2020 Abstract Onboarding

Bringing the second (and third, and fourth, etc.) designer onboard.

Abstract is a git-based version control tool for design files. It provides a solution to the problems that arise when many people are working together on a single file, overwriting each other’s changes and relying on creative file naming schemes. `design-final-FINAL_VJ-v2.sketch`

What was the problem: Abstract can be hard to understand, and not intuitive for designers unfamiliar with git. Designers who start using the tool are just dropped right into the app, without much context or any idea of how to get started.

What was our solution: Create an onboarding experience specifically for a group of users we call “second designers”—designers who are joining teams that are already using Abstract—who may not be familiar with the concepts and terminology of git, or the value of working in this way.

What was my role, who did I collaborate with: I collaborated with Jordan Staniscia on the design and Anthony Castro on the front-end development. Our first big idea was that we wanted folks to learn by doing. We wanted to teach a few critical terms, introduce some UI elements, and deliver an “a-ha” moment as quickly as possible.

What did we do? The first pass at the idea was an attempt to make it a game. We could teach the concepts by presenting the user with a scenario, making them click a few buttons, and visualizing what’s happening on the right half of the screen.

The idea was interesting, but the design was too complicated. We wanted to make sure the experience felt simple and intuitive.

As we continued to iterate, I came up with the concept of zooming out a bit from the app interface to reveal a “context layer”—a place for designers to learn how to get started. It would become a system we could use to teach concepts in other places throughout the app.

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