About

“Good checklists, on the other hand are precise. They are efficient, to the point, and easy to use even in the most difficult situations. They do not try to spell out everything--a checklist cannot fly a plane.

Instead, they provide reminders of only the most critical and important steps--the ones that even the highly skilled professional using them could miss.

Good checklists are, above all, practical.”

“Good checklists, on the other hand are precise. They are efficient, to the point, and easy to use even in the most difficult situations. They do not try to spell out everything--a checklist cannot fly a plane.

Instead, they provide reminders of only the most critical and important steps--the ones that even the highly skilled professional using them could miss.

Good checklists are, above all, practical.”

— The Checklist Manifesto, by Atul Gawande

When you're building a product, things can get complex quickly. You're in the trenches, thinking about every element, interaction and journey.

Keeping all of this information in your head is a problem. You inevitably forget things, and lose mental space that would otherwise be free for creativity and problem solving.

That's how I felt a few years ago. I was going from project to project, constantly missing fundamental parts of the experience. Not because I didn't know them, but because I was overloaded with information.

So I wrote down the critical pieces of a screen I knew would come up again. Each time I revisited the screen I revisited the list, ticking each item off as I went along.

I had myself a checklist.

This checklist made my work more assured, and saved me from going back and picking up whatever fell through in the first phase of work. It was working, and so I made more of them.

Now, I'm here to share it with you. Designers, developers, and makers can all benefit from these checklists. It's a great way for juniors to learn and define your process, and a refreshing reminder for seniors.

Checklist Design was made by George Hatzis.

George is a designer and maker from Melbourne, Australia. George is writing this and is struggling to know when to change from third person to first. I'm just going to do it now.

If you want to see my other work and learn more about me: georgehatzis.com.