine and be prepared to share your screen and demo from your side instead. Ask them where they would want to click next and do the clicking for them. | | Customer joins on mobile but you need them on desktop (even though you told them several times before) | Ask them if they can switch to a computer or get to one relatively soon. Be prepared to let them go and call a backup tester instead (and obviously have backup testers, see below…) | #### **Expect your main recording tool to fail** Always record the call using two tools. *** ## 4️⃣ **Further reading** [The Remote Design Sprint Guide](https://www.thesprintbook.com/articles/remote-design-sprint-guide#test) [Remote Design Sprints: Jake Knapp and friends whiteboard demo!!](https://youtu.be/UzC7vVkJpPc?t=3445) [Remote user testing during lockdown](https://www.simple.org/blog/remote-user-testing-during-lockdown/) *** # How to throw a watch party ## 👋🏼 Introduction Watch Parties are helpful for project kick-offs, new product innovation, and major changes to existing features. They are however a bit of an overkill for quick usability studies. *** ## 1️⃣ Throw a watch party #### **Invite core group to attend** as observers No secondhand research report or highlights video alone can deliver the same jolt of insight and impact as when the core team actively observes a full set of customer interviews. * Remind them how it will help the project. Add it to their calendars. Send reminders. * Stoke FOMO in stakeholders by sending catchy updates during the interviews! * Even create “I’m a customer champion” badges as give-aways. #### **Set up room with goodies** * Stickies and pens to take notes on, large TV to watch on. * Note taking template on figjam, google sheets, or notion for everyone to anchor to. * Snacks and coffee to take care of energy levels through the day. #### **Record interviews** using [Grain.com](http://Grain.com) This frees up mind space during the call to engage in the conversation and ask insightful questions. Set up your account, create a project and connect to your google account. Meetings will get auto recorded. * Add grain to meeting links * Record if remote, share screen, open prototype, then give remove access to user * If in person, join meeting from test device, share screen, open prototype, then hand device to user. Use computer to record video of user. #### **Stream to core team** * **If the Participant is joining remotely, and core team is present in person—**The note-taker should join from a conference room with mic and camera turned off. Observers can join the conference room in person. * **If everyone is joining remotely—**The note-taker sets up a parallel *Observers Meeting*. S/he also joins the interview meeting. S/he will then share screen with audio from *Interview Meeting* on the *Observer Meeting*. * **If everyone is joining in person—**Assign a note-take/facilitator, who will be with the observing group to help take notes, to call attention to interview techniques, and to do quick debrief after calls. They will also be able to collate questions form the group and share with the interviewer. *** ## 2️⃣ Further reading [UX Watch Parties](https://medium.com/gv-library/ux-watch-parties-543d22b1478d) [How to build a simple UX lab anywhere](https://library.gv.com/how-to-build-a-simple-ux-lab-anywhere-86e6c6b3fed4) [Grain | Conversation Intelligence and AI Sales Assistant](https://grain.com/) [GoTo Meeting Web Conferencing & Online Meeting Software - GoTo](https://www.goto.com/meeting) [Google Meet: Livestream a meeting](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ILDLkTr4TG0) *** # How to create artefacts ## 👋🏼 Introduction Creating an artefact allows you to go in with a hypothesis and get a yes or a no to it. It also helps the participant imagine what you’re talking about. This way you get to see their honest reactions to your product. *** ## 1️⃣ How to create artefacts #### Decide what kind of artefact Depending on what you’re testing, pick the artefact you need to show to users. * It can be a clickable prototype if you’re testing the product. Use Figma. * It can be a product demo video if you’re testing a product construct. Create a clickthrough prototype on Figma and record it as a demo / walkthrough using Loom * It can be a landing page if you’re testing a positioning or marketing pitch. Use Framer * It can be a card sorting exercise if you’re trying to understand mental models. #### **Limit to 1-3 critical user flows** or screens for testing Anything more than that is going to be overwhelming and leave no time for any explorative conversation. * Limit to testing 1-2 broad areas like new product innovation (15 min per area) * Or 2-4 specific areas like in usability of interaction patterns / narratives (7 min per area) #### **Aim for a realistic artefact** Get close to the real product to simulate a realistic user experience and gather authentic feedback. Get details like transitions, copy, and pressed states right. Remove the blue hotspots if you’re using Figma. At the same time trying to make the prototype too real can overengineer it and take too long to put together with diminishing returns on learnings. Skip adjacent flows and error states that you’re not testing. Focus on getting the flows you’re testing right. If users encounter one of the adjacent flows, gently move them back to the core task. *** ## 2️⃣ Further reading [Sprint: Thursday](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IGcwFV76t7o) [The Prototyping Tools We Use in our Design Sprint](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z5JmwlOqzdg) [DESIGN SPRINT 2.0 - Prototyping Day Tips by AJ\&Smart](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_mCidFnia0) *** # Building with AI From testing hypotheses to finding the right GTM strategy, this modules helps with everything it takes to build a good AI product. ## Modules
Understand the tech/files/AFf5XiyVT2MIpooQbzGd/pages/DGdL1GdvKexcT4sYnT5d
Map your product/files/fwGXuDvGyQe4eeaLbfjb/pages/MTuLNe8gVVOk0InHEMby
Build a proof of concept /files/LTu6t4i1XYhFcvqbD3AO/pages/MK3qFMaamuWSR14wuFb1
LLM Inputs/files/XmyJSbqpafe5yQOxZ3Bb/pages/Wnulq4FiNJ52Us8uvFDe
LLM Responses /files/X3CjLWlmsPPSKFrTVnyu/pages/2yZnEeNdHTH6LKgkSwRr
# Understand the tech {% hint style="info" %} **Assumed audience:** You’re a product manager working on an LLM powered feature. You’re familiar with how LLMs work. Use this as a starting point to think about the problems that LLMs are best suited to solve, and to start experimenting with these solutions. {% endhint %} ## 👋 Introduction Large Language Models provide a way for computers to understand natural human language and respond meaningfully. This was not possible prior to 2022. *** ## 1️⃣ Understand the tech > Think of LLMs as small reasoning engines rather than as a magical black box to throw stuff into. The small reasoning engine approach makes it reliable, reduce hallucinations and reduce cost of operation as well. {% embed url="" %} > Try not to misuse the LLM - like don’t answer someone’s birthday using an LLM just because you can. Using an LLM for it is less reliable and more expensive than querying a database. {% embed url="" %} *** ## 2️⃣ Further reading {% embed url="" fullWidth="false" %} {% embed url="" %} {% embed url="" %} {% embed url="" %} *** # Map your product {% hint style="info" %} **Assumed audience:** You’re a product manager working on an LLM powered feature. You’re familiar with how LLMs work. Use this as a starting point to think about the problems that LLMs are best suited to solve, and to start experimenting with these solutions. {% endhint %} ## 👋 Introduction The traditional process of identifying flows and steps is still important. Pick a core product flow, or job to be done and identify specific places where a *tiny reasoning engine* will improve experiences. *** ## 1️⃣ Pick the right problem To build with LLMs, the tech stack will need to have independent modules for sources, vector indexes, picking prompts, creating API calls, and fetching summaries. Building this infra can be expensive, so it’s really important to identify specific high-ROI applications in a product. Collaborate with engineering to ideate and understand capabilities of LLMs. > Khan Academy offers Khanmigo as a personal tutor for every student. 1:1 tutoring is an undeniably superior experience in ed-tech. {% embed url="" %} ### Solution as a feature Feature-level opportunities (eg: Linear, Notion, Grain) can take the form of inline context menus that are tightly scoped AI features. 1. They are context specific. 2. They allow you to use the right UI for the feature, and not retro-fit it to a conversational interface. 3. They are lighter and make it easier to weave AI interactions into your experience. > [Linear's AI feature](https://linear.app/changelog/2023-06-01-ai-filters) is an option within its Filter feature. It makes an existing feature more powerful. {% embed url="" %} ### Solution as a platform Platform-level opportunities (eg: Microsoft Copilot, Sidekick, Bard) can take the form of a copilot/chat as a capability across your tool. 1. Natural language just got way more powerful, as it is the medium for LLMs. 2. Conversation makes it easy to maintain context move through a flow. 3. It’s powerful only when you need a central hub for your use cases. > Shopify’s [Sidekick](https://www.shopify.com/in/magic) is an assistant that can take actions across different features of the product from a single interface. {% embed url="" %} ### Solution as a person Sometimes a full blown chat interaction is the solution. This is a good idea if you are emulating a real person. > Intercom, Duolingo, and Khanmigo have all identified that being *conversational and personal* is a core part of their products, and leaned into it.
**Now you should have clarity on a high-ROI problem that only an LLM can solve, and a solution concept. It’s time to start tinkering!** *** # Build a proof of concept {% hint style="info" %} **Assumed audience:** You’re a product designer working on an LLM powered feature. You’re familiar with how LLMs work. Use this as a starting point for further exploration and innovation. {% endhint %} ## 👋 Introduction You have a solution in mind, it’s time to start testing feasibility and support your engineering team. Here’s how you can bring in the required product context into the building process. *** ## 1️⃣ Inputs Identify the sources for the LLM to pull from.
Some questions to get you started— 1. What type of queries would you anticipate from users? 2. Do you have a knowledge base that will act as a source? Any other form of documentation? 3. Does it need additional interaction level information about the user’s behaviour? 4. Is there going to be a collaborative back-and-forth between the user and the LLM? If so, how should you retain context in an LLM<>user collaboration session? *** ## 2️⃣ Outputs Articulate what a meaningful response looks like for your use case. Identify what kind of fine-tuning or prompting you’d need to get to this response reliably.
Create a dataset of ideal responses. Creating good training data is a design and copy responsibility. Generating high quality example data is critical to build the best experiences. Learn more about crafting responses [here.](https://www.notion.so/LLM-Inputs-30fa44d763d74057af829d25d1e907c3?pvs=21) ### Using an LLM Bring in stakeholders who have context of the product to collaborate on the prompts and examples.
### **Iterate on prompts** Keep them specific and context rich. Prompt engineering uses natural language so it’s quite accessible, and is core to the product experience. If you’re using OpenAI, see how far you can get with just testing out your idea on the [Playground](https://platform.openai.com/playground) before you actually start pulling from all your sources. ### **Fine-tune your model** Do this if a prompt is not effective. It will improve accuracy, give a deeper understanding of the product space, and be able to respond to a wide input variety. {% hint style="info" %} 📣 “Fine-tuning improves on few-shot learning by training on many more examples than can fit in the prompt, letting you achieve better results on a wide number of tasks. **Once a model has been fine-tuned, you won't need to provide as many examples in the prompt.** This saves costs and enables lower-latency requests.” From [Fine-tuning the OpenAI API](https://platform.openai.com/docs/guides/fine-tuning) {% endhint %} *** # LLM Inputs {% hint style="info" %} **Assumed audience:** You’re a product designer working on an LLM powered feature. You’re familiar with how LLMs work. Use this as a starting point for further exploration and innovation. {% endhint %} ## 👋 Introduction When designing for LLMs, there are a few additional states that a designer would need to consider. These are peculiarities specific to how LLMs work (eg. slower load time, streaming capability), and common interaction patterns we’re noticing across products (eg: empty states doubling down on educating users, explicit triggers, feedback). We’ll dive into the details of each state in this article.
*** ## ✨ **Discovery** The user finds your feature, in a context where it’s useful to them. Some common signifiers for AI are sparkles (✨), and bots (🤖).
> 🤞 Try to layer your LLM capability on an existing feature. This makes sure that the user discovers it in the right context.
> 🤞 If your LLM feature is stand-alone, use an existing pattern, or ensure your AI signifier stands out to pique interest.
> 🤞 Maybe you don’t need discovery, user’s input, or a trigger at all. You can weave in your LLM response into an action that a user is already taking frequently, and improve the experience there. *** ## 🤔 **Empty state** When they click on the entry point, the empty state should help users understand what they can do with this feature. This is important to get right since LLMs are a new tech capability, and your users may not be familiar with what it can do.
> 🤞 Give examples of what the user can ask. If your examples are context specific, they are more useful. *** ## ✍🏻 **Query & Intent** The user types in their query. As they’re typing, the system is constantly trying to identify what type of result it should provide.
> 🤞 Understand how intent detection is going to work in your specific implementation. Play out the different scenarios to stress the pattern you choose. *** ## 💥 **Trigger** The user hits “enter” or the “send” icon. It’s a good idea to give LLM features an explicit trigger (vs triggering API calls with each character being typed). This is because API calls to your model are relatively expensive, and your results are not going to show up instantaneously anyway.
*** # LLM Responses {% hint style="info" %} **Assumed audience:** You’re a product designer working on an LLM powered feature. You’re familiar with how LLMs work. Use this as a starting point for further exploration and innovation. {% endhint %} ## 👋 Introduction When designing for LLMs, there are a few additional states that a designer would need to consider. These are peculiarities specific to how LLMs work (eg. slower load time, streaming capability), and common interaction patterns we’re noticing across products (eg: empty states doubling down on educating users, explicit triggers, feedback). We’ll dive into the details of each state in this article.
*** ## ⏳ **Waiting** With LLMs, this can be broken down into 2 steps—loading and streaming. ### Loading A traditional loading state where an API call is being made and we wait for the response.
> 🤞 As of Oct 2023, LLMs are not particularly fast. Be sure to test your implementation, and see if you need to do the right expectation setting for your users, and get creative with your loading states. ### **Streaming** Responses are not generated by LLMs as complete blocks of text. They simply generate the next token (i.e. a single word, or set of words). This means we can actually show the progress in real time, and don’t need to wait for the entire text to load.
> 🤞 Streaming is a relatively uncommon pattern and there can be a lot of room to innovate with micro-interactions here. *** ## 💬 **Response** This could be a summarisation of a long piece of text, an edit of a selected text, or the result of an API call facilitated by the LLM. Generating a meaningful summary for a general use-case is challenging. We’d recommend you narrow your use-case, and work with your PMs to come up with a structure for your summary.
To get to the structure, you will typically: 1. **Identify types of questions:** List down all the use cases and related questions your user may ask. Go broad, and then categorise them. 2. **Understand your sources:** How are your sources structured? Based on this you may need to define some logic for what type of source is pulled for what type of question, and so on. 3. **Write ideal responses:** What is the leanest summary that will be the most meaningful for your user? Write these for all the different types of questions. 4. **Identify a structure:** Find patterns in your ideal responses, and create your structure. 5. **Create a dataset:** Now use this structure to create a dataset of 50-100 ideal summaries to fine-tune your model (As of Oct 2023, fine-tuning is a more effective method than few-shot prompting) > 🤞 Try using markdown to style the summaries in your fine-tuning dataset. The model will learn the styling as well, and your summaries will not look like walls of text. *** ## 🔄 **Follow up** LLM features can be collaborative. Your user may not be satisfied with the first response, and may want to re-try, or make some tweaks to the query. And if they’re satisfied, the Follow Up should allow them to make use of the Response easily. This also raises the question of whether you need to build a full-blown chat interface to facilitate this back-and-forth. A few questions to think about: 1. Do you really need a name and persona to the LLM? Related, does it really need an avatar? 2. Does it need to sound conversational, or does it need to just respond with the answer you seek? 3. Is there a use-case for maintaining chat history at all?
> 🤞 Be intentional about the elements of a chat interface that are useful to you, and build out your own lean version of it. *** ## 👍🏼 **Feedback** This one is relatively simple. Ask your engineering team what kind of feedback will help them improve the model, and capture that.
> 🤞 Progressive disclosure is the lightest way to go. *** # Building Help and Support Getting your help and support experience right is important. If you don’t, frustrated or disgruntled users will probably call your customer support execs (and this is a costly function in any company). ## Modules
How to scope a support experience/files/Ue8a7JUsEImnpnRvuNr7/pages/uX4zwDSjxN04xzRt8rQw
How to design discovery for support/files/A6gnvs4yy5ElvoTlZwZj/pages/Labvoc7DhWTAmmIO6u1i
How to design a support centre/files/vTpKcJilnmYamB016PAa/pages/TCOMWXJDYeK8kq5YnW50
How to write good support articles /files/oDikCoMDRMW4Oe75uTc5/pages/dg3FQ8MaW0TTvRGi3Lc7
# How to scope a support experience ## 👋 Introduction A support experience should be immediate, simple, and humane. It should feel like calling up a friend or an expert, and getting your solution in a minute. A support experience typically has 4 parts: 1. `Discovery` of Support from various pages in the product 2. `Support centre` to guide users to resolution 3. `Self-serve` content like articles and FAQs 4. `High-touch` options that involve a support agent
*** ## 1️⃣ Support phases ### 👀 Discovery Getting this right will reinforce the user’s trust in your product. If Support is hard to access in a moment of frustration for the user, you risk losing the user. | Entry point | Purpose | Guide | | ------------- | -------------------------------------------------------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | App level | Make Help easy to access from anywhere on your app | | | Feature level | Surface Help CTA in features where you anticipate issues | | ### ### ❓ Support centre Support experiences should be designed to help users find their solution as quickly as possible. Finding the most relevant content should be straightforward and intuitive. | Feature | Purpose | Guide | | --------------- | ---------------------------------------- | ----------- | | Search | For user’s with a specific query | Coming soon | | Recent activity | Activity for which you anticipate issues | Coming soon | | Categories | To drill down to the issue gradually | Coming soon | #### ### 📖 Self-serve Use self-serve content for simple questions that your users might have—about using the product or understanding specific features. | Feature | Purpose | Guide | | -------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Articles | To explain how to use different features of the product | | | FAQs | Specific questions and answers to troubleshoot common issues. These are typically crisp paragraphs and much shorter than articles. | Coming soon | | Chatbot |

If possible, to deflect issues with articles and FAQs.
Else if the user is not satisfied, to identify the type of issue before it is assigned to an agent.

| Coming soon | #### ### 🧑🏻‍💻 High-touch If a query is operations related such as a payment issue or a delivery issue, it might require a person to draw on information from multiple systems. | Feature | Purpose | Guide | | ----------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ----------- | | Tickets | Asynchronous communication for cases that are less time sensitive, or would require longer to reach a resolution. | Coming soon | | Live agents | To connect the user to a real person through a live chat. This option is the most costly and should be reserved for issues that have real-time implications. | Coming soon | > ☝ **Guiding principle:** High-touch support is a cost centre (i.e. it does not directly add to profit but still costs the organisation money to operate). So it’s wise to resolve as many issues as possible with `self-serve` methods, and to be discerning about when `high-touch` methods are required. *** ## 2️⃣ Map Align with your team on a map before you start designing. 1. Identify the features mentioned above that will solve issues on your product. 2. If you’re building Support from scratch, map the ideal flow through these features. 3. If you already have a flow, identify the steps that are forming bottlenecks. You will solve for these.
**Let’s zoom in to the `chatbot` feature:** 1. If the user gives poor feedback on an `FAQ`, they enter the `chatbot` flow. 2. The `chatbot` asks questions to identify the issue. 1. If the issue can be solved by an `FAQ` , the chatbot responds with the `FAQ` content in a message. 2. If the issue requires human intervention, the `chatbot` collects information from the user that will allow the human agent to hit the ground running. 1. If the issue is time-sensitive, it is routed to a `live agent` for immediate resolution. 2. Else, a `ticket` is raised for asynchronous resolution. *** # How to design discovery for support ## 👋 Introduction Getting this right will reinforce the user’s trust in your product. If Support is hard to access in a moment of frustration for the user, you risk losing the user.
*** ## 1️⃣ App level ### Make it easy to find This doesn’t have to be an area to innovate. 1. **Mobile:** Place it in your Profile settings. 2. **Web:** Make it a floating action button, place it in a sidebar, or in the top right hand—any place visible to the user regardless of what screen they’re on.
### **Use recognisable icons** Use icons that correspond to the type of Support you’re offering.
*** ## 2️⃣ Feature level ### Identify features where a user is likely to require Support 1. Time-sensitive actions (Eg: UPI payment) 2. Actions that trigger background operations (Eg: Food delivery) **More examples:** shopping online, making payments to peers/merchants, scheduling accommodation, making travel bookings, and hailing rides. Use the context you already have about this feature to narrow down the issue more quickly.
*** # How to design a support centre ## 👋 Introduction Support experiences should be designed to help users find their solution as quickly as possible. Finding the most relevant content should be straightforward and intuitive. This article is about different ways to help users discover solutions swiftly.
*** ## 1️⃣ Search A good Search allows users to narrow down to their issue quickly. This is important because users that end up raising tickets have specific queries in mind. Tickets are high-touch so you should deflect them as much as possible. ### Use a placeholder to demonstrate breadth Mention topics that the users can search across.
### Highlight keyword matches in the results Display the context in which the keyword is matched. This will help users can decide if a result is relevant to them.
#### ✨ Try a semantic search Most Support searches use a `keyword search`. `Semantic search` is a better way to match by looking at “meanings” within the context in which the keywords are used. This improves search result relevance and ranking.
