How I Work
I approach a new project or feature, big or small, with the same 5 Step Design Thinking process. The Design Thinking process is a structured approach to developing a product or service that delivers a meaningful user experience. This iterative, user-focused process includes research, prototyping, testing, and refinement. The aim is to design an intuitive interface that boosts user satisfaction and fosters loyalty.
5 Steps to Great Design
01
Empathize
Empathy is essential for creating positive user experiences.
To accomplish this, I always work toward understanding:
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the genuine needs of the users
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the needs of the business stakeholders
While my first responsibility is to the user, a shared understanding with stakeholders is essential for the next stage.
02
Define
At this stage I want to understand and define some key elements of the users:
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Goals
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Wants / Needs
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Pain points
Some deliverables may include:
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Journey maps - the current or even the proposed future outline of the stages a user goes through with the product.
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Personas: A fictional stand-in for each type of typical user.
03
Ideate
This stage marks the shift from understanding the problem to creating a solution. Goals of this step are:
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Develop not just "good" ideas but many ideas.
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Sketch or wireframe rough ideas and flows to help with ideation.
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Healthy and effective communication during ideation is essential.
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Over time land on solutions that make the most sense by honing and combining ideas.
04
Prototype
In this stage, I start the creation of prototypes from the most promising ideas developed in the ideation phase.
Critical thought is put into all the key areas of the design at this step:
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Site architecture, navigational hierarchy and task flows.
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Content writing that uses simple, readable language that communicates the brand's personality.
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Prioritizing key features and limiting clutter to facilitate an intuitive task flow.
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Accessibility factors such as color, contrast, font sizes and structure.
05
Test
User testing allows users to give feedback to refine the product. Collecting and reacting to user feedback is essential for a product to become the best version it can be.
Some common helpful testing can include:
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A/B Testing
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Quantitative analysis
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Surveys
It would be nice if the design of a product went through all of these stages and ended up with a perfect final product, but that’s not very common. Usually, stages are skipped for various business reasons. The whole process repeats when evidence shows the product can perform better but the key is just engage and listen to the users.