1 | Discover
Qual + quant research
Journey mapping
Competitor analysis
2 | Define
- Identify problem areas
- Prioritise
- Plan
3 | Ideate
- Cross-function collaboration
- Generate
- Get into the mindset
Design
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4 | Design
Wireframe
Test
Iterate
Refine
5 | Build
- Collaborate
- Plan
- Compromise (but not too much)
6 | Launch
- Track
- Learn
- Reiterate
Design
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NB: You never achieve anything great alone. The following process and imagery are taken from various projects to illustrate my overall process, the vast majority of which I collaborated on with colleagues across the business.
Discover
Having worked in larger and smaller teams (occasionally, even a team of one) I have experience across the Discovery process. Planning and conducting user interviews and surveys, and collating and interpreting the data from these. Mapping out customer journeys and identifying pain points. Uncovering overall themes and problem areas to address. Analysing competitor products and understanding where to take inspiration from.
Snapshots of my Discover process (click to enlarge)
Define
For me, the next two stages are all about collaboration and sharing. Sharing the outcomes of the Discovery process, and inviting others to contribute their thoughts. What’s worked before and what hasn’t, often lives in the heads of those who were in the business during that time, so it’s vital to get input from a wide range of stakeholders. For me, nothing beats a well-prepared Miro workshop for this. And while it’s against my designer instinct to be ‘messy’ at this stage – it definitely helps.
Snapshots of my Define process (click to enlarge)
Ideate
Another phase where it’s super important to hear from everyone who’ll be involved in the project. Probably a smaller group than those in the Define phase, and those who’ll be able to help accurately scope work and make sure the later stages of ideation have a chance of making it over the line. That’s why involving engineers at this point is absolutely vital. Starting the Design phase without that input is like trying to bake a cake without turning the oven on. Getting away from the screen and putting pen to paper is my favourite way to start this process – it helps me get into the headspace of the user without distractions. And I encourage others to do the same.
Snapshots of my Ideate process (click to enlarge)
Design
Where things start to get real (my favourite part). I like to annotate any existing designs or prototypes to contextualise any comments or ideas from the past stages wherever possible, to keep them front of mind during the process. When sharing my designs with others, I like to show the process I went through in a visual timeline, as it saves time during the inevitable ‘have you tried’ question phase. We cycle through the design–ideate process as many times as is feasible, and this is where it’s often necessary to revisit some of the previous steps as new discoveries or problems are uncovered.
Snapshots of my Design process (click to enlarge)
Build
For me, the build phase is all about collaboration. I always make it clear to engineers that I am open to any and all questions, and 100% up for discussions on how to make any of the designs better from a functionality or usability point of view. Whilst I have an understanding of technical capabilities and always try to factor this into the design phase, these conversations are where the magic happens between two specialists who know their stuff. I love a neat design ‘matrix’ with clear labelling of all different states and caveats – engineers I’ve worked with have always given positive feedback on this.
Snapshots of my Build process (click to enlarge)
Launch
It may be stating the obvious, but the launch phase is absolutely not the end of this process. In fact, for some projects it’s just the beginning. You can only truly learn how customers use your product when it’s out in the wild, and this is where we learn the most. Collaborating with data analysts and engineers to ensure we’re tracking the right things to prove or challenge our hypotheses is key.
And around we go again… 🚀