[About semantic search and how it works](https://support.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/5633225532826-About-semantic-search-and-how-it-works#topic_d3r_l1z_gxb) #### ✨ Generate LLM summaries It’s possible that the user’s query can be answered by 3 lines in a \~600 word article.| A good LLM summary helps them get to their solution as soon as they hit enter—without sifting through article titles to find the right one, and then scanning it to find the solution.
*** ## 2️⃣ Recent actions Certain actions are more likely to require Support. These could be: 1. Time-sensitive actions (Eg: UPI payment) 2. Actions that trigger background operations (Eg: food delivery) There will also be a Support entry point in the feature from where the actions are taken (refer [here](https://www.notion.so/7b1e01ea445948f7adbc6a9589e60b35?pvs=21)). Use the same flow for both entry points.
*** ## 3️⃣ Categories Support is for specific questions, and Search, while straightforward, has higher interaction cost. Users need to formulate their queries, type them out, scan the results, and hope they find something relevant. Conversely, grouping `articles` and `FAQs` into categories and sub-categories can help users drill down to the solution quickly.
#### Use terms that users are familiar with Listen in to customer support calls to learn what words users use. You can also test with users.
#### Articles can repeat across topics Prioritise ensuring articles are easy to find. > ☝ **Guiding principle:** Redundancy is fine as long as it improves discovery of the content, which brings faster resolution to the user.
#### Nesting is fine as long as it is intuitive The interaction cost will be low if the categories are intuitive. That means that the user doesn’t have to go back and forth through multiple categories, or scan through a long list of articles in a single category. Again, prioritise making articles easy to find.
*** # How to write good support articles ## 👋 Introduction In a self-serve support experience, users read articles to resolve their queries. The articles should be easy, direct and remove chances of miscommunication. This should be done while being strongly aligned to the product vocabulary. Here’s how to strike this balance well: *** ## 1️⃣ Title ### Address a specific query Write specific articles addressing a query instead of writing articles for a feature. Redundancy is okay as long as users are able to get to resolution as soon as possible.
### Start with a verb The user is seeking support because they were trying to complete a task and couldn’t. Make your titles actionable.
### Maintain consistency for terms Use the same words for the same features across articles. Using synonymous words for the same features across articles is disorienting for users.
*** ## 2️⃣ Content ### Use **a “Who, What, How” structure** Introduce the task the user is trying to complete. If the task is applicable to a specific user group, mention that and tell the user how to complete the task.
### **Be action-oriented, not apologetic** In help articles, using phrases like “We’re sorry for the inconvenience” reinforces that the user ran into a problem and needed help. Instead, jump into the solution and help the user complete the task.
### M**ake it scannable** Use UI elements to make it scannable. The last thing a frustrated user wants to see is a block of text.
*** ## 3️⃣ Footer ### Get feedback This will help you improve your articles. Poor feedback on the article can trigger the high-touch flow (Example: Open up a chatbot, or create a ticket).
### L**ink to related articles** Anticipate what related queries the user might have — these could be queries related to that feature or queries with a similar intent. This helps the user find what they need easily.
# Microcopy Words make up 50% of the user interface. They help users navigate, take actions, recieve feedback and use your product. ## Modules
How to write well/files/3ZSItcmEnxqDB1h419mv/pages/6Pzg7wGOVcyk8CA7gLKB
How to write phrases/files/Q2zNUjFaQHoIBtZiFtPd/pages/A9EUONRdupLXYPsVivsr
How to write messages/files/dtgRAUArQF73myfIrRHZ/pages/x22ciUtQF4rrb6grzqIO
How to create a voice /files/wG6oPMtTkpcK7P0WcetY/pages/TwCYLSAJM4MDProJid0M
# How to write well ## 👋 Introduction All text in digital products is microcopy. When used well, it reduces confusion, creates confidence, provides feedback, encourages actions, improves conversions and reinforces brand familiarity. *** ## 1️⃣ Good copy in the wild You will find microcopy everywhere in interfaces—button labels, error messages, tooltips, onboarding instructions, form field placeholders, and even the labels on navigation elements. Here’s a small curation.
> During onboarding, titles and buttons invite the user to explore and get started. In user guides, step-by-step breakdown of features helps users learn how to use the product.
> On forms, field titles, placeholders and descriptions assist users to fill the form correctly in fewer attempts. On search pages, category titles and labels make the content structure visible to the user.
> On bottom sheets, titles, instructions and feedback explain what happened, what to do differently next time, available next steps, and what to expect on picking an option. *** ## 2️⃣ The 4-step edit Writing good copy can be easy. This exercise will get you to 80% of the way really quickly. Use it to write everything from short phrases for buttons, complete sentences for error messages, and entire paragraphs for how-to guides. ### **Make it purposeful** Put down everything important and relevant for the user. Leave out nothing. It’s okay if it’s long. ### **Make it concise** Rewrite the message to be shorter without losing the essence. Decide if the focus is the verb or the noun and lead with that. ### **Make it conversational** If the message sounds abrupt or machine-like, rewrite it like a person would say it. Writing in active voice helps. ### **Make it clear** Finally, check if the intended message might be confusing to users in any way. Testing with teammates and users helps.
*** # How to write phrases ## 👋 Introduction Titles, buttons and placeholders are short strings of text that help the user navigate, take actions and enter information. *** ## 1️⃣ Title copy A title is often the first and ***only*** thing a user reads. It tells the user where they are in the journey or what action they might need to take. You can write different kinds of titles:
> **Brand as title**—When you want to reinforce the brand image, use the brand name as the page title.
> **Content as title**—When the screen is based on content like an FAQ or a blog post, use the title of the content.
> **Task as title**—When the user has to take an action, describe the task. Always use a verb phrase.
> **Summarise actions**—When there are many actions for a user to take, the title should summarise all actions. These titles are often ambiguous. They can be a noun phrase or a verb phrase. *** ## 2️⃣ Button copy Buttons allows the user to commit to an action or navigate to elsewhere. It should be unambiguous.
> **Make it specific**—Use 1-3 words to describe the action.
> **Make it simple**—Use words that users would say in a conversation. You can sit in on research calls with users, read support tickets by users to learn about the words users are most familiar with.
> **Make it consistent**—When you’re using single task titles, use the same verb in the button and the title.
> **Make it reassuring**—A click trigger is a short reminder next to the button. Think about what the user would be concerned about when taking this action and address it in the click trigger. *** ## 3️⃣ Placeholder copy Input fields appear when the user has to enter information or run a search. The placeholder text appears inside the input field and helps the user enter accurate information. You can write different kinds of placeholder text:
> **Questions**—Ask your users a question to guide the entry. This works well for search and open-ended questions.
> **Categories**—If the user can search for a range of things, define the categories to help the user.
> **Examples**—An example or sample text can show your user the best way of using the field.
> **Prompts**—For text fields where the answer is long and the user will have to think, a guiding sentence can give them a starting point. *** # How to write messages ## 👋 Introduction Messages in the product, like error messages, success messages, are a combination of titles, body copy and buttons. When written well, they give the user feedback, clarity and reinforce brand voice. *** ## 1️⃣ Error messages An error message interrupts a user’s flow and can be frustrating. A good error message eases that frustration by explaining the problem, providing a solution, and turning the delay into a neutral, if not pleasant, experience.
> **Describe the problem—**Tell the user what went wrong and why the system responded with an error.
> **Describe the solution—**Tell the user what to do to complete the process. If there is no solution, offer an alternative action such as turning to support.
> **In standard error messages,** you can leave out either the description of the problem or the solution to the problem.
> **Make it human—**Rewrite the error message to reinforce the brand’s personality and to speak like a human. *** ## 2️⃣ Success messages When users complete a task successfully, they expect a success message to confirm that the action was completed and to tell them what the next step is. There are four components of a good success message.
> **Confirmation—**Give a clear indication that what the user wanted to do, did in fact occur.
> **Consequence—**Now that the user has completed the action, what can they expect?
> **Guide users forward—**Direct the users to a mandatory or optional next step.
> **Go beyond the template—**Do not use a template “x successfully completed” message for every time. Speak to your user with warmth. *** ## 3️⃣ Loading states Every system needs time to load, process data or run a search. While the user is waiting, changing text, animation or even a progress bar can shorten the perceived time.
> **Inform the user—**Tell the user what the system is doing for them.
> **Delight the user—**If the loading time is long, suggest an alternative way to spend time or reinforce brand voice. *** ## 4️⃣ Empty states Empty states can set the expectation and build excitement while indicating that the empty space is intentional. Empty states can be just a title, or a title and description and a button. ### Feature before first use
> **Tell the user what is supposed to be there—**If a user has never used a feature and lands on an empty page, it will turn them away,
> **Add instructions—**Tell the user how to use the feature. *** ### Feature not in use
> **Tell the user why there is nothing there—**Set expectations with the user and let them know that nothing is wrong.
> **Encourage the user to use the feature—**What can the user do next? Direct them to action. *** ### Search Sometimes, when a user searches for something, the system might not have anything to show. When this happens, use the empty state to inform and suggest.
> **Inform and suggest—**Tell the user that you didn’t find what they were looking for. Suggest other ways to find what they were looking for. For example: try rephrasing your search, search for a category, check spelling. *** ## 5️⃣ Dialog boxes Dialog boxes are useful and necessary, but that they interrupt a user’s flow. Write the copy so that the user needs to spend as little time as possible reading and understanding the copy. ### Titles
> **Be clear—**The dialog box is used for alerts or confirmations. In the title, speak about the action the user will take.
> **Be brutally concise.** *** ### Buttons
> **Be consistent with the title—**Use the same verb in the title and the button. Using two different verbs will confuse the user.
> **Be descriptive—**It’s important that the user knows exactly what will happen when they click on a button.
> **Keep two buttons—**Most dialog boxes need just two buttons. Add a third button only if there is a third action. *** ### Body
> **Not all dialog boxes need body copy.** If there is nothing to add, don’t add body copy in the dialog box.
> **Inform the user of the consequence—**If the action has a consequence the user should know about, write that in the body copy.
> **Suggest an alternative action—**If the user can pursue an alternative course of action, let them know in the body copy. *** # How to create a voice ## 👋 Introduction To understand voice, think of the product as a person. How would that person speak? This is the product’s voice. A product’s voice is how the product speaks to the user across *all* touch points.
*** ## 1️⃣ Understand your product Go back to the roots of your product, and your users. Painting a vivid picture and thinking deeply about how you want your users to feel will help you craft a compelling voice for your product. ### What does the product do?
> Describe the details of your product. ### What does the product solve?
> Describe the problem your product tackles in 50 words. ### Who is the product for?
> Think about: Age, gender, location, level of education, tech savviness. ### How do you want users to feel?
> Think about how the user should feel before using the product and after using the product. ### If the product were a person, who would it be?
> Describe a person who shares the values of your product. Don’t think of your “ideal” user. *** ## 2️⃣ Create voice guidelines Use the product understanding to build voice qualities for your product. ### Pick adjectives
> When your users describe your product, what adjectives do you want them to use?
> List 6-9 adjectives. It’s okay if some are synonymous. These are your voice qualities. *** ### Make it specific
> For each voice quality, think about how you **don’t** want to write.
> Create a spectrum that is a helpful contrast, but not a direct antonym.
> Your product may not always be encouraging or comforting. Place pins on the spectrum to capture nuance in your product’s voice quality. *** ### Create examples > Having real examples of copy in the product enrich your voice guidelines👇
> **Bonus example!** See how Duolingo has created examples for their [voice qualities](https://design.duolingo.com/writing/voice#expressive) 👇
{% hint style="warning" %} **Your product may have multiple user segments.** For example, Swiggy communicates with consumers, driver partners and business owners. Airbnb communicates with hosts and travellers. In such a case, you may want to create a distinct voice for each user segment. It’s natural for 1-2 voice qualities to overlap between segments, since they share the brand. {% endhint %} *** ## 3️⃣ Use guidelines effectively
> **Use it to write new text** for a flow or screen that sounds like your product.
> **Use it for feedback.** Use the voice guidelines as a common vocabulary.
> **Use it to onboard teammates.** The voice guidelines are a great resource for a new team member to write copy in the product’s unique style. *** # Typography Text does most of the heavy lifting in interfaces. Getting it right means to optimise it for readability, accessibility and usability. Think of the time you were frustrated with a book because the font size was too small. Or the time you were creating your design and didn’t know which font to use. ## Modules
How to compose type/files/ezrS0d7MHjAI7ZYqwdIF/pages/tzK0EEI9fhJpWHRPwKXT
How to create a type scale/files/Ax54NqiKUo2ZnhUc24WG/pages/toL6IeQ1hTdUVr2uWeE5
How to pick typefaces/files/gKNNDTAxaJ1mpntJBM3N/pages/8OGzNyfTS4KWL8PpYSTS
How to pair typefaces/files/gHgWe82WLhzqKdgufGyW/pages/4dXUVZpH3utiWDZIK7ds
# How to compose type ## 👋 Introduction Let's begin with a single paragraph of text. We can do a lot to make it easy to scan, read and use. Use **Basics** as a quick checklist for any paragraph of text or content. Always get this right. *** ## 1️⃣ The Basics ### **Font Size** The size of the type used is the single most important factor in ensuring the readability of text. By picking the right font size, we can make sure that the words are clear and easy to read, and that makes reading a lot more enjoyable!
> Paragraph text of 16pts works well on mobile and desktop devices. Unless really necessary, try not to go smaller than 16pts for paragraph text.
> If the product you're working on has a design system or a type scale, stick to it. Do not break away from it. *** ### **Line length** It’s the width of a paragraph of text, measured as the number of characters or words in a line of text. A good line length allows for comfortable reading by providing enough words on each line without overwhelming the reader or creating excessive line breaks. It's about finding that sweet spot where the reader can smoothly and effortlessly read through the text.
> If lines are too short, the eye has to jump to the next line too often. If lines are too long, it is hard to find the beginning of the next line. A good length is **50-70 characters** long. (The easiest way to do this is to search google for a free character counting tool.) *** ### Emphasis By using different font weights and styles, we can guide the reader's eyes to the most important or significant parts of the text. It helps convey meaning and makes the text more engaging to read.
> Heavier weights are one way to create emphasis. If you emphasise too many words, readers can lose focus. If you emphasise too few words, readers can feel like the message is incomplete.
> The regular weight is designed to be used for body text. Try not to use lighter or heavier weights for paragraph content.
> For punctuation around the emphasised words, use the style from the paragraph, not the style from the emphasised text. This is because the punctuation is related more closely to the paragraph than to the emphasised content.
> Use italics for emphasis only in serif typefaces. In sans serif typefaces, the contrast between regular and italics isn’t sufficient to create good emphasis.
> Using colour to differentiate between links and regular text makes hyperlinks more recognisable and encourages interaction. *** ### **Alignment** The alignment of the text helps to manage the user's attention and makes the text more readable. In 80% of cases, we use left alignment on the site because it is more readable. How we use text alignment: Left aligned – in most cases On the right – for balance and compositional solution In the centre – very rarely, mostly for headlines
> Align mixed font sizes by their baseline, which is the imaginary line that letters rest on. Take advantage of an alignment reference that your eyes already perceive. *** ## 2️⃣ **Advanced** There's more you can do with a paragraph to make it feel cared for and polished. Here we learn to let type breathe with whitespace and not let abbreviations, numbers and fractions stick out like a sore thumb. ### **Line height** Poorly spaced lines either due to excessive or insufficient leading can break the flow of the text. An optimal line height will allow readers to absorb the content more effortlessly. There are things you can keep in mind to achieve this:
> For paragraphs, set line height to avoid clashes between the letter’s descenders and ascenders. A line height of 110%-150% usually works well, depending on the font size and x-height. This range provides enough space between lines to ensure comfortable reading and visual separation.
> Applying the same line height used for body text to headlines can result in excessive spacing. *** ### **Small caps** Small caps are capital letters but short. They could be used as subtler means of emphasis within running text compared to full uppercase letters. Use it with discretion and add letter spacing if necessary.
> Use small caps to distinguish abbreviations because they don’t change the visual weight.
> Small caps can be good alternatives to bold or italics as well. *** ### Numbers Numbers are a frequently occurring element in text and design. They are used to specify quantities, dates, prices, measurements, phone numbers, and a myriad of statistics and other data.
> The correct way to represent fractions is as symbols like "3⁄4," as opposed to being written out using regular numerals such as "3/4."
> If you have a series of items, you may use ordinals to indicate their placement or order, such as "First," "Second," "Third," and so forth. Follow the style guidelines of the brand or organisation on using ordinals. *** ### Lining figures Lining figures are most often the height of the capital letters, aligning with the baseline and the cap height. It’s a way to approximate capital letters so that they are uniform in height. Lining figures are commonly offered in two spacing formats, proportional and tabular. **Proportional and tabular lining**
> Proportional lining has different widths depending on the shape of the figure whereas tabular lining has all symbols spaced at regular intervals like monospaced fonts.
> Proportional lining figures are recommended for headlines or titles as they are widely acknowledged as the standard practice. Tabular lining figures are preferred for columns of numbers, like tables, price lists, financial data, and listings. *** ### Letter spacing Letter spacing is the adjustment of the horizontal white space between the letter in any text block. Lowercase letters don’t ordinarily need letter spacing; for uppercase letters, 5–12% extra letter spacing works best.
> **Tracking—**When capital letters are used together, the spacing between them can appear too tight. Adding 5-10% additional spacing, especially when working with smaller font sizes, will ensure readability.
> **Kerning—**Kerning is the spacing between two characters. The built-in kerning is usually fine but it becomes more critical at small font sizes compared to large font sizes due to the limitations of our visual perception. *** ### Dashes Hyphens and dashes might look similar, but they’re not interchangeable. A quick note to make is that dashes should not have spaces before and after them.
> Hyphens link words or indicate breaks. The en dash indicates a range of values(1880–1912, pages 330–39, Exhibits A–E) or a connection between two things. The em dash marks an abrupt change of thought or a transition within a sentence. *** ### Ligatures Ligatures tie two or more letters into a single character to help with kerning. You can enable them for specific character combinations like “fi” or “st” or “ff” into a new form.
> Some common examples are when ligature combines characters into a single glyph. *** ## 3️⃣ Resources [Fonts Knowledge - Google Fonts](https://fonts.google.com/knowledge) [Butterick’s Practical Typography](https://practicaltypography.com/) *** # How to create a type scale ## 👋 Introduction A well-defined type scale provides consistency, hierarchy and contrast in your product. It makes it easier for users to consume content and faster for developers to code. Follow this guide for practical tips for selecting a typeface, adding or removing sizes, and tweaking text styles to optimize readability and hierarchy. *** ## 1️⃣ Creating a test bench of screens If you already have a product, creating a test bench of screens is a good starting point.
> The test bench is a collection of screens that represent a good variety of text styles used in a product. We use these screens to test different fonts and sizes. This helps us understand the range of typographic styles we need to consider when creating a type scale. *** ## 2️⃣ Start with a type scale If you are starting from scratch, the Material design type scale is a great starting point for Android, web and multi-platform. If you’re only building for iOS, you could use the type scale from Human Interface Design guidelines.
> Material design type scale and Human Interface Design type scale *** ## 3️⃣ Changing typeface Picking and optimising a typeface for performance can take a fair amount of effort. You can go one of two ways depending on the stage of the product, as follows. ### Use native typefaces if… You’re in the 0-1 phase of building a product and are focussing on product-market fit.
> You can start with the system's native typeface such as Roboto for Android, and SFPro for iOS. They have language support, refined for legibility, and support accessibility specs. **It will make engineering significantly easy and help you focus your energy on getting the product right.** \*\*\*\* ### Pick your own typeface if… You’re ready to spend time building a consistent brand across platforms.
> A custom typeface can reflect a brand’s unique personality, values and help connect to the target audience. *** ## 4️⃣ Add or remove sizes Once the typeface is changed, you can add or remove sizes based on the information density of the product.
> You might need to add more styles to the scale for more information-dense products like Zerodha, Dream11, [Booking.com](http://Booking.com), etc. and remove styles from the scale for less information-dense products like Medium, Instagram, etc. ### Expand your type scale by using a modular ratio Once you have your base type scale, using a modular ratio is a useful technique to expand it. The ratio, along with the base value, can be used to generate the larger or smaller sizes in the scale. Generally, body text type size (typically 16px) is a good base value. [Typescale.com](https://typescale.com/) is a great online resource to experiment with modular ratios.
> There are several scales to choose from, such as Major Third (1.250), Perfect Fourth (1.333), Golden Ratio (1.618), and more. Inside [typescale.com](https://typescale.com/), we can recreate the base scale that we currently have. Material design type scale uses the Major Second(1.125) ratio and Human Interface Design type scale uses Minor Second(1.067) ratio. You can learn more about modular ratios in the [further reading](https://www.notion.so/How-to-create-a-type-scale-42aa6657679b4fab8eb627730d9baa05?pvs=21) section.
> Material design and Human Interface Design type scales using the modular ratio. {% hint style="info" %} Once we generate a scale, we can round off the values to the nearest whole number to get the final scale. {% endhint %} Once we have the type scale in hand, we can add or remove sizes based on our product requirements.
