Design Process

Discover my general approach in solving problems

Overview

A simplified view of the Design Process

from the Double Diamond framework

Discover

Understand the problem

Stakeholder interviews, user research, competitor analysis.

Define

Frame the challenge

Synthesize findings, define user needs, prioritise problems.

Develop

Explore solutions

Ideation workshops, sketching, prototyping, validation.

Deliver

Launch and iterate

Final design, implementation support, testing, optimisation.

The Reality

Real design is almost always non-linear

While the 'Double Diamond' design framework offers a clear, four-stage structure — Discover, Define, Develop, and Deliver — it's a simplified model of what is often a much more complex and non-linear process in practice.

Design work is rarely a straight path. In reality, there's often:

Revisiting the discovery stage if assumptions prove incorrect during user validation and testing

Looping back to earlier stages when new insights surface

Redefining the problem due to shifting business goals or user feedback

Balancing constraints between user needs, technology limitations, and stakeholder priorities

Iterative refinement based on usability testing, stakeholder input, or implementation challenges

The Double Diamond is a useful framework, but the journey is rarely smooth, with the design process being inherently messy, collaborative, and adaptive.

Prioritisation of Work

The Theory

A simplified view of how I prioritise work based on user and business requirements.

Visualisation: Yooch Wan

Summary

My Design Process

My process typically follows a user-centered and iterative approach.

It consists of several key stages.

Firstly, I start with thorough user research to understand user needs, behaviors, and pain points. This includes methods like interviews, surveys, and observations.

Next, I move into the design phase, where I create personas and develop user journey maps to empathise with users and identify key touchpoints. I then proceed to wireframing and prototyping, where I translate ideas into visual representations and build interactive models to test and refine the user experience.

Usability testing plays a crucial role in my process. I conduct user testing sessions to gather feedback and insights, which inform iterative design improvements. Collaboration is essential throughout the process, as I work closely with stakeholders, developers, and other team members to ensure a cohesive and effective design solution.

I also emphasise the importance of data analysis and incorporating user feedback into the design. This helps me make informed decisions and continuously improve the user experience.

Overall, my process is flexible and adaptable to project needs, but it consistently revolves around understanding users, ideating and prototyping, testing, and iterating to deliver user-centric and impactful design solutions.

I use the UK Design Council's Double Diamond methodology as a guide. The Double Diamond is a universally accepted visual representation of the design and innovation process.

Note: The Double Diamond has evolved into the Framework for Innovation, but will still refer to it as the Double Diamond.

User-Centred Design

Foundational Principles

I follow the user-centred design principles outlined in ISO 9241-210 — Human-centred design for interactive systems, which is an international standard.

It consists of six principles:

The design is based upon an explicit understanding of users, tasks and environments
Users are involved throughout design and development
The design is driven and refined by user-centred evaluation
The process is iterative
The design addresses the whole user experience
The design team includes multidisciplinary skills and perspectives

These six principles are valid whether you are designing a product, a service or a strategy.

Double Diamond Framework

The Theory

Original Double Daimond within the Framework for Innovation, with feedback loops (blue arrows)
Source: Design Council's Framework for Innovation

Stages

1. Discover

Divergent Thinking

This stage involves exploring and understanding the problem space. It includes activities like user research, market analysis, and gathering insights to identify user needs and challenges.

2. Define

Convergent Thinking

In this stage, the focus is on defining the problem statement based on the insights gained during the Discover phase. It involves synthesizing research findings, identifying patterns, and framing the problem in a way that guides the design process.

3. Develop

Divergent Thinking

The Develop stage is where ideas are generated, concepts are developed, and potential solutions are explored. It involves brainstorming, ideation, and concept development to create a range of possible design solutions.

4. Deliver

Convergent Thinking

The final stage is about refining and implementing the chosen solution. It includes prototyping, testing, and iterating on the design to ensure it meets user needs and expectations. The Deliver stage also involves finalizing the design and preparing it for production or implementation.

