Method Podcast, Episode 4
Learn about design systems and digital tools from Firebase Interaction Designer Roman Nurik
The Method podcast provides an inside look at the journeys and creative decisions of designers at Google. In this episode, guest host Liam Spradlin speaks with Senior Interaction Designer Roman Nurik about the unique challenges of designing for developers, the best approach to building design tools, and Google's mobile development platform Firebase. Subscribe to the Method podcast on Google Play, iTunes, or RSS.
A few highlights:
On designing UX for developers of all levels, 16:29 “One of the principles we have is progressive disclosure: we make the initial view of things as simple as possible, but if you're an advanced user we give you ways to go into a more advanced mode.”
On the question of density in Firebase and Material, 20:52 “Density is essentially a tradeoff between just the right amount of visible information and the gestalt of better grouping and comprehension of complex things.”
On time as a precious resource, 25:30 “I love building tools that empower the designer to tell a computer how to do something. Literally anything that can save time for designers, I try to do.”
Handy info and links for this episode:
- Firebase: Google's mobile platform for quickly developing high-quality apps
- Android Asset Studio: A collection of tools to easily generate assets (like launch or notification icons) for Android apps
- Sketch: Digital design tool built for product designers
- Figma: Collaborative interface design tool
- Design Notes: A Google Design podcast about creative work and what it teaches us
Roman Nurik is a New York City-based interaction designer currently working on Firebase. Since 2009, he's worked with hundreds of design and development teams on their Android UX, and shared a large number of tools, libraries, articles, and videos with the greater Android design and developer communities.