> If more values are required or the default sizes don’t meet the product requirement, add more values using the appropriate scale. *** ## 5️⃣ Tweak Displays
> When tweaking display fonts, using a lightweight typeface can make the layout subtle, refined and free of excessive visual clutter. Using a lightweight typeface can be a stylistic choice rather than a guideline to follow. *** ## 6️⃣ Tweak Titles
> To achieve a more refined heading style, you can make the headings lighter. Similarly, for a bolder style, you can make the headings heavier. These are some of the stylistic choices you can make based on the product.
> For longer titles, a condensed typeface or tighter tracking can be used. Additionally, the line height of headings can be reduced for a more compact look.
> Adjusting the tracking can improve the readability of text. Use a tighter tracking value to improve legibility for larger text sizes like headings. *** ## 7️⃣ Tweak Body Font
> Some typefaces have a small x-height or have a large difference between cap height and x-height. For such typefaces, use a larger font size to improve the readability of the text.
> Some typefaces have a large x-height or have a small difference between cap height and x-height. For such typefaces, use a smaller font size to improve the readability of the text.
> Cap height is the height of the uppercase characters in a typeface measured from the baseline to the top of flat characters. The X-height is the height of lowercase characters which is measured from the baseline to the top of lowercase characters that have no ascender or overshoot.
> Depending on the density of the typeface, it may be necessary to increase the line height. A line height of 110% to 140% is a good starting point.
> For smaller text sizes like body text, use a loose tracking value to improve readability. *** ## 8️⃣ Tweak Labels ### Buttons
> Use a heavier font for buttons to create better contrast and hierarchy ### Captions
> Captions are one of the smallest sizes on the scale, but avoid going below 12 pts. To improve readability, use uppercase. ### Overline
> Overlines should be the smallest size on the scale, but avoid going below 10 pts. To improve readability, increase the tracking of the overline and use uppercase. {% hint style="success" %} For desktop scale, make sure to increase the font sizes for larger resolutions. {% endhint %} *** ## 9️⃣ Publish Once you have customised the type scale for your product, you are ready to publish and use the scale. {% hint style="info" %} A type scale can never be considered complete. As the product evolves, the scale must evolve with it. We can always revisit and refine the scale if necessary. {% endhint %} *** ## Some famous type scales [Carbon Design System](https://carbondesignsystem.com/guidelines/typography/overview/) [Typography - Foundations - Atlassian Design System](https://atlassian.design/foundations/typography) [Typography – Material Design 3](https://m3.material.io/styles/typography/type-scale-tokens) *** ## Further reading Here are a few links if you’d like to delve deeper into creating type scales. This tool can help you have a visual representation of a typographic scale for web design— [Type Scale Calculator](https://type-scale.spencermortensen.com/2/2.5/0/19px) If you want to learn more about using a modular scale for typography design, here is an article emphasizing proportional relationships for enhanced visual harmony — [UI Typography | Principles | Modular scale](https://imperavi.com/books/ui-typography/principles/modular-scale/) For a detailed guideline on selecting a type scale for a project, read this article on responsive type scales — [Exploring Responsive Type Scales](https://medium.com/sketch-app-sources/exploring-responsive-type-scales-cf1da541be54) This article can be helpful for you if you are looking for a practical guide for designing modular scale typography for interfaces— [Practical guide to creating a modular scale type for your interfaces - UX-REPUBLIC](https://www.ux-republic.com/en/practical-guide-to-creating-a-modular-scale-type-for-your-interfaces/) *** # How to pick typefaces ## 👋 Introduction Choosing the right typeface is important for your product's design. You need to consider your product's personality, values, and audience. Learn how to pick the right typeface in this module. *** ## 1️⃣ Choose a typeface ### Native vs Custom fonts While choosing a typeface, based on your requirement you can [choose between native and custom fonts](https://medium.com/trade-me/custom-vs-native-fonts-in-apps-9cd7d872491c).
> **Native fonts** offer faster loading times, are designed for different screen resolutions, support dynamic type scaling, provide automatic line heights, and support multiple languages. On the other hand, **custom fonts** ensure brand presence and consistency across all platforms. ### Use system fonts for apps that… …need to be performant across devices and optimised for scale
> Apps like WhatsApp, Messages, Telegram, some social media apps, Notion, Slack, Rapido uses system fonts ### Use custom fonts for apps that… …need a balance of brand, style and performance.
> Apps like Uber, Spotify, Nike, Headspace, etc. are known to use custom fonts ### Picking custom typefaces To select the right custom typefaces for your product, delve into the product’s core attributes and personality. This involves: #### **Personality** Determine if the product is playful, serious, luxurious, approachable, innovative, or traditional. Choose typefaces that align with this personality. You could use serif fonts for tradition and sans-serif for modernity. If your product wants to come off as friendly, a script/handwritten font will work well.
> Apps like Duolingo use playful typefaces because they come off as a friendly educational app. On the other hand, apps like Any Distance use bold & strong typefaces since they want to come off as a bold fitness app. #### **Values** Understand the product’s values. Opt for typefaces that resonate with these values; for instance, clean and minimalistic fonts for simplicity.
> Apps like Zara use luxury typefaces because they market themselves as a luxury product. On the other hand, apps like Calm uses modern typefaces since they market themselves as a mental wellness product. #### **Target Audience** Identify the intended audience. Different demographics respond to various typeface styles. Use bold and modern typefaces for youth-oriented products, and classic and elegant fonts for mature audiences.
> Apps like Duolingo Math use playful typefaces because they are mostly targeted for the kids. On the other hand, The Wall Street Journal, which has a wide readership across ages, uses classic typefaces. For a strong personality, consider exploring stylised typefaces for headings. Typography will form a significant part of the product.
> Apps like The New Yorker, [Duolingo](https://design.duolingo.com/identity/typography#combining-typefaces), etc. contain stylised typefaces for headings *** ## 2️⃣ Ensure versatility of the typeface When selecting a typeface, it is important to ensure its versatility. Check for the following things: ### 1️⃣ It contains legible details Make sure the details of individual characters are legible. It should be easily readable and comprehensible.
> See the similarities between the uppercase “I” (I for Iceland), lowercase “l” (l for log), and numeral “1” characters or uppercase “O”, lowercase “o”, and numeral “0” characters. ### 2️⃣ The **basic weights and styles should be present** The typeface should have a range of weights and styles, such as regular, italic, and bold.
> Typefaces with multiple weights and styles can be useful in most scenarios.
> For more control and flexibility, look for fonts that have multiple weights (not just regular, medium, bold) and styles beyond italics. ### 3️⃣ It has enough multi-language support for your audience Language support becomes essential when a brand operates globally or aims to target international markets.
> If your brand is global, ensure that your typeface includes non-Latin characters that you might need. ### 4️⃣ It has alternate glyphs If your product has long body text, alternate glyphs can improve readability. It is also a good idea to use stylistic ligatures and glyphs in titles.
### 5️⃣ It has multiple widths If your product is information-dense, multiple widths will provide a wide range of options to pack information while maintaining the design aesthetic.
### 6️⃣ It has different optical sizes If your product relies heavily on titles, picking a typeface with optical sizes will help elevate your designs.
*** # How to pair typefaces ## 👋 Introduction Some products use more than one typeface. This module tells you what to keep in mind when pairing typefaces. *** ## 1️⃣ Pairing Typefaces ### 1️⃣ Pair fonts with different characteristics for visual interest Use fonts with different weights, styles, or serif/sans-serif variations.
> Make sure to choose fonts with noticeable differences in style, weight, or structure in order to avoid a lack of distinction. For example, avoid pairing serif with serif. ### 2️⃣ Use distinct font styles to establish visual order Use decorative or elaborate fonts for headings or titles, and more straightforward, readable fonts for body text.
> Avoid using fonts with conflicting styles that create dissonance. For example, pairing an elegant script font with a heavy, blocky font may result in jarring contrast. ### 3️⃣ Pair fonts that complement each other in tone or mood A modern sans-serif font may pair well with a clean, geometric serif font.
> Be cautious about pairing fonts that convey conflicting moods or aesthetics. For instance, pairing a playful, whimsical font with a formal, business-oriented font may result in a mismatched design. ### 4️⃣ Prioritise readability when pairing fonts, especially for longer text Ensure the combination can be easily read at different sizes and across devices.
> Mixing fonts can add depth and interest, enhancing a design's overall aesthetic. But you must ensure that the typeface you choose for the body text is readable. ### 5️⃣ Limit the number of fonts to maintain consistency and avoid visual clutter Two or three fonts are usually sufficient for most projects.
> Test your font combination at various sizes and consider how it will appear on different devices or mediums to avoid poor scaling. *** # Design System A design system is a repository of reusable components and guidelines on how to use them, to ensure consistency in designs across various products and platforms.
Introduction to design systems/files/4eI7ygUytEQ19JGuxzwF/pages/B42b3zYrvn0D4Ctclgck
How to audit a design system /files/iu2hcKaXUReVEIew3bR0/pages/ltv8SPF5XAUQY7Guszht
How to run a design system pilot/files/SDvBj3lJGrD0IE5NAOuz/pages/YC195J6sjzA7DwupJJNX
How to set up a design foundation/files/j8hiwBFEgPiEWSJu0L5R/pages/GD7UqE7j1sRUtcwk8NLK
How to build components /files/JcCuy27m1VQEk8R5ufXL/pages/Eh5Si5kp6tsMuY26DyCY
How to document a design system/files/icFb5nvcEI7GbXZwhm0o/pages/RJ0XrBUcfROdEIunUYPz
How to govern a design system/files/DrT4mbHRrAO2AgPU4hqK/pages/l6PoGp4vUd217x1o8Joy
# Introduction to design systems ## 1️⃣ What is a design system? A design system acts as a toolbox for designers and developers. It is a repository of reusable components and guidelines on how to use them, to ensure consistency in designs across various products and platforms. By offering solutions to common problems, it enables teams to work more efficiently and dedicate more time to addressing critical user and business needs.
> A set of connected patterns and shared practices, coherently organized to serve the purpose of a digital product - Alla Kholmatova *** ## 2️⃣ How does a design system help? * **Consistency:** A design system ensures that all products and platforms have the same look, feel, and functionality, making them easier for users to recognize and navigate. * **Efficiency:** By providing reusable components and clear guidelines, design systems make it quicker and simpler for teams to create new designs and features, saving time and effort in the development & design process. * **Scalability:** Design systems make it easy to add new features or expand products without sacrificing consistency, ensuring that everything continues to work smoothly as the project grows. * **Collaboration:** Design systems help teams work better together by giving everyone a common set of tools and principles to follow, making it easier to share ideas and work together effectively. * **Maintainability:** Design systems make it easier to update and improve designs over time, ensuring that everything stays up-to-date and consistent without requiring a lot of extra work. Similar to how a UI kit or Figma library accelerates designers' work and a component library helps engineers code faster, a design system empowers product teams to **deliver software to customers faster and better.** *** ## 3️⃣ When do you need a design system? A well-executed design system can really shake things up for organizations dealing with scalability challenges. Here are some signs that it's time to start thinking about investing in one : 1. **Growing complexity:** As product offerings and team sizes continue to grow, maintaining consistency becomes increasingly challenging. This is where a design system comes into play, ensuring that expansion doesn't compromise a cohesive experience. 2. **Repetitive efforts:** Designers and developers often find themselves solving for same and repeating problems time and again across different projects. This repetition signals a clear need for a design system to streamline workflows and address these recurring challenges effectively. 3. **Desire for streamlined operations:** Organizations are increasingly expressing a desire for smoother operations, aiming to optimize workflows, eliminate unnecessary repetition, and ensure a cohesive user experience. This hints at a need for implementing a design system. 4. **Desire for consistent user experience:** The desire for a consistent user experience is evident when considering how inconsistencies across various flows can result in a less-than-optimal experience for the end user. Design systems can effectively address these discrepancies and ensure a seamless and cohesive experience. *** # How to audit a design system ## 👋 Introduction Beginning a design system is pretty thrilling, but pause before diving headfirst into creating a ton of components, styles or frameworks. In the first few weeks, take a good look around: audit, explore existing designs solutions, and dive into the teams’ use cases. This discovery work will help build a sense of how the design system should support the product. *** ## 1️⃣ Collect **assets for audit** To facilitate a smooth audit, gather as many design and code assets associated with your design system as possible, including: * All design files of existing and upcoming features or products * Any existing style guides or design system files This is also a good time to collect roadmaps from the product teams. This information will help determine potential pilot for the project in later steps. *** ## 2️⃣ Identify existing design approaches ### 1. Group similar components After gathering the assets, comb through them to: * Group similar components visually and label their origin from specific features or products. * Identify commonalities among these components. This will help while abstracting the component. This is purely an objective exercise; refrain from making any judgments or evaluations for now. The purpose is to **understand existing design solutions and use cases.**
### 2. Interface inventory While grouping components, also take a note of the frequency of usage of these components creating an **interface inventory.** This will help a lot in selecting a pilot and prioritising design system components effectively later on.

Interface inventory

*** ## 3️⃣ Identify opportunities for improvement This is a good time to understand what new patterns and paradigms can be introduced with the design system. Ask the team: **what would we like to see more or less of in our product?** **Some examples:** * More or less of a particular motion * More or less use icons and illustration * More or less use of progressive disclosure Screenshot existing examples and ask team to annotate what’s interesting or not working about them. Collect them in one place like this:
*** ## 4️⃣ Outcome After the discovery phase, you'll have a comprehensive understanding of the patterns and components across the product. There will also be a shared understanding on the potential direction the design system could take to support the product. # How to run a design system pilot ## 👋 Introduction In order to test how a design system will support the product in the long term, a pilot is run a product or a feature. *** ## 1️⃣ Choose a design system pilot To find the right pilot, review products or features you went through during the discovery phase. After the review, score these against the following 8 factors (on a scale of 0, unlikely, to 10, likely) for selecting the best pilot: 1. **Potential for common components:** Does this pilot have many components that can be reused in other products? 2. **Potential for common patterns:** Does this pilot have many patterns that can be reused in other products? 3. **High-value elements:** Even if uncommon, is there a component or pattern with high-business value that is the heart of this project? Elements that are integral to a flow or audience that has unusually high value for the organisation. 4. **Technical feasibility:** How simple is a technical implementation of the design system? Is a large refactor required? 5. **Available champion:** Will someone working on this product see it through and celebrate/evangelise using the design system (and even contributing back to it)? 6. **Scope:** Is this work accomplishable in our pilot timeframe of \[3–4 weeks] (insert your timing here)? 7. **Technical independence:** Is the work decoupled enough from other legacy design and code that there are clear start and end points? 8. **Marketing potential:** Will this work excite others to use the design system? Work with the team (include product, engg and design) to score these features as accurately as possible.
{% hint style="info" %} Dan Mall has written about design system pilots and this scorecard [here](https://danmall.com/posts/design-systems-pilots-scorecards/). {% endhint %} *** ## 2️⃣ Identify components from pilot feature/product Once you have identified a solid pilot candidate, reach out to the team that owns it and start scheduling time to walk through feature/product with them. Keep track of who you’ve talked to already and their general reception to working together. Ask the pilot team to: * Walk you through what they’ve been working on and what’s coming up soon on their roadmaps. * Share their screens and take you through all the user flows/journeys. As they’re showing you their screens, **make a list of every component** you see on screen. Look out for anything that could be a modular piece of design or code element.
*** ## 3️⃣ Identify Initial Components to Pilot 1. In the interface inventory list you generated before, **highlight the components that appear** **three or more times.** 2. Find the overlap between the component list & components seen in pilot walkthrough to identify the **first set of design system components.**
{% hint style="info" %} This also becomes the initial guideline for which components go into the design system: **if three or more teams need this component right now, it goes in the design system.** {% endhint %} *** ## 4️⃣ Outcome You would have identified a pilot that includes components that will be used in other features or products also. This will help showcase the value of the design system quickly and also excite stakeholders. # How to set up a design foundation ## 👋 Introduction Setting up a design system's foundation involves defining elements like typography, colors, spacing, and effects tokens strategically. While an exhaustive foundation isn’t required upfront, it's important to provide initial guidelines for immediate use. *** ## 1️⃣ Design Tokens Design tokens represent the small, repeated design decisions that make up a design system's visual style. Tokens replace static values, such as hex codes for colour, with self-explanatory names, for example.
Tokens allow design decisions to be documented in a platform-agnostic and shareable format to maintain a single source of truth. Figma also now supports design tokens using [Variables](https://help.figma.com/hc/en-us/articles/15871097384471-The-difference-between-variables-and-styles).
### How to name design tokens There are various approaches to name design tokens but aim for something that the team can agree on quickly rather finding the perfect structure. The idea is to create a shared vocabulary and have self-explanatory names. To get started: 1. Start with the context, the usage and then go into more specific detail. 2. Use the following structure as a starting point to name your tokens
### Supporting themes and brands Tokens can reference various values based on specific conditions. This flexibility enables scalable design token structures, simplifying theme and brand support. Once you've established a token structure for your product, future redesigns become more straightforward, and introducing new verticals with a different visual language becomes easier.
{% hint style="info" %} [Design tokens – Material Design 3](https://m3.material.io/foundations/design-tokens/overview) {% endhint %} *** ## 2️⃣ Colour system To set up a base colour palette, you need two kinds of colours: 1. Brand colours (primary, secondary, accent etc.) 2. Utility colours (For showing success, failure status). #### How to create a colour scale Following are the steps to create a single colour ramp or scale: 1. Choose a colour as a starting point. Ideally, this should be your x-500 value or midpoint in the ramp. 2. Use one of the many tools to generate the 10-step ramp – 1. Use a plugin called [Color scale generator](https://www.figma.com/community/plugin/876899098381850319) (Fastest) 2. For more control, use [Lyft Colorbox](https://design.lyft.com/re-approaching-color-9e604ba22c88) 3. [Tailwind colour generator](https://www.figma.com/community/plugin/815578663120885543) is also good, albeit with less control. But it generates an 8-step ramp with the Figma colour styles. 3. Add the new colour styles to Figma. Use this structure while naming – *Global/Name/Name-500.* This structure is a suggestion and can be adjusted to optimise for consumption. 4. A ten-scale ramp goes from x-50 to x-900. You may add more shades/tints if more granular shifts are needed. Generally true in the case of greys. 5. Create colour swatches and add the ramp to the Global colours sheet. **Repeat the steps for all the colours.**
This set of colours will be our base or reference tokens. We use these as a basis to create application-specific tokens (backgrounds, button colours, etc.) or in some cases, use them directly in your designs (although creating specific tokens is recommended). [Figma template ↗](https://www.figma.com/file/AVpNACn53cuf6lWfFykl3V/DLS-Workbook?type=design\&node-id=1%3A4\&mode=design\&t=6VSgAFhvF6nCByXe-1) *** ## 3️⃣ Typography Based on your audit, prepare a typography scale. Here are the broad categories of fonts sizes and weights you need: 1. Display 2. Headlines 3. Body 4. Labels **Add a few sizes in each category like Small, Medium, Large.** Don’t add too many options here to avoid choice paralysis. Strike a balance between having flexibility and ease of use. **Add all relevant details like line-height, size, weight.** You might have to create styled/decorated versions of body fonts for bold, underlined and other styles. Do this only if use cases exist.
[Figma template ↗️](https://www.figma.com/file/AVpNACn53cuf6lWfFykl3V/DLS-Workbook?type=design\&node-id=1%3A6\&mode=design\&t=K4ptrbxMrjaihUAr-1) For more details on how to set up typography, refer to the [typography module](/product-design/typography/how-to-create-a-type-scale). **References** [Typography - Material Design 3](https://m3.material.io/styles/typography/type-scale-tokens) [Typography](https://developer.apple.com/design/human-interface-guidelines/foundations/typography/) *** ## 4️⃣ Elevation Set up an elevation system based on your use cases. Generally, a 4-5 level system is enough. Add a scale and usage examples for ease of use. Some technical considerations: * Try to use only one drop shadow layer in Figma. Additional layers can have a performance impact. * Use greyscale shadows. Android has issues rendering coloured shadows. * Shadows on Android will never be 1:1 fidelity with Figma because of how it’s rendered. It might need some tweaks in code to get it close to designs. Use Figma values as a starting point.
[Figma template ↗️](https://www.figma.com/file/AVpNACn53cuf6lWfFykl3V/DLS-Workbook?type=design\&node-id=33%3A4476\&mode=design\&t=1QA8pkoYDJDok0pH-1) **References** [Elevation - Material Design 3](https://m3.material.io/styles/elevation/tokens) *** ## 5️⃣ Spacing & corner radius Similar to the type-scale, set up a scale with some common spacing values. * Use multiples of 4px and 8px. You can use 2px as a starting point. * For a mobile app, 10-12 spacing tokens are enough.
> Only use these tokens while building your UI. Use these for setting margins, paddings and spacing between UI elements. Do not use these for component dimensions. Repeat this to set up common corner radius values.
