My Design Process
While product development is dynamic, often non-linear, and even messy at times, it's my responsibility to help bring structure and clarity to the work I'm involved in.
1. Define the Problem
Whether starting at the inception of a product lifecycle or jumping in somewhere along the way, it's crucial to understand its users, brand and the goals of the business. What are the problems I'm trying to solve? Who are the stakeholders?
- Get to know the product
- Empathize with users
- Collaborate with stakeholders
- Review flows & documentation
2. Research and Analyze
Once I have an understanding of the background and requirements I dive deeper and look at the research. What does the data say about the users? What feedback has been collected? If little research exists then time to conduct some.
- Ask questions
- Quantitative data
- Analyze competitors
- Qualitative research
3. Sketches, Flows, and Wireframes
Here I rapidly test ideas. It's important to quickly explore different solutions in order to remain open and flexible. Getting feedback early and often saves everyone time.
- Whiteboard sketches
- User & task flows
- Wireframes
- Feature annotations
4. Hi-Fidelity Design and Prototype
Once my ideas have buy-in and feasibility has been established, I can begin designing. Decisions here are made easier because of the work completed in previous stages. I determine if I need to follow existing design systems or explore something new.
- Key screens & all designs
- Color palette
- Typography
- Iconography
- Imagery
- Copy
5. Hand-off and Assist Engineers
I ensure the dev team has the assets & documentation they need, monitor progress of implementation and make myself available for questions. This is where it comes together and I want to make sure it goes as planned.
- Provide assets & documentation
- QA feautures
- Monitor implementation
- Remain flexible
6. Test, Refine, Iterate
Test the designs, refine where needed, and launch the winner. Then iterate by targeting key areas or new avenues of the product. Where can it be improved? What learnings can be applied here or to new features & future products?
- Usability studies
- Conduct add'l research
- Collect data & feedback
- More testing