Typical Activities

1. Discover

These activities in the Discover stage help designers gain a deep understanding of the problem space, users, and their needs. The insights gathered during this stage serve as a foundation for the subsequent stages of the design process.

User Research: Conducting interviews, surveys, and observations to gain insights into user behaviors, needs, and preferences. This helps understand the problem space from the user's perspective.
Market Analysis: Examining existing products, competitors, and industry trends to understand the broader context and identify opportunities for innovation.
Stakeholder Interviews: Engaging with stakeholders such as clients, subject matter experts, and key decision-makers to gather their perspectives and insights on the problem.
Empathy Mapping: Creating empathy maps to visualise and understand the emotions, thoughts, and behaviors of users. This helps develop a deeper understanding of their needs and motivations.
User Journey Mapping: Mapping out the user's journey or experience with a product or service to identify pain points, opportunities, and areas for improvement.
Data Analysis: Analyzing quantitative data, such as user metrics and analytics, to identify patterns and trends that can inform the design process.
Persona Development: Creating fictional representations of target users based on research findings. Personas help designers empathise with users and design for their specific needs and goals.
Problem Framing: Synthesizing research findings and insights to define a clear problem statement. This involves reframing the problem from the user's perspective and identifying the key challenges to be addressed.

2. Define

The activities in the Define stage help designers gain clarity on the problem they are solving and establish a shared understanding among the team and stakeholders. It sets the stage for the subsequent stages of ideation and concept development.

Synthesis of Research: Analyzing and synthesizing the research findings from the Discover stage to identify patterns, themes, and insights. This involves organizing and summarizing the data collected during user research and market analysis.
Problem Statement: Defining a clear and concise problem statement based on the insights gained from the research. The problem statement should articulate the user's needs, pain points, and the specific challenge that the design process aims to address.
User Needs and Goals: Identifying the core needs, goals, and aspirations of the target users. This involves distilling the research findings into user needs and understanding what users are trying to achieve or accomplish.
Prioritization: Prioritizing the identified user needs and goals based on their importance and impact. This helps focus the design efforts on addressing the most critical aspects of the problem.
Design Brief: Creating a design brief that outlines the problem statement, user needs, goals, and any constraints or considerations that need to be taken into account during the design process. The design brief serves as a guiding document for the subsequent stages.
User Personas Refinement: Refining and revisiting the user personas created during the Discover stage based on the synthesised research findings. This helps ensure that the personas accurately represent the target users and their needs.
Stakeholder Alignment: Collaborating with stakeholders to align their understanding of the problem and gain their buy-in on the defined problem statement. This involves presenting the research findings and problem statement to stakeholders and incorporating their perspectives.

3. Develop

The activities in the Develop stage focus on transforming ideas into tangible design concepts through prototyping, testing, and iteration. It is a collaborative and iterative phase where the design solutions are refined and shaped based on user feedback and insights.

Ideation: Generating a wide range of ideas and potential solutions to address the defined problem. This involves brainstorming sessions, sketching, and encouraging divergent thinking to explore different possibilities.
Concept Development: Refining and developing selected ideas into more detailed concepts. This may involve creating concept sketches, storyboards, or wireframes to visualise and communicate the proposed solutions.
Iterative Prototyping: Building prototypes of the design concepts to test and gather feedback. Prototypes can range from low-fidelity paper prototypes to interactive digital prototypes, depending on the complexity of the design.
User Testing: Conducting usability testing sessions with real users to evaluate the prototypes and gather feedback. This helps identify usability issues, validate design assumptions, and make informed design decisions.
Iteration and Refinement: Iterating on the design based on user feedback and testing results. This involves refining the prototypes, making improvements, and incorporating user insights to enhance the design solution.
Collaboration and Co-creation: Collaborating with stakeholders, users, and team members to gather diverse perspectives and co-create solutions. This can involve workshops, design sprints, or collaborative design sessions to generate new ideas and insights.
Design Documentation: Documenting the design decisions, rationale, and specifications to ensure clear communication and continuity throughout the design process. This may include creating design guidelines, style guides, or documentation for developers.
Validation and Feedback: Seeking feedback from stakeholders, experts, and users to validate the design concepts and ensure they align with the desired outcomes and objectives.

