Code generation tool design

AI-enabled products need design more than ever

Matching real use cases, pace, quality and appeal in the experience is key to winning in this competitive field

Design CHallenges

Signs your team needs our help

Copy cat mentality being applied to the product

The design details are missing

The team is one or two steps behind the current state of tooling

Feature creep is running rampant for the team, focus is not just difficult but a real problem

What you're picturing isn't what your product looks and feels like

The value proposition isn't clear for your product

Mini Case Studies

Recent projects with enterprise software companies

Hybrid Code and UI Experience

Scenario
Python coding allows data analysts maximum control for visualizing data and getting things done, but not everyone is overly interested in fiddling with CSS or HTML.
Outcome
 A new product concept which incorporates the power of code with UI that makes UI choices almost instant.
Code
Interaction
AI

Data exploration unlocked with AI

Scenario
Data analysts historically have performed manual effort in unnecessary places, for example chart creation, data cleanup, transformation and many other places. Our mission was to determine where we could create behaviour and defaults to ease this pain through AI technology.
Outcome
Product architecture which reduces painpoints along the user journey.
Data dashboard
AI
Interaction
Analysis

Design Opportunities in code generation Tools

Moving faster in the wrong direction isn't valuable

This is a very demanding field and highly competitive, so why are we building copy cat features and not real value?

As this field develops, so do new personas and ways of seeing the world. Developers have long since accepted lots of painful moments in their workflows, but how do other personas (even in the engineering field), translate to these traditional paradigms?

We deliver great product fuelled on innovation to not just rewrite workflows but unlock technology in the process.

Types of code gen products we design

Typical tools and use cases we work on

We work on a variety of code-focused tools in different aspects of the workflow

Automation Tools

These tools focus on shipping and testing code and workflow automations of all kinds

Coding Tools

These are the daily tools of dev, with consideration for customization, flexibility and varied levels of expertise

Low Code / Hybrid

These tools take the best of both worlds and combine them into highly relevant use cases

Innovation is happening now

Why we love working on complex tools

The future is upon us - this is a pivotal moment in technology where we get to rewrite the rules. Not only are UI possibilities expanded, but also our ability to fast forward workflows in tedious places, and unlock possibilities using interaction models in UI, code and traditional programming to specifically build valuable interactions people will clamour to pay for.

“P&P has a deep understanding of data and user empathy in complex experiences. They can walk the fine line between innovation and familiarity that is rare in the industry. Plus, they are equally comfortable diving deep into the weeds and zooming way out in a way that is essential for building high quality software.”
Chris Parmer, VP of Product at Plot.ly
"Collaborating with Pencil & Paper was instrumental as we shifted our product culture towards greater user-centricity. Their expertise in B2B software kickstarted this journey for us, and we can visibly see how their guidance shaped our current UX practices."
Nakisa product team, (Nakisa HR Suite)

Get our whitepaper

Is your software demo turning heads, or causing headaches?

Applying the right design principles to your demo can create excitement and engage your audiences more effectively. We put together this whitepaper to help you inject some UX love into your product—we cover common mistakes, what a makes a demo successful, and more!

Check it out

FAQ

Rule out risks and reservations

Your development product needs to work with the right UX team, we get it. Here’s some FAQ’s we’ve seen before.

Can you guys code with us?

We use whiteboarding tools, high fidelity design tools for visual exploration and refinement as well as a stack of code gen tools to deliver coded prototypes.

How will designers change our workflow?

We do the full scope of UX/UI design for software in the enterprise arena. This includes “zooming out” and formulating logic around the whole flow, to wireframing (mapping out screens) and producing realistic prototypes. UX/UI design however does not extend to branding or marketing, so we will happily refer you to wonderful teams we know.

In what capacity does your team work?

Our team gets brought into projects across the spectrum of stages. Sometimes we’ll work with a single visionary to establish direction and then grow with the team. Other times, development will be underway and there’s a more urgent context to the work. Ideally we’re brought in earlier rather than later.

What design gotchas should we know about?

We’ve had great success making relatively small UX improvements to software which have significantly improved the usability and flow of products (and it doesn’t always need to be fancy UI or animations either). We believe that incremental improvement to your product and development process can make a huge difference. Often this is accompanied with longer-term work that sets a vision for the future. Both of these approaches work hand in hand to improve your product.

When should a UX team be brought into a new project?

Your business case and ROI calculation around UX investment may come down to several different factors that relate to the specifics of your business. A very common situation we see is the development team spending a lot of time trying to make design decisions, this cost savings might be a useful initial lens to apply. If you’re in a particularly competitive field, where your enterprise product is starting to lag behind in a scary way, you may want to apply the lens of opportunity cost. Many of our clients have used design concept work to de-risk development efforts and secure interest for large opportunities. Regardless of the approach you have, please leverage our resource “How to calculate the ROI of UX” as a guide and inspiration for you and your team.

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Get in touch with our crew to find out how our expertise in experience design can elevate your product.

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