[Figma template ↗️](https://www.figma.com/file/AVpNACn53cuf6lWfFykl3V/DLS-Workbook?type=design\&node-id=33%3A3891\&mode=design\&t=WgYXz7uzFVCyk7Vb-1) **References** [Spacing tokens - Shopify Polaris](https://polaris.shopify.com/tokens/spacing) *** # How to build components ## 👋 Introduction Post the pilot exercise, it's time to construct and document the components we've recognized. But before releasing v1 of a component, we should think about how the component helps with existing uses and test in progress work with the teams to make sure it's a valuable addition to the design system. *** ## 1️⃣ Abstract component design For a design system component to be truly useful, it needs to support a range of use cases. Abstracting a components design enables that. However, it’s easy to over abstract a component. ### Identify existing use cases Find existing use cases during the discover process and pilot exercise. Don't over optimise for future use cases.

Identifying use cases

### Abstract what's common When you're abstracting the design, keep in mind that a component must be useful for three or more teams/features. Don't deviate too far from the original samples to keep all components recognisable. Making them too different can create a mismatch with the rest of the interface not using the design system.

Abstracting what's common

### Iterate based on the team's input Before getting too far on your component design, share progress of your abstraction work with the pilot team that will eventually integrate it. Get a gut check from them about whether you’re headed in a direction that fits with what they’re doing. There may be input from teams regarding changes and additions. However, consider these requests **only if three or more teams currently need this component**. {% hint style="info" %} Remember that your job as the design system team is really to solve the **common problems**. The more the design system team tries to accommodate one-off problems, the less focus you can have on solving problems at scale. These one-off requests can be maintained as possible future iterations in separate doc. {% endhint %} *** ## 2️⃣ Detailing a component Once you've abstracted a component and tested with pilot teams, it's time to detail it out. Cover the following: 1. Usage - A short description about the component. 2. Anatomy - Breakdown of all the elements and building blocks of the component. 3. Variants - Overview of all the configurations the component can have. 4. Behaviour - This section elaborates on all the interactive details useful for the team 5. Specs - Detailed breakdown of spacing and structuring of the component. 6. Accessibility - Details about how the component should support assistive technologies.
*** # How to document a design system ## 👋 Introduction One thing that differentiates a design system from just a component library is its documentation. A design remains incomplete without guidelines and a centralised place from which it can be understood and consumed. *** ## 1️⃣ Create a reference website Product teams will only be able to use the system properly if it’s well-understood and easily accessible. This can be **accomplished by creating a reference website**. A reference site primarily helps: * Showcasing design system components and guidelines * Making documentation easy to access and understand
> Here’s an [example](https://zeroheight.com/1d8569481/p/04e4c3-button) of a component page on a reference website. Resist the urge to build a custom site for v1, and instead, use a non-code tool like Zeroheight so teams can contribute without writing code. It’s important that your reference be unique to the specific needs of your organization, but here’s set of content that any design system user will probably be looking for. Use the structure below as a starting point for the sections your design system users may expect: * Home * Get started * Guidelines / Patterns * Accessibility * Brand * Color * Error handling * Icons * Illustrations * Typography * Voice and tone * Etc.. * Components * Overview (containing component status page) * Accordion * Button * Breadcrumb * Card * Etc. * Case studies * Support * Blog/News * About * Changelog * Search *** ## 2️⃣ Further reading [Design System documentation best practices](https://backlight.dev/blog/design-system-documentation-best-practices/) ["Making Design Systems Public," an article by Dan Mall](https://danmall.com/posts/making-design-systems-public/) [Structuring documentation in multi-brand design systems by Amy Hupe, content designer](https://amyhupe.co.uk/articles/structuring-documentation-multi-brand-design-systems/) # How to enable adoption and govern a design system ## 👋 Introduction After successfully running a pilot, it's important to ensure that teams can smoothly use the components and foundations for their needs. At this point, you'll also start considering the next components and updates, meanwhile teams will also reach out with their requests. This stage highlights the significance of adoption and governance in the design system's evolution. *** ## 1️⃣ Adoption Adopting a design system involves more than just technical implementation; it's a cultural/habit shift within a team. Here are some practices that can facilitate the adoption of a design system ### Document your design system * One fundamental way to help with adoption is to have your design system well documented. Covered here [Documentation](https://www.notion.so/Documentation-79e8567fca6444d684f86aed9c5cf57a?pvs=21) ### Host workshops * Host interactive workshops for teams to learn and use the design system effectively. Gather feedback during these sessions to continually enhance the system. ### Test with teams * Test WIP components to ensure the system addresses their needs, keeping in mind the guideline for a design system component. * This collaborative approach can help refine components and enhance their usability. ### Create visibility * Share regular updates through newsletters or Slack messages to keep teams informed about any design system changes or additions. Share visuals and demos to make it engaging. * Join meetings (like design critiques) to observe and support the team whenever you identify opportunities for the design system to contribute to ongoing discussion/project. ### Create champions * Acknowledge team members who've found the design system transformative in their workflow. Encourage them to advocate for its use and assist others in adopting it effectively. * Give these champions recognition—sharing their successes will inspire others to embrace the system and its benefits. *** ## 2️⃣ Governance To scale your system in a cohesive and sustainable way, keep in mind that **a design system team’s job is really to solve the common problems**. The more the design system team tries to accommodate one-off problems, the less focus you can have on solving problems at scale. An often encountered issue with design system teams is becoming a bottleneck while supporting feature teams by creating new components or additions. To prevent this: * Focus solely on requests or components that are currently needed by at least 3 teams or features. Keep revisiting and updating the [component list](https://www.notion.so/e93c1d70e1dc4e37b3f77905f71bc4eb?pvs=21). * Let the team know that if this request is echoed by other teams as well, we'll escalate and prioritise it accordingly.
# Mobile Engineering ## Modules
Trunk based development/files/D4wb78YCJHiH2N2ddpVc/pages/IICOLXWUA5sjYeMEP0He
Agile development terminology/files/TFM0k6tzHWxqCzy8jrVW/pages/4okr2aXYjybKcXkWKd9q
Git commit messages /files/oW0yWEpFbAReTp9HmfxK/pages/nNakBX1rdR0E32d18jCo
Code review and pull requests/files/Gl9sm40OevGJgLEehaev/pages/IEvKgAhJNqJvEXOGmZU2
Readings/files/jiiSmHDRDmu6PNU56pEd/pages/M8mW9ZhSIBVwSc2MdSDD
# Trunk based development ## 👋 Introduction The Trunk Based Development website says “It is a source-control branching model, where developers collaborate on code in a single branch called `master` (or “trunk”). They resist any pressure to create other long-lived development branches.” For a bit, let’s forget about code and branches and use an analogy that is easier to understand -- the transit system of a city. *** ## 1️⃣ When is the next train? Imagine a city with lots of different train stations. The network can run using lots of trains at different frequencies. Let’s consider three different scenarios: 1. A train passes through each station once every day 2. Trains pass through each station six times every day 3. Trains pass through each station a hundred times every day What will be the effect of the three different possibilities on the people living in the city?
1. **In the first case**, if a person misses the train there is no other way to reach the destination until the next train, which unfortunately will arrive on the next day. 2. **In the second case**, if a person misses one train they can catch another train in a few hours and won’t have to wait for an entire day to reach their destination. This means people don’t care about the schedule of the trains as much as they do in the first case. It is possible to reach the destination in a few hours -- late, but possible. 3. **In the last case**, if a person misses a train they can easily catch another train in a few minutes. It’s easy to imagine that people will stop caring about the train schedule altogether and focus on what they want to do at the destination. The transit system becomes an artifact that recedes in the background, letting people concentrate on what they actually want to do -- living their lives and getting things done! Now let’s go back to building and delivering software. *** ## 2️⃣ Feature-driven delivery → Unpredictability In a lot of teams, the frequency of releases is determined by “when this Important List of Features gets done”. That leads to unpredictable releases with large delays between deployments. Although such teams try to “fix” a release date and try to cut scope so that the Very Important Date can be met, it rarely works. Engineers working on different feature branches rush to get their tasks done before The Date. Merging all of those feature branches becomes a painful ritual as people discover all sorts of changes that have happened in the repository over the past few weeks that they were working on their own branch. Merge meetings are scheduled and a War Room is created to tackle issues that stand in the way of meeting The Date. Inevitable, The Date starts to move. Seven “medium priority” bugs that customers have been complaining about need to be fixed. The CEO’s personal favourite feature request has to be part of this release even though the team heard of it a week ago. Every little thing is important because who knows when the next release will go out? The entire team -- nay the org -- rallies around The Date even though it has changed three times and the original date has been forgotten. There are some themes that emerge in this familiar scenario: * **Merge hell**, as discussed above, since multiple, long-running feature branches become part of the primary codebase very close to The Date. * **Massive changesets** to review, or what happens in reality, no code review at all. Reviewing a three-thousand line diff that has been worked on for two weeks is an exercise in frustration. * **Favouring the Rockstar Programmer** over the team, since it is considered acceptable and natural that a great engineer will disappear for a few days or weeks, and come back with all the work done in a branch far, far away from the rest of the codebase. Merging is the team’s collective problem, unfortunately. * **Emotional turmoil** and a high probability of burnout for everyone in the team especially as The Date inches closer. So what is the solution to this problem? We need to increase the frequency of the trains, of course. Hundreds of them every day! *** ## 3️⃣ Timeline-based delivery → Daily success For software engineering, that implies… * We increase the frequency of production releases to as frequent as possible -- daily, or even hourly! * We drastically reduce the size of changes that are merged into the trunk. As each merge request becomes small, reviewing it becomes far easier. * Since each merge integrates only a small number of changes, the possibility of conflicts also rapidly goes down. When conflicts do happen, resolving them is fast and painless. * Changes arrive into the codebase on a daily basis, which means the team is aware of the state of work that is in progress. Any impact from the changes being done is felt very early in the process, giving the team ample time to reach a resolution.
All of this sounds great in theory and it makes sense. How about in practice? * TBD promotes **short-lived feature branches** and frequent merges with the trunk. A branch usually has only one developer, it doesn’t last more than a day or two before it gets merged into the trunk. * This automatically pushes teams towards **Continuous Integration**. Every commit that lands on the trunk goes through the CI pipeline, confirming that it is indeed ready for integration. * Once continuous integration is in place, it is natural to follow it up with **Continuous Delivery**. Since all commits that land on trunk have been marked “stable” by the CI pipeline, they can be deployed immediately. * Since an approved code review means the code will be available on trunk immediately, **teams rally together to review code** as fast and as many times as possible. * Not everything can be done within a day, and features can take a long time to build. In those cases, **work-in-progress code is “hidden” behind a feature flag**. Flags ensure that incomplete features can be reviewed and still land on the trunk. * Flags can also **act as a remote control** for making features available at a later time. Features can be fully developed and be part of the codebase, and then be remotely toggled on (or off). Once a feature has been “enabled”, the alternative code path and flags can be deleted from the codebase. All of this comes together to ensure the codebase is releasable on demand. Bug fixes are deployed as soon as the fix is available on the trunk. Teams stop coordinating releases to figure out which commits are “safe” to release. Developers go back to focusing on what is important – building features and eliminating bugs – rather than being burdened with a release date. *** ## 4️⃣ Practicing TBD ### **Daily branches** To ensure that constant integration of code is happening, we prefer making "daily branches". This doesn't strictly mean a branch every day, but branches *rarely last beyond 2 days* without being raised as a PR. We also ensure that the changeset of a PR doesn't exceed *300-400 lines of code*. ### Branch naming * Daily branches are named as `initials/date/subject` * For example, if your initials are PK, and you raise a branch on 17th December to update the Android Gradle Plugin, your branch title should be something like `pk/17dec/upgrade-agp` * No underscores allowed, only dashes ### **Releases** In the ideal world of TBD, every commit is stable and release-ready, which is why Continuous Deployment works so well once a team switches to doing TBD. On a platform like the Web, every commit to `master` should be deployed as soon as possible, and it makes sense because users immediately get the updated resources. However, on mobile platforms like Android and iOS, deploying a commit leads to the creation of an installable binary file. This file is pushed to a Store and it usually takes a few hours to a few days before all devices can see the available update -- and this process is entirely out of our control. Not only that, the user can choose to not install an update for days or weeks on end! As a result of this, we follow a periodic release cycle -- once a week, or once every two weeks -- for mobile apps, instead of pushing every single commit. To ensure that the binary that is being published is stable, we pursue the following strategy: * We create a release branch from master; this is titled as `release/yyyy-mm-dd`, where the date in the title is the date this branch will be released to the Store * The code in the branch is tested till the date of the release * No one directly commits anything to a release branch. If a bug is found or an urgent change needs to be made, that change is first done on `master` and then cherry-picked onto the release branch *** ## Further reading * See [trunkbaseddevelopment.com](http://trunkbaseddevelopment.com/) for the official documentation. * [Feature flags](https://trunkbaseddevelopment.com/feature-flags/) * [Branch by abstraction](https://trunkbaseddevelopment.com/branch-by-abstraction/) *** # Agile development terminology ## 👋 Introduction Popularized in the 2001 *Manifesto for Agile Software Development*, Agile values and principles were derived from a range of software development frameworks, including Scrum and Kanban. *** ## Terms table
TermDescription
EpicEpics capture high-level goals associated with a feature, and usually consist of many stories (and bugs). It isn't compulsory to have Epics in every project, but they do help in maintaining a sense of "achievement" within the team. Simply completing story after story, fixing bug after bug, can get monotonous... and "completing" an epic marks the end of a consolidated effort by the team.
StoryThe smallest part of a feature is called a User Story. It is a concrete, well-understood, independent unit of work that can be delivered to the user for some demonstrable value (n.b.: also see Chores). Stories are estimated by using a "points system" before they are started.
ChoreA purely technical task that does not add demonstrable value to any user of the system. It is important to track such chores because they add value to the overall project. For e.g.: refactoring code, upgrading dependencies, adding automation scripts.
BugA feature in production that does not function as expected. 💔
Blocker- A question related to a story that needs to be answered before that story can be worked on.
- A dependency where another story needs to be completed before a story can be worked on.
ReleaseA marker in the Backlog that represents a version to be delivered or a milestone to be achieved. All stories "above" a Release marker must be delivered and accepted, before the due date.
Current iterationA prioritized list of stories to be worked on during the current iteration. An iteration is usually one (1) week long, but this can be configured in Pivotal on a per-project level.
BacklogA prioritised list of stories planned to be worked on in the upcoming iterations.
IceboxAn unprioritsed list of all stories, chores, and bugs. Items from the Icebox are added the Backlog during prioritisation discussions, usually an Iteration Planning Meeting.
*** # Git commit messages ## 👋 Introduction Writing clear and concise git commit messages is important to the overall health of a project and the team that is working on the project. Good commit messages have 3 critical benefits: 1. Help speed up the code review process 2. Help in writing good release notes 3. Help future maintainers (and your future self) understand why a change was made, or what exactly a particular bug was *** ## Sample commit message ``` Short (70 chars or less) summary of changes More detailed explanatory text, if necessary. Wrap it to about 80 characters or so. In some contexts, the first line is treated as the subject of an email and the rest of the text as the body. The blank line separating the summary from the body is critical. Further paragraphs come after blank lines. - Bullet points are okay, too - A hyphen is used for the bullet, surrounded by a single space ``` 1. The summary line is written in the imperative voice, and is structured in a way so that the message completes the sentence, “If applied, this commit will…”. For eg: * "Split the Rx streams in RecentPatientsViewController" * "Add Appium checkstyle task to the git pre-push hook" * "Add query in PatientRepository to get count of sync-pending records" 2. Summary lines start with words like “Add”, “Update”, and “Fix” instead of Added, Updated and Fixed 3. Summary lines never end with a period, just like the subject of an email 4. The explanatory text isn’t required but encouraged, especially when a commit fixes a bug. It’s good practice to explain clearly why a certain issue was occurring and how the commit fixes it. *** # Code review and pull requests ## 👋 Introduction Code reviews ensure standards and guidelines are respected and followed. Sure, code reviews can (and do!) help with catching mistakes early on, but in large codebases, techniques like test-driven-development are far more effective for writing bug-free code. Code reviews are an opportunity for discussion and evaluation; a chance for novice engineers to get feedback on their ideas from senior ones, and a time for senior engineers to walk the rest of the team through their thought process. *** ## 1️⃣ Reviewing code {% hint style="success" %} It is the code that is being reviewed, and not the person who wrote it! {% endhint %} * Many programming decisions are opinions and not facts. When discussing tradeoffs, ensure it doesn’t lead to bike-shedding and a cost-benefit analysis is done -- “What is the cost of discussing this thing for 60 minutes? What is the benefit or drawback of picking a choice? Is it worth our time?” * Ask questions and don’t *demand* changes. Good questions avoid judgment and avoid assumptions about the author's perspective. * Don’t use hyperbolic words and avoid all sarcasm. Temper your communication, sit down, stay humble. Avoid selective ownership of code. Eventually, it is the team’s code and the entire team has to share the responsibility of maintenance. Team and project standards are much more important than personal opinions. When disagreeing, first commit to using the prevailing standard. Discuss the standard later... right here, in the handbook! Just [open a pull request](https://github.com/obvious/handbook/pulls). *** ## 2️⃣ Assigning a PR {% hint style="success" %} You can automate this using [a tool like PullAssigner](https://pullpanda.com/assigner/)! {% endhint %} * In a round-robin fashion, assign your PR to a team member. This should be done without asking them. Everyone should be coding and reviewing at all times. * If you think your PR is non-trivial and needs more than one pair of eyes, then assign it to two people. If you’re new to the team, assign it to two people. * If your PR isn’t reviewed in the next 24 hours, talk to the assignee in person and figure out what’s happening. Maybe they're busier than usual and need a helping hand? *** ## 3️⃣ Helpful tips * It is often easier to follow the author's train of thought by reviewing a PR commit by commit, instead of reading the entire diff file by file. * When commenting on an intermediate commit in a PR, one should first make sure that the comment makes sense when the complete PR is seen as a whole. Because the author may have already addressed the concern in another commit down the PR. * If you're reviewing on [github.com](http://github.com) itself, there are [handy keyboard shortcuts](https://help.github.com/en/github/getting-started-with-github/keyboard-shortcuts#changes-in-pull-requests) you can use! *** ## Further reading * [How to do a code review](https://google.github.io/eng-practices/review/reviewer/), on the Google engineering practices website. *** # Readings ## **History** * Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution by Steven Levy * The Soul of a New Machine by Tracy Kidder * Revolution OS (documentary movie) (2001) * Pratul’s [software engineering favourites](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL6RVaoR9G67DfjgtH5oW1OLrWQ2j6IQl3) *** ## For early programmers [Get better at programming by learning how things work](https://jvns.ca/blog/learn-how-things-work/) [How to ask good questions](https://jvns.ca/blog/good-questions/) [Moving faster](https://www.scattered-thoughts.net/writing/moving-faster/) *** ## **People, teams & projects** * Radical Candor by Kim Malone Scott * The Mythical Man Month by Frederick Brooks * Peopleware: Productive Projects and Teams by Tom DeMarco, Tim Lister * The Manager's Path by Camille Fournier *** ## **Computer science & meta** * Conceptual Blockbusting by James L. Adams * Code Complete 2 by Steve McConnell * Programming Pearls by Jon L. Bentley * The Practice of Programming by Brian W. Kernighan, Rob Pike *** ## **Software engineering** * Working Effectively with Legacy Code by Michael Feathers * Practical Object Oriented Design Patterns: in Ruby by Sandi Metz * Test Driven Development: By Example by Kent Beck * Get better at programming by learning how things work - by Julia Evans *** ## **Agile & related processes** * User Stories Applied: For Agile Software Development by Mike Cohn * Software Estimation: Demystifying the Black Art by Steve McConnell [Writing system software: code comments.](http://antirez.com/news/124) *** ## **Release engineering** * The Phoenix Project: A Novel about IT, DevOps, and Helping Your Business Win by Gene Kim, Kevin Behr, George Spafford * Accelerate: The Science of Lean Software and DevOps by Nicole Forsgren, Jez Humble, Gene Kim * Continuous Delivery: Reliable Software Releases through Build, Test, and Deployment Automation by Jez Humble, David Farley *** ## **Android / Java / Kotlin** * Reactive Programming with RxJava by Tomasz Nurkiewicz, Ben Christensen * Effective Java by Joshua Bloch * Design Patterns: Elements of Reusable Object-Oriented Software by Erich Gamma, Richard Helm, Ralph Johnson, John Vlissides * Androids: The Team That Built the Android Operating System by Chet Hasse *** ## **Web / JavaScript** * Eloquent JavaScript by Marijn Haverbeke *** ## Object-oriented programming {% embed url="" %} *** ## Testing {% embed url="" %} {% embed url="" %} *** ## Front-end state management {% embed url="" %} {% embed url="" %} {% embed url="" %} *** # Project Management ## Coming soon! *** # Collaboration ## Coming soon! # Growth We aim to be a workplace that we would all happily dedicate at least 10 years of their career to. We **view careers with a long lens**—so each one of us is able to envision an illustrious trajectory at Obvious. ## Modules
Design growth framework/files/M8GBP2wrGcc5HWfwr3po/pages/0k6MFfhMNAQhbEwhTv0Q
How to give ongoing feedback/files/aM2FwmwJNS785mTMlyda/pages/Q6WP3McJsVTxzlCtItev
How to check-in every quarter/files/ODhOPAvC3zGjBc23ejC9/pages/iJpImmCwNjWxbRLg2Tj8
How to address underperformance/files/YBgqbu3jYHXi0TOmlu0q/pages/uOARliHDEqN45CqH1PZC
FAQs/files/aVF57UmAegOvJscDZoSl/pages/u8EMH2NoD0RvvVqIv7OC
# Design growth framework ## 👋 Introduction The Obvious design growth framework is intended to: * Be open enough for discovery and tight enough for direction * Create a tangible sense of progression, especially between levels * Inspire regular conversations and record-keeping to offset recency bias * Acknowledge and codify work that is often overlooked * Treat team members equitably and reward appropriately * Build a T-shaped career while recognising the breadth of capability in our teams These goals, together, form the collective North Star for our growth framework. {% hint style="info" %} While this framework is designed for a designer at a consultancy, it has strong parallels with the growth of a designer at a product company. {% endhint %} *** ## 1️⃣ Team structure There are two kinds of teams at obvious—dedicated product teams and horizontal specialist teams.
