Action Play
How to get started with GitHub as a designer
The developer ecosystem is a goldmine for designers. Here are six things you can do today to start using GitHub and open-source libraries in your workflow.
Learn more in one afternoon than a week of guessing.
Action play: Talk to 3-5 users this week. No script, no formal study - just quick, genuine conversations. Literally, pick up the phone and call them.
Ask what they use your product for, what's hardest about it, and what they wish it did better. Take notes fast. Write down exact quotes, not summaries.
Example: For a budgeting app, you might hear: "I just want to see if I can afford this before payday." That one sentence can reshape your entire value proposition.
Share what you learn with your team the same day - one slide, three takeaways.
Why: You don't need a research lab to get real insights. Short, informal talks reveal the truth faster than any assumption. It keeps you close to the people you design for.
This action play is from the full article: 3 ways to turn research into design decisions
Written by
Björn Rutholm
Founder of PixelPappa
Technical cofounder for hire. Product designer and developer helping teams build digital products that work.
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