📝 My Design Process

Everyone’s process is different. So what makes mine tick? From my experience, being able to lay out the foundation of a design is important to not only create context and specificity, but to also stay on track.

Problem Introduction

The problem introduction outlines what needs to be done and the problem that the users might want to solve. To understand what is being designed, is a critical part of ensuring the design does not become too broad, while still maintaining a level of specificity.

Problem Analysis & Research

During this stage, the problem is further broken down and each part is researched. The research allows for the parts to have meaning with specificity that is hard to misunderstand.

History

When trying to understand the context of the problem, research needs to be done to understand whether there is period bias. The history of the product or company can provide context to the solution and bring hidden issues to light.

User Needs

Differing to the needs of the product itself, and the needs of the stakeholders, the elements of the product that the user cannot be without, have to be defined to understand any gaps between each category of needs.

User Flow

How the user interacts with the design and makes decisions in what steps to make next is crafted from the User Flow. What they want to achieve, and how they achieve it while maintaining cultural requirements helps describe the solution.

Wireframes & Design

The wireframing phase of design allows for a layout and experienced focused thinking, without the distraction of colors or content. Once the wireframes are complete, a semi-interactive design is made and is tested.

Design Reasoning

Alongside the wireframes and design, the reasoning of the designs go hand in hand. It will both explain the proximity of elements and the layout, while also providing context to things that are invisible in the design, like special interactions.

User Testing

After a public solution has been developed, user testing is performed to ensure the actions of the users of this product lines up with the needs of the solution. When things do not line up, another iteration of the research and design is performed.

Conclusion

Upon completion, a conclusion is written to finalise the project - things such as, what went well, what didn’t work, what key information might be important if the project needs to be picked up by a different team in the future.