### **Dedicated product teams** Teams are structured as pods. One pod works on one project at a time. Pods consist of 1-2 product designers led by a lead product designer. Product designers are expected to do good research, visual design and write microcopy. ### **Specialist horizontal teams** To take our work to the next level we have dedicated teams for graphics, content and research for support where needed. * **Graphics—**Responsible for conceptualising and executing visual and motion collateral for delivery pods as well as internal teams related to hiring and sales. * **Content—**Responsible for planning and executing content-led experiences as part of overall experience design. * **Research—**Responsible for gathering knowledge around user needs and goals across projects, as well as evaluating if designs meet user goals. *** ## 2️⃣ Design levels Levels 1 through 5 capture the increasing scope of responsibility of a designer. It applies to product designers, graphic designers, design researchers, and content designers alike:
LevelResponsibilitiesTime at level
1Craft and execution of tasks1 years
2Craft and execution of complete features2 years
3Anchor & uphold Obvious’s standard of quality and speed for a pod consisting of 2-3 people.3 years
4Delivery success for 3 pods. Works regularly with the CXOs and (CXO-1)s.4 years
5Setting the engagement up for success with the client C-suite and focusing on the smooth functioning and evolution of the practice across the entire design org.5 years +
*** ## 3️⃣ Design skills Product design has 7 skills for a designer to master - strategy, function, form, research, delivery, consulting, and positive surprises. The complexity of each skill goes up from level 1 to level 5:
{% hint style="info" %} Take a look at the complete framework [here](https://obvious.progressionapp.com/teams/design-1pkitcd6yagz/framework). {% endhint %} *** ## 4️⃣ Mastering a level For each skill at each level, a designer will go stages of mastery of the level. The stages of mastery use the metaphor of a video game: * `Working towards`: You’ve just started a new level of the game. You discover the challenges at this level and are working towards overcoming them. * `Meeting` : You’ve been playing at the level for a while. You’ve understood the challenges and have figured out how to do well enough to cross the level. However, you don’t cross the level just yet because you believe in mastery. Good isn’t good enough for you. * `Exceeding` : You solve every challenge at the current level with ease. You are also starting to pick up 1-2 parts of the next level too! *** ## 5️⃣ Moving to the next level To move from the current level to the next, you will need to: | Expectations | Skills | Timeframe | | ---------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------ | | Exceed expectations on |
  • Delivery
  • Consulting
  • Any 2 out of Strategy, Form, Function or Research
| Six months or more | | Meet expectations on | Remaining 2 skill areas | Six months or more | {% hint style="info" %} 💡 **Note**: If, due to project circumstances, an individual hasn’t had the opportunity to demonstrate capability in one skill area, but has exceeded and met all other promotion criteria as needed, they can be given the benefit of doubt and promoted. {% endhint %} *** # How to give ongoing feedback ## 👋 Introduction Proactively record Feedback as and when relevant, because they feed into check-ins and main assessments. [Praise in public and criticise in private](https://www.radicalcandor.com/public-praise-private-criticism/). This way, we ensure that everyone is aware of their achievements and scope for improvement, and have all the evidence they require at their Check-ins. We use the Wins feature on Progression to give and receive positive feedback and notes of appreciation. | From whom | When | About what | How | | -------------------------- | ------------- | ----------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Wins from Mentor and peers | Spontaneously | Skill-based positive feedback | Choose Wins based on relevant skills and levels, as the goal is to help assessment become easier. | | Feedback from Mentor | Spontaneously | Skill-based critique | Click on “Give Feedback” on the relevant colleague’s profile page, and tag it with the relevant skills. | *** ## 1️⃣ How to write a win A good win captures two parts - the challenge and the contribution: * **Describe the challenge.** Set the context and give as much detail as you can about the problem. Call out the potential downside of not having solved it. * **Describe the contribution.** Explain what you are appreciating about the person. Call out the relation to a skill area. Consider adding a line or two about the impact of the mentee’s effort on the overall project. ### Sample of a Win `Challenge:` During our field study, we saw that internet connectivity was poor in rural areas. We realised that we will have to find a solution that would enable phone number masking without relying on a strong internet connection, but none of us had a solution in mind. In fact, it seemed impossible to achieve. `Contribution:` When I returned to work on Monday after the field study, I saw Saket tinkering with DTMF tones, which is a system of number signalling used on older phones. His DTMF solution could help nurses make masked calls to patients without an internet connection using a service like Twillio. If this works, it will be a big win for us. Great work, Saket! *** ## 2️⃣ How to write Feedback Start with the SBI structure to gracefully provide the one receiving the feedback with concrete information that allows them to change their behaviour in the future. * `Situation`: define the where and when of the situation you’ll be referring to, along with any other contextual details that might help place the feedback in the right setting. * `Behaviour`: describe the specific behaviours that you want to deal with. When doing this, ensure that you observed them directly and you’re not making assumptions or judgements about why those behaviours happened. * `Impact`: describe how the other person’s action has affected you, others, or the project. Suggest a `Necessary Change` i.e. well-explained ways to change this behaviour in the future to avoid similar situations. {% hint style="success" %} 👉 When giving feedback, it might be nicer to do the feedback conversation in-person *before* adding it to Progression. So it’s gentler, and reduces misinterpretation. Add it to Progression to merely document the conversation that’s already had. {% endhint %} ### Sample of Feedback * `Situation:`When we met on Friday, we had decided that you would make a presentation before the clients about the pros and cons of building a Design System in code. We agreed on having this happen on Wednesday and that you would reach out as early as possible if stuck anywhere. However on Wednesday morning, the presentation wasn’t complete because you said you had unresolved questions. * `Behaviour:`Your questions could’ve been resolved earlier on but they weren’t brought up to me in time. And so, I and a few others from the team had to drop a few high-priority tasks to get this deck past the finish line. * `Impact:` The presentation ended up being subpar because we rushed through it, and that left a poor impression on the client. As a result, we might not get a chance to develop the Design System, something that’s necessary for the long-term success of the project. * `Necessary Change:` The miss here isn’t that you couldn’t resolve questions on your own, but that you didn’t seek help as soon as you realised you were stuck. As we saw with the presentation, folks are ready to help if you ask for it. In the future, I would love to see you actively ask for help and push information to me without expecting me to pull it from you. *** # How to check-in every quarter ## 👋 Introduction We have four quarterly check-ins. This is to prevent recency bias and encourage continuous conversations and course-correction. | With whom | Due by | | --------------------------------------- | ------------ | | Your lead for a majority of the quarter | 31 March | | Your lead for a majority of the quarter | 30 June | | Your lead for a majority of the quarter | 30 September | | Your lead for a majority of the quarter | 31 December | {% hint style="info" %} Evaluations will happen once every quarter. As soon as the candidate meets the promotion criteria, they will be promoted, regardless of which quarter this happens in. {% endhint %} *** ## 1️⃣ Writing check-ins * Each check-in is divided into three stages: `self-evaluation`, `mentor evaluation`, and `final check-in to align` on Strengths and Improvement Areas for the next quarter. * For each skill, choose from the three performance levels—`working towards`, `meeting`, `exceeding` expectations. Use the examples under each skill on Progression as references. * Contextualise your evaluation with specific examples of how you or the candidate worked towards, met or exceeded each criteria. * Cross-reference Wins and Feedback and use them to supplement your self-evaluation or, if you’re a mentor, the mentee’s evaluation. *** ## 2️⃣ Objective evaluations On each skill, let the examples demonstrate "Conscious, Comfortable, Continuous, Consistent Competency": * **Conscious:** having devoted intentional effort to this endeavour, * **Comfortable:** without being overly stretched, * **Continuous:** for a reasonable period of time, * **Consistent:** reliably and evenly, * **Competency:** meeting the criteria. {% hint style="info" %} For example, you might have met every example (Competency) but you may not have met them for long enough (Continuous) or without being overly stretched (Comfortable). In such a case, your growth marker might still be `working towards`, and not `meeting` or `exceeding` {% endhint %} *** ## 3️⃣ Sample of a D2 check-in on Delivery ### Assessment Table | | D2 on Delivery | D3 on Delivery | | ---------- | --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Definition | Effectively delivers individual projects | Effectively delivers complex projects with multiple stakeholders | | Examples |

  1. Plans and delivers small individual projects by breaking them down into smaller tasks and delivering each of them consistently and on time.
  2. Communicates effectively with all involved stakeholders about their day-to-day task deliverables alongside the deliverables of their larger projects.
  3. Is aware of how individual project components fits in larger projects and uses that awareness to keep the larger projects on track through collaboration with more experienced stakeholders.
|

  1. Owns the delivery of large projects by breaking them down into smaller projects planned in sprints.
  2. Manages accountability and effective communication between teammates and all involved stakeholders.
  3. Understands the second-order effects of their project deliverables on business and strives to ensure that the business goals are met by adjusting their own project strategy, if necessary.
|
Self assessment *I am `exceeding` this level* I was responsible for designing Feature A, B, and C during the last quarter. I made sure they were completed before the agreed-upon deadlines by breaking them down into smaller tasks and keeping the client teams informed through documentation on the project board. I addressed potential issues, such as pending reviews and missing information, to ensure the delays did not reflect poorly on the company. I also kept my colleagues and leaders informed when the delays impacted the overall project. I believe I am excelling in this role as I am meeting expectations and taking initiative to do more.
Mentor’s assessment Saket is *`working towards` this level* Saket, during the last quarter, I was happy to see you independently deliver three features. Your capability to break down the work into smaller tasks and plan and execute them in a smooth manner was quite commendable. Furthermore, your asynchronous communication skills were on point, as I noticed that you left regular comments on the project board and Figma, which helped in keeping the team updated about the progress of the work. Additionally, your regular comments on blockers were also noteworthy, as they helped in identifying the root cause of delays which were brought up during the quarterly retrospective with the clients. However, as we move into the next quarter, I would like to see you take a more proactive approach in your communication. While I appreciate the fact that you leave comments seeking clarity, I believe that there are times when you could take the initiative to get that clarity faster by involving the right stakeholders in a quick conversation. If that’s not possible, you could send people who can unblock you a Slack message or email rather than waiting for them to respond to comments on the project board. Reaching out to them directly will be more helpful to you than waiting for them to respond and calling that out as the reason for being blocked. Taking complete ownership of the work doesn't just mean calling out bottlenecks, but proactively working to remove them. I believe that if you could work on this aspect, it would help you excel in your role and take your performance to the next level. I chose `meeting` as your growth marker because `exceeding` translates to mastery of D2 and showing some signs of being able to take on D3-level responsibilities. As explained above, there’s still some room to grow at your current level, and I’m excited to see that happen over the next quarter.
Mutual assessment We agree that *Saket is `working towards` this level* We mutually agreed to `working towards` as Saket’s growth marker because `exceeding` translates to mastery of the current level and showing some signs of being able to take on the responsibilities at the next level for a reasonable duration. While Saket is exceeding expectations on aspects like independent delivery and well documented updates, there’s room for him to grow in communicating more proactively. In the next quarter, Saket will keep up their performance on independent delivery, documentation, work visibility and frequent updates, while: * creating clarity by communicating directly with involved stakeholders rather than waiting for them to come back on asynchronous channels * ensuring that delays regarding his projects does not impact the team’s broader goals by offering proactive support to his counterparts
*** # How to address underperformance ## 👋 Introduction People don't underperform on purpose. It is usually a result of misalignment of expectations, skills, working relationships, or combinations thereof. However, important deliverables or being understaffed are not good reasons to keep a team member stagnant at the same level of sub par performance. It's not fair to them, to their team members, clients or managers. *** ## 1️⃣ Notice underperformance (1-3 months) Underperformance can be called out by two people: the manager who sees it and the individual who feels they are underperforming. ### **Manager's responsibility** A manager’s response to "Is this the best person I could hire today?" should be a resounding "**Yes!**". When that changes, it could be for a few reasons: * Over 1-2 months, there has been a gradual and consistent drop in performance * Over 1-2 months, There are instances of big impact errors, where the person has the skills needed but has made errors in execution * Over 2-3 months, learning and picking up nuances of the project (technical or otherwise) has not happened at the pace needed for the work at hand. * Any other situation where the person has been told what is expected of them, and owing to them not picking up the pace, others in the team have to pitch in. ### Team member's responsibility If there are circumstances in your life that cause you to be less effective immediately tell your manager. It isn't required to give details if you prefer not to. Tell your manager when it started, to what extend it hinders your work, and what your forecast is for it to get better. {% hint style="warning" %} When you delay this conversation until your manager identifies underperformance you've lost trust that would be helpful to get through this period. {% endhint %} *** ## 2️⃣ Manager’s next steps (1-3 days) 1. **Be quick**—Taking early action on underperformance is one of the most important ways to get results and an essential managerial skill. Taking action sooner allows the action to be less severe and allows more time for coaching to have an effect. 2. **Notify manager’s manager**— They can help advising proportional actions to address it. Trust that your manager will extend the required empathy, support and time. 3. \*\*Identify the gap—\*\*Use the growth framework, skills and levels. Identify specific examples to determine where the team member is and where they need to be. Identify the degree of the difference if there’s a reasonable chance that it can be covered. 4. **Understand options**—Be prepared for the spectrum of possible outcomes: on one end, the team member uses the opportunity and support to grow and come up to speed; on the other, be prepared for the realisation that the team members may be more successful with a different set of circumstances, possibly at another company. *** ## 3️⃣ Offer a PIP (1-3 months) **PIP is not a first step to letting someone go**. We should only offer a PIP if we are confident that the team member can successfully complete it. And the team member is committed to successfully completing the PIP. 1. Identify 1-3 key areas of improvement. 2. Identify 1-3 months timeline for improvement 3. Offer the option of a PIP to the team member 4. Document the process in an email 5. Review weekly / monthly for progress 6. Conclude the PIP *** ## 4️⃣ Letting someone go {% hint style="warning" %} **Important:** This should be discussed with both the Executive team and with People Ops before any action is taken in order to ensure it is done in compliance with local laws and regulation. {% endhint %} ### Immediacy As soon as you know you'll have to let someone go, do it immediately and with respect. The team member is entitled to know where they stand. Delaying it for days or weeks causes problems with * confidentiality (finding out that they will be let go), * causation (attributing it to another reason), and * escalation (the working relationship is probably going downhill). ### Process 1. **Set meeting**—The People Ops person, the manager and their manager gather the PIP results and share that with the team member in a closed-door meeting. 2. **Share news**—The team member is asked if they have any disagreements on the decision. If there are none, they are told that the typical process is that they resign, as opposed to there being a termination process. The rest of the organisation can be told by them in their own time and pace that they are resigning. 3. **Confidentiality**—This process stays with the original team that needed to know this information. This is done to ensure the exit is respectful, the person feels they can continue to honour the friendships they have made in their stay in the organisation without any negative feelings, and their future employment options are not hampered. 4. **Exit date**—A date for the exit is agreed upon (The individual or the organisation can decide on an early exit date and serving of the notice period can be waived off if that suits the work schedule). 5. **Resignation**—The person sends in their resignation by email within the next 3 working days, addressed to the people in this meeting. That resignation is accepted, the last date is decided, the person can start informing others. 6. **Last week**—In the week of exit, the final settlement process, exit interview and farewell ritual is carried out. *** # FAQs ## **How does growth take place between levels?** You land at the start of a level. With every quarterly assessment, you and your lead closely monitor how to move you from “Working towards…” to “Meeting” to “Exceeding”. When you move to “Meeting” expectations on all six skills, you move up within that level band. When you move to “Exceeding” on at least 4 of the 6 skills consistently for 2 consecutive reviews (i.e. six months or more, as explained [here](https://www.notion.so/c0fd06b544504ffebd4f429e875ddb7c?pvs=21)), you move up a level. It is fair to expect this process to take 2 years. *** ## What do the examples under each skill indicate? The examples show what growth in a certain area would usually look like at each level, but progress isn’t restricted to those examples. *** ## How are new hires assessed? The hiring committee will determine this by comparing the candidates’ responses about their recent experiences relative to the people currently at Obvious at various levels. These details will be shared with the candidate once they’ve accepted the offer. Then, through the first 90 days through monthly check-ins, the new team member will work with their team lead and formalise their determined level. *** ## Will the salaries for each level be published? We don’t share compensation and level details in the public domain. Within the organisation, the level ranges associated with an individual’s own level and that of one level up are shared with that individual, so they can aim and plan for growth. *** ## Do tenure and past experience affect evaluations? No, they do not. Past experience is relevant only during the recruitment process and in determining provisional levels at the time of joining. Growth evaluations are conducted purely on behaviours, deliverables, and merit of contributions to prescribed skill. That said, the longer you are at Obvious, the more opportunities you have to grow and progress within the framework. *** ## Will the framework change over time? Yes, the framework will see iterations over time. This is to ensure it’s as usable in practice as it looks on paper and continues to value the right skills. If changes are made that materially affect even one person’s evaluation, we’ll ensure plenty of advance notice is given. *** ## Does this framework apply to non-designer teams? This applies only to designers. Graphics, Content and Research teams will soon get their own frameworks, once this one has been stress-tested enough. Engineering will also get a completely separate framework, but it will still be guided by our core principles of craft, curiosity and compounding. *** ## What happens if someone hasn’t met promotion criteria but has made visible progress? Suppose visible growth and progress have been made in the last 12 months but the individual hasn’t met promotion criteria. In that case, they can still be eligible for a salary increment without being promoted, provided their mentor(s) recommend a salary hike. More on our compensation values and framework [here](https://www.notion.so/227088d441424559b9e0678e7b87e860?pvs=21). *** # Hiring and careers As more of our work shifts to a massive scale, we are looking to work with people who are passionate and ambitious, willing to question the status quo, not afraid of trying and failing and open to learning new things every day. ## Modules
The hiring process/files/gWeiIr1ASYaZcxm9ch6e/pages/lKOq4w3Wep0RnlssgLc6
Diverse and inclusive hiring/files/DIBlnndkuR2y9zH9Ye30/pages/i4DkFFNftwNEzOFypr1E
# The Hiring Process ## 👋 Introduction We are a small team committed to quality, and therefore our hiring process is geared to gather all necessary information to make a decision. It is forever iterative and never set in stone. *** ## 1️⃣ Full-time roles The steps might be slightly different for everyone, just like everyone who goes through them! Overall, here’s what it looks like: ### 1️⃣ Send us a trimmed CV * Send us a fairly abbreviated document containing your work experience, projects you’ve worked on, side project related to the position, your responsibilities and contribution, and some misses and what you’ve learned from them. * Please do not include anything that might be prone to bias: photo, demographic information, educational information etc. ### 2️⃣ Answer opinion questions * In our online application, answer a few questions so we can understand your thought processes and clarity and the kind of person you are such as: what makes you tick, your favourite piece of your work, your top 3 reads, your favourite programming language and why, what sources do you go to for forming opinions in building software, what would make or break a position at Obvious for you, or your biggest professional influences. {% hint style="success" %} Remember, there are no right or wrong answers, just yours. And all we’re hoping for is that these answers will make for a riveting discussion. {% endhint %} ### 3️⃣ First call with People Ops * This call is to confirm alignment on the role, team, details of work. It’s your space to ask us questions, assess us as a potential employer and ensure your needs are tabled. * We like to have the compensation conversation early on to get aligned on what we can offer and if that makes subsequent conversations worthwhile for you. We *do NOT* ask for your current salary/ your salary slip. Each role at Obvious has a specific compensation number, thus eliminating internal bias and ensuring parity. ### 4️⃣ Take Home exercises and Craft interview * We do either a paired or a Take home exercise followed by an interview to assess skill level. Here’s what it looks like if you’re applying for a design role: * **Pair design session:** In the first stage, we're evaluating critical thinking, lateral thinking and time-boxing. You will get to understand the context and brainstorm with us on ideas. We're not giving you a written brief and asking you to work out the problem on your own in a silo because that's not how we work in real life. * **Work on your solution:** After the completion of Stage 1, we would like you to take a day and turn the solution into a high fidelity mockup in Figma. While we value the thinking a lot, we also believe in solid execution. * P**resent your solution to us and go through a craft interview:** After completing the two stages, you will be asked to present the results of Stage 2 to us over a video call and also discuss your portfolio along with any other questions you may have with one of the the team members you’ll be working with. In this stage, we are evaluating interaction design, visual design and engineering delivery ### 5️⃣ The final interview and decision * This final interview is to gauge craft, workplace needs, culture and will typically happen with a manager or function head. Expect questions around technical skills, your journey so far and what you’re looking for in the future. Feel free to ask us questions or give us feedback—bouquets and brickbats alike! * We will get back to you with an answer or a formal offer letter within 10 working days. {% hint style="info" %} We are a small team committed to quality, and therefore do not focus on closing the application process quickly. Instead, we take about 2-3 weeks to fully make sure both sides are aligned and have all information necessary to make decisions.\ \ We do not at this point give out feedback to each applicant. However, please feel free to reach out to the person conducting hiring for your role or at in case you’d like detailed feedback on your application. {% endhint %} *** ## 2️⃣ Rolling Internships Sometimes we bring in a few students to Obvious to see what it's like to work at a digital product design studio. This will typically be an 8-week-long paid program where students come in and get their hands dirty solving a tricky problem (with some excellent mentorship, of course). While the internship journey looks different for each individual, here’s what to expect: 1. **Week 1:** Get onboarded and settle in. At the end of the week, introduce yourself to the team and talk about your life journey. 2. **Week 2:** Align with your mentor on the scope and process of your problem statement. Refine it and come up with a hypothesis. 3. **Week 3-4:** Use primary and secondary research, co-create with potential users and investigate the problem. Refine the initial hypothesis. 4. **Week 5-8:** Use our design/engineering frameworks and translate it into a well thought out 4 week execution plan. Build out the solution iteratively and in the final week of the internship, document your project and present it internally. *** # Diverse and Inclusive Hiring ## 👋 Introduction We strongly believe that the strongest solutions (from technology and design perspectives) are made when a diversity of voices, opinions and perspectives are brought to bear on problems that our clients hire us to solve. Our hope is to fight the default of exclusion. *** ## 1️⃣ Increasing the hiring funnel responsibly We believe it isn’t fair to apply different hiring standards for underrepresented groups. Instead, we actively reach out to make the “top” of our hiring funnel more representative of the world that we exist in by: 1. **Removing gendered language** **within our job postings** through [Textio](https://textio.com/blog/watch-your-gender-tone/13035166463), for instance to ensure our job descriptions match our beliefs. 2. **Actively publishing and promoting job posts to community groups** that were either centered around or had better than average gender diversity (eg: WomenDroid, WomenWhoDesign, GirlsThatJavascript etc). 3. **Actively encouraging underrepresented candidates to apply** by having our people team call and motivate them to complete assignments or address any questions or reservations they might have about us as an inclusive organisation. *** ## 2️⃣ Minimising bias during the application process * Most CVs contain information that is prone to bias. For e.g.: photo, demographic information, education history. We ask applicants to not share CVs with pictures of any type, name-drop institutions or details about education (school, college, university etc), or share any demographic information (hometown, date of birth, etc.). * Potential hires are assessed only on their skills and pegged to a specific level on our growth framework, which translates to compensation levels. These levels are public within the organisation. Equal pay for equal work is a key tenet. This makes our compensation philosophy gender-, experience- and education-agnostic. *** ## 3️⃣ Maintaining D\&I standards ### **Conscious communication** * We encourage our employees to not speak in regional languages unless others around them understand it, to ensure no one feels excluded. * We do not use maxims that are inherently ableist such as “falling on deaf ears”. * We strive to create short, snappy sentences that can be easily read out by a machine for any visually-impaired visitors. * We do not specify genders where it is unclear or the preference of the person in question is unknown, and use “they” instead. * We also do not use slang or colloquial language that may inadvertently alienate readers. ### **Clear policies on discrimination, harassment and regular refresher workshops** * We have an independent committee to address complaints about sexual harassment whose decisions are mandatory to be accepted by management, backed by [Parity Consulting](http://www.parityconsulting.in/index.php), who serve as the external member on our ICC. * We make our clients aware that they are also covered by our prevention of sexual harassment guidelines, and build termination clauses into our contracts that would automatically trigger in the event of any reported sexual harassment. * We conduct regular refresher POSH workshops for all our employees and ensure equal ownership across the org to uphold our culture strongly. ### **No late-evening events** The ability to travel safely and without hassle is [heavily gendered](https://www.shethepeople.tv/news/choices-indian-women-commute). Transport for anyone who identifies as a woman/non-binary is usually less safe. * We try and ensure that our days in office end at consistent times. * We don’t organise meetings or work events late in the evenings, taking care so that nobody is excluded from valuable networking and career-building opportunities. ### I**nclusive physical spaces** * Work spaces often stigmatise menstruation. We stock necessary menstrual supplies in our bathrooms for free, and we hope this makes our workplace more welcoming. * Everyone comes in different shapes and sizes. We’ve put in considerable effort and expense to ensure that everyone in the office has [ergonomic, height-adjustable furniture](http://www.haworth.com/ap/products/tables/height-adjustable/hat-elements), allowing for a workspace which everyone can adapt to themselves. * We were not surprised to find that office temperatures are benchmarked against the [metabolic rates of an average — wait for it — man](https://www.nature.com/articles/nclimate2741), leading to uncomfortable working conditions for most female employees. An awareness of these gendered biases which have been codified into “standards” allows us to avoid them, and helps us create an office space which is more productive. {% hint style="success" %} We continue to challenge ourselves to go deeper into what diversity means, and look at it along other axes, including age, caste, religion and geography. If you’re from an underrepresented group, you can **a)** see what it might be like to work here, and **b)** exhort us to do better — we’re always open to suggestions and criticism. {% endhint %} *** # Benefits and Perks We don't agree with living at work, and know that there are other aspects to life too. We want everyone to take time off as and when they need without hesitation, invest in their learning, and have the financial support they require to make these happen. These benefits are baked in to life at Obvious. ## Modules
Paid time off/files/xQ02GihGjrRiYFJDPkQN/pages/fCPRmHXaHHuD4U6KokYP
Insurance and healthcare/files/54S7nob39IAfShbecKQj/pages/KTDiKzDdAgg9ua7ykroU
Continuing education/files/rZrndKSqlCcUpw7SF4GZ/pages/BMaAKblQP8KqGUMR5Cix
Speaking at conferences/files/SsIJWm4mlN9lEd7NIrq6/pages/VHdqx7IhNMzKNp3BqH8U
# Paid time off ## 👋 Introduction Time away from work can be extremely helpful for maintaining a good work-life balance. Obvious encourages everyone to take time off when needed, and ensure that your colleagues do the same. *** ## 🏖️ Types of Time Off ### 1️⃣ Paid Time Off You can take up to ***21 days*** of paid leaves — think holidays, feeling under the weather, burnt out, etc. Apart from this, we’re also closed for [public holidays](https://playbook.obvious.in/9f543157d7df476fb145acc4aafb818c). {% hint style="success" %} Even if you are not planning to travel, it’s a good idea to take time off to rest and recharge. You could take a day off to do some spring cleaning or take some time for yourself at home. {% endhint %} ### 2️⃣ Parental Leave When you welcome a new child (birthed or adopted), Obvious encourages all full-time employees to take parental leave. This can be taken all together or spread over the first year of your child’s birth. * `For new mothers`: We offer up to 26 weeks of parental leave * `For new fathers`: We offer up to 8 weeks of parental leave. Fathers can opt to take 12 weeks of paternity leave at 75% of their regular salary. {% hint style="success" %} When taking parental leave, give the rest of the team as much notice as possible. The more that a team can anticipate the absence, the easier it will be to handle. {% endhint %} ### 3️⃣ Menstrual Leave Obvious offers paid menstrual leave for anyone who needs it, no questions asked. This is additional to the annual leave and therefore doesn’t get deducted from 21 days of annual leave. {% hint style="info" %} A [hat-tip to Nilenso](https://blog.nilenso.com/blog/2016/05/16/i-have-cramps/) from whom we have stolen this policy, the rationale and the explanation, wholesale. {% endhint %} ### 4️⃣ Bereavement Leave Obvious offers bereavement leave to any employee who wishes to take time off due to loss of a loved one. Paid bereavement leave can be 15 days. However, different people process grief in different ways and employees can discuss how much time they need with their manager. ### 5️⃣ **Special Occasions** For special occasions (think: your wedding, sibling's graduation, best friend's wedding) your manager can grant you an ***extra 10 days*** of paid leave. This is considered on a case-by-case basis. ### 6️⃣ **Very Sick Leave** In case you're very sick because of a certain illness and need significant time to recover (think: dengue, chickenpox), the leaves you take will not be counted towards any quota. Talk to your manager so that we can help you in any way possible, and work can be managed accordingly. *** ## 💬 Communicating Your Time Off Communicate broadly when you will be away so other people can manage time efficiently, projects don't slip through the cracks, and so that you don't get bothered while away. ### 1️⃣ Request your time off in [Pause](https://app.getpause.com/) * Apply for time off for the relevant dates and share the reason for being away *(if applicable)*. * Your request for time off will be approved by your respective team lead. ### 2️⃣ Update your Google Calendar * Use Google’s ["out of office"](https://www.theverge.com/2018/6/27/17510656/google-calendar-out-of-office-option) feature and include the dates you plan to be away. This feature will decline any meeting invitations during those dates. * Set up an automated response and include the contact details of a co-worker in case anything urgent or critical comes into your inbox while you’re away. ### 3️⃣ Plan ahead for meetings * `If you are the organiser for a meeting`: Cancel, move, or find coverage for the meetings. * `If you are not the organiser for a meeting`: Decline any meetings you will not be present for so the organizer can make appropriate arrangements. ### 4️⃣ Let your team know in advance Letting your team know when you’ll be taking time off helps plan client work and project timelines better. * The rule of thumb is that the more time off you're taking, the more advance notice you should give your team and your Lead. For example: * If you're taking a day off, a heads up a day or two in advance is usually sufficient. * If you're away for more than three days, let someone know the previous week. * If you're going away on an extended vacation, at least a few weeks notice is necessary to ensure that we keep our clients informed and ensure that your time off is factored into their deadlines. *** ## ✅ Approving time-off requests as a team lead If you discover that multiple people in your team want to be off at the same time, see what the priorities are, review the impact to the business, and use your best judgement. Discuss this with your team so you can manage the time off together. *** # Insurance and healthcare ## 👋 Introduction All full-time employees at Obvious are covered under an annual medical insurance and a personal accident insurance policy. We partner with [Plum](https://www.plumhq.com/) for health insurance for Obivous. *** ## 1️⃣ Group medical insurance * This policy covers you, your parents, your spouse and your two children. * The policy covers Rs. 5 lakhs annually for the entire family. * The policy covers hospital expenses for illness or injury. This is relevant for any hospitalisation for a minimum period of 24 hours. * Maternity related hospitalization expenses of upto Rs. 50,000 (counted towards your total benefit of Rs. 5 lakhs) *** ## 2️⃣ Personal accident insurance * This policy covers only employees, and not families. * The policy covers Rs. 10 lakhs. * The policy covers hospital expenses in case of an accident. *** ## 3️⃣ Access your policy card 1. Login to our insurance platform [Plum\*](https://app.plumhq.com/) using your Obvious email 2. You will see details of your medical insurance policy. 3. Check to ensure that your name and address match at least one of your government approved IDs. In case not, raise it with the operations team and get the e-card details changed immediately. This is essential to make sure that if needed, insurance payout does happen. 4. Download your online health card and keep a copy on your phone in a favourites folder and share a copy with friends/family you are likely to call in case of hospitalization. The health care includes your name, the policy number, your healthID, validity date, and other specifics you will need, should you find yourself in a situation of needing to avail insurance. {% hint style="info" %} If you have questions on coverage of a specific treatment you might be electing for, e.g Lasik etc., the first point of checking is the chat option on the Plum site. You speak to the folks who will be processing the claims, and so are the most informed folks to answer your questions. {% endhint %} \**If you are in doubt, look for login credentials for Plum in your Obvious email ID. If still in doubt, please reach out to Jaya or Monica to get this sorted out.* *** ## 4️⃣ Claim insurance ### **Apply for a cashless claim** * In most cities and hospitals, cashless benefits are provided to people with a company provided group medical insurance.This means that the hospital claims the permitted amount from the insurance folks directly. * You can get questions answered by chatting with the Plum team. ### Give your health card and ID to the hospital * Hospitals have a claims department that would reach out to you for this during admission. * They will take about 4 hours and get you an initial approval for about 30-40% of the expected overall treatment. They will also let you know what the hospital's corresponding policies are regarding hospital admission, treatment, stay arrangements etc. ### Check bill at the time of discharge * On the day of scheduled discharge after treatment, the hospital will make a final bill, send it to the insurance folk, get the remaining amount. * If there is a difference/ if there are elements of treatment not covered by insurance for whatever reason, they will bring the unpaid amount of the invoice to you. {% hint style="warning" %} **In case of an emergency:** In situations where you need to get insurance support externally (Say, emergency surgery or there is no time or mind space to have conversations with the insurance folks on the Plum site), call Jaya or Monica and we will interface with the folks at Plum and get you the support you seek. {% endhint %} *** # Continuing education ## 👋 Introduction It's important to Obvious that we support our employees’ efforts to learn, grow, and improve. These are some of the key benefits of working at Obvious, and are central to our company culture. *** ## 🏫 Learning Budget Every full-time employee has a company budget to support any learning activity that you want to pursue related to the work they do at Obvious. **Each employee has an annual budget of Rs. 50,000.** This budget resets at the beginning of every year and does not roll over. ### 1️⃣ What to use the learning budget for * The learning budget doesn’t need to be a class explicitly linked to their current role, but it should help you improve a skill that will be useful for them at Obvious. * The budget can be spent towards program fees/tuition, tickets, flights, and hotels for industry conferences, classes, mentorship programs, books, programs, videos, or other places that you feel will provide valuable learning experiences. ### 2️⃣ How to use the learning budget * Discuss these expenses before you make them with your manager and get them approved. *** # Speaking at conferences ## 👋 Introduction We encourage team members to present at conferences regularly. For Obvious, it becomes a great way to broadcast the work we do to the wider world. For the team member, it’s an excellent way of deepening their own understanding of a topic, becoming a better orator or jumping into a new area of expertise. *** ## 1️⃣ How to select a conference A good event or conference usually has the following features: 1. R*elevant* to Obvious’ work and your work 2. Has featured speakers you’ve personally admired, talks that have changed the way you work 3. Deeply cares about and works on *diversity* in its speaker lineup and attendees 4. Is *accessible and inclusive* 5. Has got a *Code of Conduct* and is prepared to enforce it ([here's a good example](https://www.djangoproject.com/conduct/)) *** ## 2️⃣ What Obvious provides If you are a speaker at a conference, Obvious covers related expenses. 1. We cover up to $100/day for your expenses during the conference. If it's a one-day event, we'll cover $100, two days, $200 and so forth. This will be capped at $500. 1. See how to file a reimbursement \[page link] 2. We believe that conferences should pay for the basics (travel/accommodation/conference tickets), but in the unlikely event that the conference organisers do not cover your these expenses **and** your manager determine that this is a worthwhile/high-impact conference to attend, Obvious will try to cover a part of those expenses. 3. If a conference gives out a speaker honorarium (usually $150-$500), that's yours to keep! *** ## 3️⃣ Prepare for the conference 1. Ask the Communications team and the Design team to help you create the presentation. 2. Present the talk that you are going to give to the Obvious team before you leave and refine it based on feedback that you will get. {% hint style="info" %} **Useful links:** [**How to choose a talk topic**](https://www.deconstructconf.com/blog/how-to-choose-a-talk-topic) \ [**How to submit and speak at a conference**](http://cultivatedmanagement.com/how-to-submit-and-speak-at-a-conference/)\ [**How to prepare and write a tech conference talk**](https://wunder.schoenaberselten.com/2016/02/16/how-to-prepare-and-write-a-tech-conference-talk/) \ [**How to prepare a talk**](https://www.deconstructconf.com/blog/how-to-prepare-a-talk) {% endhint %} *** ## 4️⃣ Attending the conference 1. Follow Obvious’ Code of Conduct at the conference. You are representing the organisation and it’s important that you carry yourself well. 2. Unless it falls foul of conference guidelines, make sure you take some Obvious swag to give out — use it to make some new friends! *** ## 5️⃣ After the conference 1. **Publish a high-quality post** on the subject of your presentation/talk on our blog within two weeks of returning to work. *** # Starting at Obvious We understand that joining a new organisation can be nerve-wracking. We have put together an an employee handbook so you can familiarise yourself with the details of the way we work, what it’s like to work at Obvious and how we engage with the community. ## Modules
Introducing Obvious/files/qC7hT2wEWR7JpKVsHzQl/pages/yQQqUsav0nBoYbCVd2xa
Set up your workspace/files/5nbmtlbrzADAdniAtHki/pages/RZExQlGBl1ImAv1wSuhG
Onboarding/files/XfUzekjHZZOcyC7n9OM3/pages/fCUxkrfPZlejHjpGMmV2
Finances/files/vhPE46bO1DfupKYqapyb/pages/Ft4sT79gTPNQYDY4MkhA
Code of conduct/files/cU8gmmywqMTcoRuDlxZL/pages/YCBIOmj6IzZdXuTMKW6E
# Introducing Obvious ## 👋🏼 Introduction We are pleased to have you join Obvious. We're building a team that understands our mission and core values and will help us to advance these objectives. ## 1️⃣ Our values We’ve been in the business for 10 years. Every year we’ve evolved a bit, and with us has evolved something else: our values. At Obvious, our values help us make sense of the world, while making intelligent and conscious choices. They’re the foundation of everything we do as individuals and as a team. ### Curiosity
> We are curious people. We are curious about how we can create a better world for ourselves and those around us. We explore the unknown, ask hard questions, and in the process, give life to new ideas. ### Craft
> We channel our curiosity to build great products. We bring simplicity and beauty to them. We consistently raise the bar by crafting products users love. Craft is how we express our curiosity to create magic. ### Compounding
> Only when every byte of code, every pixel and every word compounds, great products are built. We amplify each other’s skills to create something greater than the sum of its parts. ### Our vision
*** ## 2️⃣ Meet the team A great team is multiplicative and not additive! Take a look at the people that make Obvious, obvious here. ### Executive **Dhruv Saxena** (CEO) **Rahul Gonsalves** (COO, Sales) ### Administration **Jayapriya M** is our Admin Manager. She manages the day-to-day operations of the company, the office, and the bills and salaries. ### Communications **Sindhu Shivaprasad** and **Sidika Sehgal** together run our Communications Team. They are responsible for ensuring that everyone outside (and inside) Obvious knows what we are up to and why we’re a great place to work. ### Design Team **Vishwanath Pasumarthi,** **Subhankar Das** and **Elson D’Souza** lead our design team. Each team (or pod) consists of between 3-5 designers, with one person, usually the person with the most experience, acting as a Lead. ### People **Monica Pillai** takes care of People Ops and is your point of contact for all things people-related. ### Finance We work with an outsourced CFO-as-a-service offered by **Entrust Family Office**. They take care of our bookkeeping, ensure that we are compliant with all applicable laws and provide high-level financial guidance. If you have a question about finance, start by emailing Jaya, and she will direct it appropriately. {% hint style="info" %} Most concerns fall pretty clearly within the responsibility of a specific team at Obvious, and the head of that team should be the first point of contact. At the same time, every single person who works at Obvious is approachable and more than willing to point you in the right direction. If you have a question, you're probably not the first, so speak up! {% endhint %} *** ## 3️⃣ Life at Obvious {% embed url="" %} *** # Set up your workspace ## 👋 Introduction From hardware to getting onboarded onto all the tools we use, set up your workspace in the first week of joining Obvious. *** ## 1️⃣ Hardware ### During fellowship * When you join (online/offlice), you will receive an office laptop and a charger. * If you need anything immediately, such as an adapter to connect to your existing monitor, and if the value of that material is under **Rs.5,000**, you could get an approval from your manager and ask Jaya to procure and ship it to you. ### Post-fellowship After successful completion of your fellowship period in 3 months, you have the option of requesting for hardware from this list: | Device | Vendor | Key Specs | Price | | ------------------------------------- | ----------------- | ----------------------- | ----------- | | Computer | Apple | 14/16" | Rs. 240,000 | | Monitor | Dell | 27" 4K or equivalent | Rs. 50,000 | | Keyboard | | Recommended: Mechanical | Rs. 5,000 | | Mouse | - | - | Rs. 2,500 | | WiFi Router | - | - | Rs. 2,500 | | Table (Sit-Stand) | Ikea/Haworth | - | Rs. 50,000 | | Table (Regular) | Ikea/Urban Ladder | - | Rs. 15,000 | | Chairs | Haworth | - | Rs. 15,000 | | Monthly Mobile and Internet Allowance | Your choice | - | Rs. 2,000 | | | | | | **If there’s a device (or devices) that are important for your work, which are outside this list, here are the guidelines:** 1. Have a conversation with your manager. After your manager signs off the purchase, share it with Jaya. 2. We have unusually generous allowances for computing equipment, but be judicious while choosing your equipment. Spend company money like it is your **own** money. *No, really*. 3. If you purchase something from a vendor outside this list, we may not be able to use it if you leave, and you will need to buy it back from Obvious at the rates mentioned later in the document. ***Read***: if you purchase a crazy, RGB-encrusted keyboard, there's a very strong chance that no one else will want to use it, and we will ask you to purchase it back from Obvious. ### Caring for hardware While all our hardware is insured, we expect you to treat all of it with care. * **If you lose something, inform Jaya:** If there is any loss (device/ instrument/ charger), please report that loss immediately to Jaya. * **If something gets damaged:** If there is a damage on anything that is an office asset (tech hardware/ desk/ chair), please report it immediately to Jaya. The next steps are: * Jaya gets a certified technician to assess damage * Depending on the nature of damage, the cost is identified, so is the ownership of the repairs (as in, who pays for it) * If there is no timely intimation of damage, and the technician is disagreed on either what caused the damage/ the extent of the damage, that cost will be passed on to you * **Retain the original packing material of hardware sent to you:** If ever you need to ship them elsewhere/ to Bangalore, you need these. * **If you are moving houses/cities:** Find safe transportation options. \*\*\*\*The expectation is that you care for the hardware like you would for your own possessions. * Any damages during transit will be borne by you. * You will also need to inform Jaya of damages as they happen, so she can get the certified technicians to handle this. * If either of the above does not happen, the cost of replacement will need to be borne by you. {% hint style="info" %} 💻 We have a [Device Test Lab](https://clearleft.com/testlab) planned, where we house older devices to ensure that all the websites and apps that we make work on a range of hardware and software. {% endhint %} ### Laptop **Refresh** Laptops can be refreshed if it's outdated and is actively impeding your productivity. If you feel you need a new laptop to be effective at your job, reach out to your manager, and you'll be set up with a new machine in accordance with the table above. *** ## 2️⃣ Software We use a lot of software to manage our own organisation. Here's a laundry list of the different bits and bobs that are floating around, which might be useful to you. ### Google Calendar Log in with your Obvious account to [Google Calendar](https://calendar.obvious.in/) to see everyone's availability, block off a meeting or just see what your own day looks like. ### Slack The majority of our communication happens inside [Slack](https://obvious-hq.slack.com/). Make sure that you follow the appropriate Slack-etiquette. As long as you have an Obvious Google Account, or you have been given guest access, you will be able to log in. ### Notion [Notion](https://www.notion.so/obvioushq/) is documentation central for us. You can access most of what we do by looking around across different teams updates. You will get an invite from one of the admins: Rahul, Dhruv or Sindhu. ### Figma Figma is where we do most of our design work. Whether you’re a designer, a writer, an illustrator or a developer, Figma is a must-have. Reach out to Tejasvi to get added to the Obvious Team on Figma. ### Google Drive Google Drive is good to keep documents that need to shared externally (think sales decks) or to store documents that have a long shelf life (think our website illustrations, videos etc). Obvious has shared drives for different work streams and you can see this using your Obvious email ID. ### Razorpay x Payroll [RazorPay x Payroll](https://payroll.razorpay.com/) is where all your financial information resides. You can access old salary slips, view the upcoming month's salary slips and apply for reimbursements on expenses incurred during work. The login is created by the People Experience team and you get an invite to join. ### Pause [Pause](https://app.getpause.com/) is our leave management system. Once the People Experience team sends you an invite, you can get onboard. *** ## 3️⃣ Setting up your workspace Ergonomic workstations are a given at Obvious. Every team member gets a height adjustable table and chair so they can set up their workstation to be comfortable and just right. These happen after the first three months of your work at Obvious. Here’s a [detailed guide](http://ergo.human.cornell.edu/ergoguide.html) on setting up an ergonomic workspace for yourself. *** # Onboarding ## 👋 Introduction It can take time to understand a new culture and environment and we sometimes take things for granted, especially when a group of us have been here for many years. The most important piece of advice for any new person is to ask questions if you’re unclear about anything. *** ## 1️⃣ Probation * When you start, you’ll be considered to be in your probationary period for 3 months. It is a standard legal term required by labour law, but it’s really a time for us to ensure both you and the organisation are a good fit for each other. * Benefits and full permanent status takes effect once we have decided you’ve successfully completed your probation period. *** ## 2️⃣ The week before joining * You will get emails from People Ops (Monica), with details of your new email ID, sign in to Slack and a request to introduce yourself to everyone and say hi. * If you are able to, we would like you to also join our weekly Townhall on the Friday of the week before, at 4pm, and meet all the players remotely. * You will receive a link from Jaya, who manages Administration, to fill out your basic employee information online. She will also talk to you about hardware and let you know when you will receive them. *** ## 3️⃣ Day 1 We mostly onboard people on Mondays. This could be a remote onboarding, though we prefer an in-person onboarding. Here’s what you can expect from your first day: * We start the day late. We don’t want overwhelm you with information, names and processes on your first day. * Expect your first conversation to be around 11am with Monica from People Ops. You will learn about the organisation structure and where to find information you need as a new person. * You will then be connected to your buddy. The buddy is your lifeline to not feeling adrift at Obvious in the early days. Please feel free to ping or call the buddy anytime you feel you need to find something out. In due time, we will invite you to be a buddy to a new person, and you can pay it forward. *** ## 4️⃣ Week 1 The first week is usually slow. The idea is to let you settle in. Here’s what you should expect from Week 1: * You get on board all systems you will use. * You have met all the team members of your project, hopefully the rest of your function. * You have met the other team folk, at least have said hi to the founders and other function heads. If not, ask your buddy to make that happen. * You have attended your first townhall, where you introduced yourself to the rest of the org. There are no guidelines on how to do this, because the hope is that the intro is as unique as all the people joining us are. *** ## 5️⃣ Month 1 In the early days in any organisation, among the first three skills one needs to demonstrate are cultural assimilation, visibility and dependability. By the end of your first month, here’s what is expected of you: * You ramp up to independently taking up responsibilities on deliverables in your team * You add yourself to the informal donut 1-1s and meet people from other teams * You are present for townhalls every Friday. This is one place to see others, be seen, increase visibility, do your introduction and so on. This is not optional unless you have a meeting you cannot move. * If you are in Bangalore, you drop in for Fridays if not more frequently. * If you work remotely, you have spent one week in Bangalore at the office and have met the team in person. If the client office is here, you have made at least one trip there with your team/ your manager We do a formal check-in every month for the first three months of your fellowship. * **With People Ops,** this check-in is about: * your well-being * if the work, work practices, people and culture are what you envisaged when choosing to work with us * your feedback on how we can help with work and getting to know your team * feedback from those working with you for advice and help the team work better together. * **With your lead,** this check-in is about: * a structure for your fellowship period * what needs to be accomplished in the first 90 days, leading to successful confirmation {% hint style="info" %} Neither the goals we set nor the check-ins are designed as stressful challenges to prove your worth or skills. We won’t grade you during a check-in and you won’t be blindsided by a surprise evaluation. Like you, we want you to succeed and to become a full member of the team. The check-ins are a chance for us to work together to help you integrate with the team and to thrive and be happy in your new job. {% endhint %} *** ## 6️⃣ Month 2 At the end of month 2, you would have settled in the org and in your new role. Here’s what you should look out for: * You have a functional working relationship with your lead, your team members and allied team folk. You are comfortable talking to the folks at admin, finance, people etc. and get answers to questions on your mind * If you are stuck, you don’t waste time to reach out and ask for help, depending on the situations, from your lead, your peers, function head, People team, admin/ finance. * You have enough functional contacts on the other business team (That’s engineering if you are in the design team and vice versa) to reach out and get answers to questions about their work that might help you do your work better * On the work front, you have taken another clear step into independently delivering on work outcomes. By now, you have direct access to people you are working with on the client end. You understand what they are asking for and why, and what you can do to help/ resources at your disposal to make this happen * **Second check-in with lead:** Have a formal discussion with your manager on your next steps and goals for the next few months. * In case there are lags in areas of performance, those will be shared too. *** ## 7️⃣ Month 3 At the end of month 3, here’s what is expected of you: * You ask for and get clarity (and document this for your own and the team and lead’s future reference) your own career plan, where you are, where you would like to go and how you see the learning and opportunities at Obvious helping you reach these. * The reason these are gated on you and not your lead is that, the space we operate in needs high agency. Taking ownership of your own growth within Obvious is a good starting point, to understand that agency is assumed at the organisation and team level. For you to experience it, you need to take charge of things like these and build the muscles needed to work with agency. * You have clarity on how work happens, how your time can be used, what working hours your teams keep and how you can align with that, so you are optimising for collaboration despite being remote. * You are attending team stand-ups and periodic check-ins, are bringing to the conversations updates on your work and asking for help to be unblocked, whenever you are. * **Third check-in with lead:** We’ll get together with you for your second check-in with People Ops + your manager, to give you a sense of progress in the organisation. * We will bring the fellowship to a close and confirm you as a permanent employee. * If required, we could also extend the fellowship period. This may include changes to your work, or Obvious changing to accommodate your personal way of doing things. *** # Finances ## 👋 Introduction To make Obvious a workplace worth being part of, we practice equal pay for equal work, offer our employees the benefit of using a financial planner and have a transparent expense policy. *** ## 1️⃣ Compensation ### Driving principles * **Fair and equitable**: Everyone at the same overall level gets paid within the same salary band. This ensures pay parity and helps us stay aligned to being a bias-conscious workplace * **Adaptable:** Our salary framework will adapt and evolve with changing times * **Competitive:** Our compensation package will be equal to or more than the industry’s standard for that role and level ### Getting paid * We make all salary payments on the last working day of the month. Additionally, every Friday, we clear all pending payments for the preceding week. * We deduct and submit taxes (TDS) on your behalf to the government towards your income tax. When you are hired we will get you set up on our banking system. Please make sure you go through the finance checklist which you should get about a week before your first day. ### Compensation changes * Compensation changes do not follow an annual cycle. As indicated by quarterly assessments, there is an opportunity for every quarterly role review to see an upward trajectory. That means subsequent compensation changes can happen almost immediately. You can be eligible for a salary increment without being promoted, provided your mentor(s) recommend a salary hike. * People will spend at least a year at the start of each level. There is space to move up mid-level in a year’s time. {% hint style="info" %} Obvious does not currently give bonuses for any reason. {% endhint %} *** ## 2️⃣ Finance and expense policy Like all small companies, Obvious is attempting to minimise expenses as much as possible in order to extend our financial "runway" for as long as possible. Most of our expenses—over 65% typically\*—\*are people-related: salaries, contractor expenses and benefits. All team leads have business credit cards; if you need to purchase something, just ask one of them. #### Guidance * Online services that save us time and effort are totally worth the money. We subscribe to a bunch of them: GitHub, Slack, Figma, G Suite, and Digital Ocean to name a few. * When travel is possible, please use Cleartrip, Makemytrip, or a similar service for good fares. If you have a long flight, it's OK to book an "extra room" seat in coach so that you can get work done. We'd advise being reasonable — no business or first class, super fancy restaurants and cars. * When travelling on work to other cities (If you are Bangalore-based) or travelling to Bangalore (If you are remotely located and are required to work out of the studio for a period of time), * Your travel and stay will be booked by the office, unless specifically requested by you, in which case, you can get the expenses reimbursed. * There is a daily allowance on food & cab expenses (to the studio from your hotel & back, if relevant). This is Rs. 1,000 per day. Unless otherwise specified & signed off by your function head, that is the upper limit on reimbursable expenses. To claim reimbursement, you can apply via [Razorpay](https://payroll.razorpay.com/reimbursements) by EOD Wednesday on any week and the reimbursement will reach them by Friday of that week. *** ## 3️⃣ **Financial Literacy** We have partnered with [Insightful](https://www.insightful.in/), a boutique, fee-only financial planner to offer everyone at Obvious free financial planning and investment advice. Once you have completed your probation period, you will have access to this along with all the other standard Perks and Benefits. *** # Code of Conduct ## 👋 Introduction This code of conduct applies to Obvious’ team members, community members like volunteers, guests in Obvious’ office and on Slack groups and other online communities like Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. It applies while working in the Obvious office or remotely, at all events hosted by Obvious, at industry events attended by a Obvious employee, whether or not directly representing Obvious. *** ## 1️⃣ Inclusion and Harassment Obvious is dedicated to creating an inclusive environment for everyone, regardless of race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, color, sex, national origin, age, disability (physical or mental), genetic information, sexual orientation, gender identity, parental status, marital status, pregnant or otherwise and political affiliation as well as medical condition, mental illness, socioeconomic status or background, neuro(a)typicality, physical appearance, body size, computing experience, or clothing. * We do not tolerate harassment of community members in any form. Harassment includes: * offensive verbal comments related to the protected classes above * sexual images in public spaces * deliberate intimidation, * stalking, * photography or audio/video recording against reasonable consent, * sustained disruption of talks or other events, * inappropriate physical contact * unwelcome sexual attention. Harassment does not need to be recognized as unwanted or unwelcome by anyone other than the person being harassed. * Be careful in the words that you choose. Remember that sexist, racist, and other exclusionary jokes can be offensive to those around you. Offensive jokes are not appropriate and will not be tolerated under any circumstance. * If you are being harassed, notice that someone else is being harassed, or have any other concerns, please contact one of the founders, a member of the [Prevention of Sexual Harassment Committee](https://playbook.obvious.in/employee-handbook/employment-policies/prevention-of-sexual-harassment) or a member of the Board of Directors immediately. *** ## 2️⃣ Personal Conduct While it is not possible to list all forms of behaviour that are considered unacceptable in the workplace, here are some examples: * Falsifying information on any forms, reports, records, including personal absence, sickness, and time sheets * Falsely stating or making claims of injury * Removing or using, without authority, property, records or other materials of the Company or other persons * Theft or inappropriate removal or possession of property * Fighting, assaulting, threatening, intimidating or coercing any visitor or employee * Refusing to follow supervisor's directions or instructions or other insubordinate conduct * Violating safety, health rules and practices, or engaging in conduct, which creates a safety hazard * Engaging in unlawful or improper conduct off the work premises or during non-working hours, which affects an employee's relationship to work, fellow employees, supervisors or Company’s property, reputation or goodwill in the community * Excessive absenteeism or any absence without notice * Carrying or concealing any weapon into the office premises * Working under influence of alcohol or illegal drugs * Possession, distribution, sales, transfer or use of alcohol or illegal drugs in workplace, while on duty, or while operating employer-owned vehicles or equipment * Disclosing confidential/financial information to any outsider * Committing a fraudulent act or a breach of trust in any circumstances ### Dress Code * Feel free to dress comfortably and authentically according to your own style, religion, or gender expression. * Use good judgment in dressing in order to present a neat, well- groomed appearance while conducting business, in or outside of the office. * When meeting with clients (*either in person or on video calls*), lean toward the more formal end of your wardrobe. For example, if you usually wear t-shirts, when meeting with clients, wear your *nice* t-shirt. * Occasionally you’ll be invited to attend a client event with a specific dress code. If you choose to attend, follow their lead. If you are uncomfortable with the rules, you are welcome to opt out and it will not reflect on you as an employee. ### Using the office * Use the Internet in a manner that is ethical and lawful. Use of the Internet must solely be for business purposes and must not interfere with employee productivity. * Keep your work area clean and tidy. Keep tools, equipment and materials in their designated place. * Ensure that you are disposing waste correctly in bathrooms and in the pantry. * Maintain hygiene in the toilets. * Keep fire exits, fire extinguishers, doors and aisles clear and easy to access at all times. ### Confidential Information * Do not disclose or use any of Obvious's confidential information, either during or after your employment. * Do not leave any sensitive information lying about or unguarded. *** ## 3️⃣ Complaint Policy Obvious has a virtual open-door policy, so employees are encouraged to report work-related concerns or any workplace complaint even if it’s not about something that’s explicitly covered in our written policies. * If something about your job is bothering you, or if you have a question, concern, idea, or problem related to your work, please discuss it with your Manager as soon as possible. * If for any reason you don’t feel comfortable discussing it with your manager, feel free to raise the issue with any of the founders or anyone on the Board of Directors. {% hint style="warning" %} If there is a situation you are unsure about or feel like has the potential to violate this code of ethical conduct, speak to your Manager or the Administrator. {% endhint %} *** ## 4️⃣ Working with clients As consultants, our ways of working and the behaviour that is expected from us is different from what is expected from full-time employees. In order to avoid *(even the appearance of a conflict of interest)*, employees/consultants are expected to abide by the following code of ethical conduct. * Do not solicit anything of value from any person or organization with which the Company has a current or potential business relationship. * Do not accept any item of value from any party in exchange for or in connection with a business transaction between the Company and that other party. * You may accept items of incidental value from customers, suppliers or others as long as the gift is not given in response to solicitation on her part and as long as it implies no exchange for business purposes. Items may include gifts, gratuities, food, drink and entertainment. Any item mentioned above which is more than ₹2,500 should be declared to the respective Program Officer/Manager and the Administrator. * Disregarding or failing to comply with this standard of business ethics and conduct could lead to disciplinary action, up to and including possible termination of employment. * Employees and Consultants may not participate in activities that conflict with or appear to conflict with the business interests of Obvious and/or our clients’ and/or Donors or that hurt the employee’s job performance. *** # Employment policies Obvious is dedicated to be an equal-opportunity employer and aims to be a safe workplace for everyone. Our employment policies support this. ## Modules
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# Equal opportunity employment ## 👋 Introduction Obvious is an Equal Opportunity Employer and this policy is meant to create a safe, diverse and comfortable workplace at Obvious. *** ## 1️⃣ Creating a diverse and safe workplace * Obvious will not discriminate based on race, colour, religion, gender identity, sex, sexual preference, sexual identity, pregnancy, national origin, ancestry, citizenship, age, marital status, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition, military status, or any other "Discrimination Characteristics" protected by Indian national or state law or local ordinance. * This Policy is without prejudice to any anti-discrimination provisions of applicable law including, but not restricted to, the provisions of: * Article 17 of the Constitution of India; * the Protection of Civil Rights Act, 1955, * the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989; * the Sexual Harassment of Women at the Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013; * Sections 354 and 509 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860; and, * the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportunities, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995. * This policy applies to **any person on Obvious’ premises**, whether that person is in its employment or otherwise. * This policy governs all aspects of employment including, selection, job assignment, compensation, discipline, termination and access to benefits and training. {% hint style="info" %} ⚖️ This Policy is not legally mandated and, therefore, is not judicially enforceable in India. {% endhint %} *** ## 2️⃣ Taking positive discriminatory action * If Obvious reasonably believes that its employment, workplace or premises do not adequately represent the balance of diversity of persons who share one or more of the Discrimination Characteristics, it may, with the aim only of redressing that imbalance, take positive discriminatory action in respect of persons who share that aspect, or those aspects, of the Discrimination Characteristics that are sought to be adequately represented. * When necessary, the company will reasonably accommodate employees and applicants with disabilities if the person is otherwise qualified to safely perform all of the essential functions of the position. *** ## 3️⃣ Dealing with discrimination * Any person who believes themselves to have been subjected to adverse discrimination on the basis of the Discrimination Characteristics is encouraged to bring the matter to the attention of the management at Obvious at the earliest practical opportunity. * No person will be punished, retaliated against, or limited in employment or other opportunity for exercising anything set out in this Policy, or for filing a complaint, furnishing information for, or participating in an investigation, or any other activity related to the administration of this Policy. * Any adverse discrimination or other action or behaviour that constitutes an offense will be reported to the police. *** # At-will employment ## 👋 Introduction Your employment with Obvious is at will. This means that you are free to terminate your employment at any time, with or without cause and the company has a right to terminate your employment at any time as well, with or without cause, subject to our standard notice period which you will find in your Offer Letter. *** ## 1️⃣ Changes to the policy * No one in the company other than the CEO has the authority to: * alter your at-will status * enter into any agreement for employment for a specified period of time * make any agreement contrary to this policy. * Only the CEO may do so, and only in a written agreement signed by both the CEO and you. *** # Employee records and privacy ## 👋 Introduction Obvious uses many communication and collaboration tools, and maintains personnel records for all team members. This policy outlines how employees should use these tools and how we approach employee privacy. *** ## 1️⃣ Obvious’ communication tools Employees at Obvious use many communication and collaborations tools like email, Slack, Google apps, Figma. These are company resources and therefore are not expected to be private. Following are guidelines on how to use them. ### Privacy * Email or Slack messages messages, including attachments, sent and received from a Obvious email address are the property of Obvious. The Obvious email and Slack workspace is not being actively monitored by anyone, but because it is a company resource that is managed according to company policy, you should not expect privacy. * We reserve the right to access, monitor, read, and/or copy messages at any time, for any reason. This could be to protect employee safety and well being, as well as to protect company interests. ### Use of company tools for personal messages * The communication tools are intended for official Company business. * If you send personal messages through the Company’s communication tools, exercise discretion as to the number and type of messages you send. * You must ensure that your personal use of the communication tools does not interfere in any way with your job duties or performance. ### All conduct rules apply online * All of our policies and rules of conduct apply to employee use of the communication tools. This means, for example, that you may not use them to send harassing or discriminatory messages, including messages with explicit sexual content or pornographic images; to send threatening messages; or to reveal company confidential information. ### Professional tone and content * When you send any message using an Obvious email address or Obvious social account, you are representing Obvious. Make sure that your messages are professional and appropriate, in tone and content. * You should not send any email/message/update/etc. that you wouldn’t want our team, your family, or our competitors to read. * Remember, although email or social media or Slack DMs may seem like a private conversation, they can be printed, saved, and forwarded to unintended recipients. ### Email security * To avoid email viruses, phishing for account information, and other threats, employees should not open email attachments from people and businesses they don’t recognise, particularly if the email appears to have been forwarded multiple times or has a nonexistent or peculiar subject heading. * Even if you know the sender, do not open an email attachment that has a strange name or is not referenced in the body of the email; it may have been transmitted automatically, without the sender’s knowledge. * Employees should not share their email passwords with anyone, including coworkers or family members. Revealing passwords to the Company’s email system could allow an outsider to attack the Obvious network. {% hint style="warning" %} If you believe your computer has been infected by a virus, worm, or other security threat to Obvious’s system, you must inform the Chief Security Officer (currently Subhankar) immediately. {% endhint %} *** ## 2️⃣ Personnel Records Obvious maintains a personnel file for each employee. The personnel file includes information such as an employee’s job application, resume, record of training, documentation of performance appraisal, salary/fee increases, and other employment/contract records. Records and information regarding each employee is maintained to support benefit programs and employment actions. ### Access to files * Personnel files are the property of Obvious and access to the information they contain is restricted. Generally, only the HR team and the Directors will have access to these files. ### Changes to personal details * Employees are asked to notify an Administrator of any changes in: * Name * Bank Account details * Address and/or telephone number * Number of dependents * Emergency contact person * Qualifications * Change in Resident Status *** # Prevention of sexual harassment ## 👋 Introduction Obvious believes in equal employment opportunity and that sexual harassment undermines the safety and dignity of all persons. We do not tolerate verbal or physical conduct that creates an intimidating, offensive, or hostile environment for our employees. Harassment of any kind, including sexual harassment, is forbidden in this organization and every employee has the right to be protected against it. *** ## 1️⃣ Prevention of Sexual Harassment Policy The purpose of this policy is to prevent any acts of sexual harassment and to provide redressal in the event of sexual harassment at the workplace. This policy has been created in accordance with the provisions of The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013. ### Direct sexual harassment Sexual harassment includes any one or more of the following unwelcome acts or behaviour (whether directly or by implication): 1. Physical contact and advances 2. A demand or request for sexual favours 3. Making sexually coloured remarks 4. Showing pornography 5. Any other unwelcome physical, verbal or non-verbal conduct of sexual nature 6. Deprecatory comments, conduct or any such behaviour based on the gender identity or sexual orientation of a person 7. Continued expressions of sexual interest against a person’s wishes 8. Creating a hostile work environment by putting a complainant (on sexual harassment) in disadvantageous position with regard to employment, associated privileges, benefits & career enhancement Further behaviours of sexual harassment are defined as, but not limited to: 1. Verbal harassment of a sexual nature, such as lewd comments, sexual jokes or references, and offensive personal references; demeaning, insulting, intimidating, or sexually suggestive comments (oral or written) about an individual's personal appearance or electronically transmitted messages (Jokes, remarks, letters, phone calls); 2. A demand or request for sexual favors, sexually colored remarks, showing pornography, any other unwelcome physical conduct of sexual nature, lurid stares, physical contact or molestation, stalking, sounds, display of pictures, signs,; 3. An act or conduct by a person in authority which makes the environment at workplace hostile or intimidating to a person or unreasonably interferes with the individual’s privacy and productivity at work; 4. Any other behaviour which an individual perceives as having sexual overtones. ### Indirect sexual harassment If the following circumstances, occur in relation to or are connected to any sexual act or behaviour of sexual harassment, also amount to sexual harassment: 1. Implied or explicit promise of preferential treatment in their employment 2. Implied or explicit threat of detrimental treatment in their employment 3. Implied or explicit threat about their present or future employment status 4. Interferes with their work or creating an intimidating or offensive or hostile work environment for them 5. Humiliating treatment likely to affect their health or safety ### Where does it apply? * This policy is applicable: * in office premises * to all locations where employees travel while on assignment * in any place where the employee visits in connection with her/his work with Obvious, including transportation provided for undertaking such a journey ### To whom does it apply? * This policy is applicable to all employees employed: * for any work on regular, temporary, ad-hoc or daily wage basis * either directly by Obvious or through an agent, including a contractor, with or without the knowledge of the principal employer * for remuneration or not, or working on a voluntary basis or otherwise * as a coworker, a contract worker, probationer, trainee, apprentice or by any other such name {% hint style="info" %} This policy is applicable even when a complaint is filed by an outsider or third party who has visited the workplace. {% endhint %} *** ## 2️⃣ Redressal If you are working for our organization and in the course of your work, you have been sexually harassed by anyone, we urge you to come forward with a written complaint as early as you can. ### Submitting a complaint 1. **Write to the Internal Complaints Committee:** Submit a written or electronic complaint to the Internal Complaints Committee. You can write to or approach any member of the committee with the complaint. 2. **Submit the complaint within 3 months of the incident: Submit the complaint** within 3 months of the occurrence or 6 months if there are exceptional circumstances due to which you cannot submit the complaint earlier. 3. **Keep documents for evidence:** We advise you to be vigilant and keep any document with you which can be used to substantiate an allegation. The redressal system will work based on other evidence if you cannot produce any documentary evidence. {% hint style="warning" %} If the complainant cannot make a written complaint because of physical or mental incapacity or death, their legal heirs can make the complaint on their behalf. {% endhint %} ### Conciliation After a complaint is submitted, the redressal process is as follows: 1. **The ICC reviews the complaint:** The ICC shall take cognizance of the complaint at the earliest, within 10 days of receiving the complaint. 2. **The ICC informs the accused or respondent:** Within 10 days of receiving the complaint, the person who is accused by the complainant will be informed that a complaint has been filed against them. 1. They will be made aware of the details of the allegation and also the name of the complainant as it would be necessary for proper inquiry. 2. No unfair acts of retaliation or unethical action will be tolerated. 3. **The complainant can ask for conciliation:** The complainant has the opportunity to ask for conciliation proceedings. A request for conciliation should be made within 2 weeks of receiving a reply from the respondent. 1. Conciliation is a practical mechanism through which issues are resolved or misunderstandings cleared. It doesn’t mean acceptance of complaint by the respondent. 2. In such conciliations, the complainant cannot demand monetary compensation. 4. **A settlement is reached between the complainant and respondent:** In case a settlement is arrived at, the committee will record & report the same to the employer for taking appropriate action. 1. The Committee shall provide the copies of the settlement as recorded during conciliation to the complainant and the respondent. 2. The respondent complies with the terms and conditions. ### Inquiry If no settlement is reached between the parties, or if the respondent is not complying with the terms and conditions, the complainant can approach the ICC for an inquiry process. 1. **The complainant requests for a formal inquiry:** The ICC shall proceed with the formal inquiry process within 7 days of receiving the request. 2. **The ICC questions both the complainant and the respondent separately:** An aggrieved person or respondent shall not question each other or other witnesses directly but may raise questions to be asked of that party through the Committee, which will determine whether to ask them. 3. **The ICC questions witnesses:** If required, the person who has been named as a witness will need to provide the necessary information to assist in resolving the matter satisfactorily. The Committee shall call upon all witnesses mentioned by both the parties. 1. The Committee shall also call upon any witnesses it feels may provide necessary and vital information in regards to the inquiry. 4. **The ICC requests for documents:** The ICC can ask for specific documents from a person if it feels that they are important for the purpose of investigation. 5. **The ICC completes its investigation and prepares a report:** The Committee should complete its investigation within 90 days of a complaint of sexual harassment and prepare an inquiry report that includes the recommended decision and the reasons for arriving at the decision. 6. **The ICC notifies the complainant and respondent:** Notification of the decision and the reasons shall be individually given to the respondent and complainant on the same day. 7. **The ICC shares the report with the employer or District Officer:** The Committee should share the report with the employer (or the District Officer) within 10 days of completion of the investigation. 8. **The employer or District Officer takes action against the respondent:** The employer or the District Officer will act on the recommendations of the Committee within 60 days of the receipt of the report. {% hint style="info" %} Any party aggrieved by the report can prefer an appeal in the appropriate Court or Tribunal in accordance with the service rules within 90 days of the recommendation been given to the employer/District Officer. {% endhint %} {% hint style="warning" %} If a party is not present for more than 3 consecutive hearings, without sufficient cause, the Committee may, after giving that party a notice of 15 days, give an ex parte decision on the complaint. {% endhint %} ### Disciplinary Action Where any misconduct is found by the Committee, appropriate disciplinary action shall be taken against the accused, up to and including termination. This action shall be in addition to any legal recourse sought by the complainant. In case the ICC finds the degree of offence coverable under the Indian Penal Code, then this fact shall be mentioned in its report and appropriate action shall be initiated by the management of the organization, for making a Police complaint as may be appropriate. *** ## 3️⃣ Safeguards ### Protecting the complainant It is the role of the ICC to ensure that the complainant or the witness are not victimized or discriminated against. * **Option to seek transfer or leave:** During the conciliation and inquiry, the complainant can seek transfer or leave so that the inquiry process can continue smoothly and to prevent recurrence of similar situations or discomfort to the complainant. * The leave can extend for a maximum period of 3 months. Leave granted under this provision will be paid leave and will not be counted in the number of leaves that the complainant is statutorily entitled to. * The Committee has the discretion to grant leave of an appropriate duration, depending on the facts and circumstances of the case, or grant an alternate measure such as transferring the employee or the accused, as it deems fit. * **Option to work from home:** The complainant may be required to work from home, if it is practical, keeping in mind the nature of work of the complainant, health and mental condition. However, the complainant is under a good faith obligation and shall not abuse the process. * **Protection from a hostile environment:** The Committee shall also take note of the inherent power asymmetry and/or the vulnerability of the complainant in such cases and take steps to ensure that the aggrieved person is not subjected to a hostile environment during the investigation. * **Protection from retaliation:** Regardless of the outcome of the complaint made in good faith, the employee lodging the complaint and any person providing information or any witness, will be protected from any form of retaliation. * **Protection from retaliatory action:** Any unwarranted pressures, retaliatory or any other type of unethical behaviour by the respondent against the complainant while the investigation is in progress should be reported by the complainant to the ICC as soon as possible. * Retaliation cases must be treated as seriously as an alleged case of sexual harassment even if the original harassment complaint is not proven. * **Confidentiality:** The contents of the complaint made, the identity of the complainant, respondent and witnesses, any information relating to conciliation and inquiry proceedings, recommendations of the ICC and the action taken by the employer shall not be published, communicated or made known to the public, press and media in any manner. * Any person contravening the confidentiality clause is subject to disciplinary action as prescribed in the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace Act, 2013. ### Protecting the respondent If the ICC finds that the complainant has maliciously given a false complaint against the accused, disciplinary action shall be taken against the complainant as well. * **Establish malicious intent through a separate inquiry:** While deciding malicious intent, the Committee should consider that mere inability to substantiate a complaint need not mean malicious intent. * **Recommend disciplinary action against the complainant:** If the ICC arrives at the conclusion that the allegation against the respondent is malicious, they must recommend the employer to take appropriate action against the complainant. *** ## 4️⃣ Roles and Responsibilities To ensure a safe workplace, every one, including ICC members, have roles and responsibilities. ### Internal Complaints Committee The **Internal Complaints Committee** is constituted for our organization by the management to look into matters concerning sexual harassment. The Committee consists of the following persons: The Committee is responsible for: 1. Remaining free of bias and conducting inquiries in a fair manner, and as per the process outlined 2. Conducting a prompt, thorough and impartial investigation of a complaint 3. Recording minutes of the proceedings in English or another language familiar to the complainant or the respondent 4. Ensuring that at least 3 members of the committee, including one woman, is present for each hearing 5. Submitting an annual report comprising details of all cases and actions taken at the end of each calendar year 6. Keeping information completely confidential, and disclose it strictly on a “need to know” basis 7. Setting an example of proper and appropriate workplace behaviour and ethical standards 8. For assisting employees with filing a complaint in the police station if they face sexual harassment outside of the organizational work and work premises #### Selecting ICC members The President and other members of the committee shall hold office for such period, not exceeding three years, from the date of their nomination as may be specified by the employer. A complainant can approach any member of the committee with their written complaint. According to The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace Act, 1. The President of such committee shall be nominated by the employer and must be a woman employed at a senior level at workplace or administrative unit or office of the employer. 2. At least two members must be nominated who preferably have worked for the cause of women or have basic legal knowledge. 3. One independent member must be nominated. Such member should have experience of working with an NGO or associations committed to the cause of women or any person familiar with issues relating to sexual harassment. The external member shall be paid such fees or allowances for holding the proceedings of the Internal Committee, by the employer, as may be prescribed. ### Employees * To forward or submit to the ICC any written complaint from any complainant and to co-operate during any investigation as part of the inquiry process. * Be aware of and abide by laws applicable to them. * Be aware of and to not participate in any prohibited or inappropriate behaviours or activities while representing Obvious. * Provide a full and truthful disclosure of relevant information and assist with investigations of alleged policy violations. * Handle information related to known or suspected violations of this policy in a discreet and confidential manner. * Not attempt to investigate the information or suspected violations of this policy on their own and/or without involving the Internal Complaints Committee. * Adhere to ethical behaviours and standards as per Obvious’s Code of Conduct. ### The Company (Obvious) Obvious is responsible for providing a safe working environment for its employees that is free from harassment, bias and prejudice of any kind. * Treat Sexual Harassment as misconduct under the service rules and take appropriate action as required. * Encourage respectful and dignified behaviour at the workplace at all times. * Have zero tolerance toward acts of sexual harassment. * Declare the names and contact details of all members of the ICC. * Display at conspicuous places in the workplace the penal consequences of Sexual Harassment. * Organize workshops and awareness programs at regular intervals for sensitizing employees, keeping in mind the provisions of this policy. * Organize orientation and skill-building programs for the members of the ICC. * Provide the ICC with any support it may require in the process of conducting an inquiry. * Assist in securing the attendance all parties required for an inquiry, including the respondent, complainant and witnesses. * Provide assistance to the complainant if he/she/they chooses to file a complaint in relation to the offence under the Indian Penal Code or any other law for the time being in force. * Monitor the timely submission of reports by the ICC. *** # Drugs and alcohol ## 👋 Introduction Our priority at Obvious is to create a safe, comfortable, and productive environment for everyone we work with. We realize that drugs and alcohol can contribute to a culture of harassment or one that feels unsafe for some employees, even as it can foster camaraderie and friendship among others. Above all other considerations, our drug and alcohol policy is intended to preempt and avoid harassment and make working at Obvious feel safe. *** ## 1️⃣ Alcohol Alcohol may be served at Obvious events, such as at team dinners or at Obvious team off-sites. * **It is the responsibility of every employee to ensure that their individual consumption is not making anyone else feel uncomfortable or unsafe.** * Employees who violate this policy may face disciplinary action, up to and including termination. *** ## 2️⃣ Drugs * Illegal drugs should not be used, bought, sold, or distributed while working either in the office or remotely while representing Obvious. For the purposes of this handbook, "illegal" shall mean as defined by the local laws where you are working or representing Obvious (e.g., the laws of the State of Karnataka, if you are working in Bengaluru). *** # Fraternisation ## 👋 Introduction The freedom of choosing one’s partner is an individual’s right. But in the workplace, some norms are necessary to create a safe working environment. *** ## 1️⃣ Fraternisation among colleagues We don’t want to place undue restrictions on employees dating colleagues. If you’re in a relationship or initiating a relationship with a colleague, keep these guidelines in mind: * If you’re initiating a relationship, maintain professional behaviour standards. For example, approaching a colleague with the intent of dating them has to be off working hours and outside of office premises. * If you are in a relationship, create a distinction between personal and professional work spaces, be mindful of boundaries and don’t cross them. For example, if colleagues know about the relationship, be intentional if you’d like to talk about it over lunch or in the presence of others. * If a relationship ends, though it might be difficult, the organisational expectation is to compartmentalise and maintain the professional / personal distinction. This includes not badmouthing the other, not stating intent to or acting out in a retaliatory manner. * **Disclosing your relationship:** * If you are exploring the possibility of a relationship, you don't yet have to disclose, as long as you are at peer levels. * If you are looking to date a senior or a junior, disclose intention to People Ops. This is because dating across seniority levels creates situations of power imbalance, claims of favouritism, conflict of interest etc. *** ## 2️⃣ Fraternisation with interns * Be extra mindful of professional boundaries with interns. This is because interns are professionals occupying the workplace for a brief period, who do not enjoy the full benefits available to other members. * **Disclose the relationship immediately:** Any romantic or intimate relationships that may develop between a staff member and an intern should be immediately disclosed by the staff member to the Directors, with a request to be relieved from any direct or indirect supervisory role. * Failure to disclose a personal relationship with an intern will be treated as a serious violation of professional standards and will invite disciplinary action. *** # Non-compete and non-solicitation ## 👋 Introduction It's not uncommon for clients to wonder if they can hire someone from the team. However, an agency is valuable because of the people who work there and to protect that, we sign two-way contracts with clients and employees on not competing and not soliciting. *** ## 1️⃣ Non-compete clause The non-compete clause means that employees may not work with clients: * in a capacity similar to their work at Obvious (Design / consulting / leading teams etc.) * in any role relevant to them (employee / consultant / director / investor or shareholder) * for or without compensation * directly or on a trust basis, without a contract These conditions are valid for 12 months from the date of an employee’s exit. Clients are also expected to not make offers to Obvious employees for 12 months from the date of their project ending. {% hint style="info" %} Sometimes timelines can work out in a way that you initiated a conversation with an organisation before they became Obvious' clients and by the time they made an offer to you, they began a project with Obvious. \ \ In this scenario, your best course of action is to inform the hiring contact that they are currently working with your present org. The timestamps on the conversation will help clear the stickiness of the situation. {% endhint %} *** ## 2️⃣ **Non-solicitation clause** The non-solicitation clause means that employees may not incite any existing employees, consultants or associates: * to stop working with Obvious * to reduce their association with Obvious * to join or work with another organisation This agreement also extends to customers, suppliers, partners, sellers or independent contractors. These conditions are valid for 12 months from the date of an employee’s exit. *** ## 3️⃣ **FAQs** **Does this include companies that are not clients of Obvious or prospective clients?** No. **Have there been situations when Obvious was okay with an ex-employee joining an existing client or recently concluded business partnership?** There are a few instances that are essentially acts of goodwill. For examples, high performers moving out because the business contracted or people moving geographies and therefore Obvious referred them to a client in that geography. *** # Non-disclosure ## 👋 Introduction We sign legal agreements with clients to assure them that we won’t talk in public about the work we’ve done with these clients, without their explicit consent. This document explains in detail the expectations of those agreements and consequences of breaching them. *** ## 1️⃣ **Expectations of an NDA** We sign strict non-disclosure agreements with our clients. These agreements are a legally binding promise that employees of Obvious will not share *anything* about the client. This includes but is not limited to: * Name of the company * Details of the project we are working on * Name of the project * Standard operating procedures * Problem statement * Designs, concepts, plans, proposals, assets, and any documentation * Business goals * Project costs and budgets * Outcomes of the project * Metrics and statistics about current or past projects * Any projects we hear about during the course of our client-consultancy relationship, even if we are not directly involved with that project * Any discussions held before, during or after the project If someone discloses *anything* about a client and/ or our work with them, it’s considered a breach of contact. *** ## 2️⃣ Consequences of breaching an NDA Here is what will happen if there is a breach of contract: * **Immediate termination from Obvious, with the cause for termination i.e. `NDA violation` clearly documented on your record**. This will affect background checks when applying for future roles at other companies. * Note: The termination cause is kept confidential in normal exit scenarios. This is **not** a normal exit scenario. * **Notification to the client about the breach of contract,** including details of the person and the immediate action taken. ***