4. Deliver

The activities in the Deliver stage focus on finalizing and implementing the design solution, preparing it for production or deployment, and ensuring a seamless transition from design to development. It involves close collaboration with the development team and attention to detail to deliver a high-quality final product.

Finalise Design: Refining the design solution based on the feedback and insights gathered during the Develop stage. This includes making necessary adjustments, incorporating improvements, and ensuring the design meets the desired objectives and requirements.
Detailed Design: Creating detailed design specifications and assets for the final solution. This may involve creating high-fidelity mockups, interactive prototypes, or design documentation that provides clear guidance for implementation.
Design Validation: Conducting final rounds of user testing and validation to ensure the design solution effectively addresses user needs and meets usability standards. This helps identify any remaining issues or areas for improvement.
Collaboration with Developers: Collaborating closely with developers to ensure a smooth transition from design to development. This involves providing design assets, clarifying design decisions, and maintaining open communication to address any implementation challenges.
Iterative Refinement: Continuously iterating and refining the design based on feedback and insights from the development team. This may involve making adjustments to the design to accommodate technical limitations or enhance the user experience.
Design Handoff: Preparing and delivering the necessary design assets, documentation, and specifications to the development team for implementation. This includes providing style guides, design files, and any other resources required for accurate execution of the design.
Quality Assurance: Collaborating with the quality assurance team to ensure that the implemented design meets the desired standards and functionality. This involves reviewing and testing the final product to ensure it aligns with the intended design.
Launch and Deployment: Overseeing the launch and deployment of the design solution. This may involve coordinating with stakeholders, monitoring the implementation process, and ensuring a successful rollout of the product or service.

Double Diamond Framework

The Reality

The Issues / Shortcomings

Summarised by ChatGPT

While the Double Diamond design approach is widely used and valued in the UX design community, it is not without its criticisms. Here are some common criticisms:

Lack of specificity: The Double Diamond framework provides a high-level overview of the design process but doesn't offer detailed guidance on specific methods or techniques. Critics argue that it can be too vague and may not provide enough structure for designers who are new to the field.
Linear representation: The Double Diamond presents a linear progression from discovery to delivery, which some argue oversimplifies the iterative nature of the design process. In reality, design often involves overlapping and concurrent activities, with iterations happening across all stages.
Limited focus on implementation: The framework primarily emphasises the early stages of problem exploration and concept development, but it offers less guidance on the implementation and execution of the design solution. Critics argue that this can lead to a gap between the design vision and the final product.
Lack of emphasis on business goals: The Double Diamond framework primarily focuses on user-centered design, which can lead to a potential oversight of business goals and constraints. Critics argue that a more balanced approach should consider both user needs and business objectives.
Potential for misinterpretation: The simplicity of the Double Diamond framework can lead to misinterpretation or oversimplification of the design process. Some argue that it may be seen as a rigid step-by-step process rather than a flexible and iterative approach.

It's important to note that these criticisms do not invalidate the value of the Double Diamond framework, but rather highlight areas where it may benefit from further refinement or adaptation to specific project contexts.

Designers should be aware of these criticisms and use the framework as a guide while applying their own expertise and judgment to create effective design solutions.

Re-evaluation of the Double Diamond

Twenty years after the publication and popularisation of the Double Diamond in 2003, the Design Council wrote an article on Medium (in May 2023), titled "The Double Diamond design process — still fit for purpose?"

It states:

The question is whether the Double Diamond is still, given the tremendous changes in design practice over the last two decades, fit for purpose? The answer: probably not. The ascendance of fast-paced digital design, along with the complexities of the challenges designers are currently addressing with services and systems, have left the Double Diamond a bit short of breath.

Evolution of the Double Diamond and Framework for Innovation

In the same article:

The Design Council itself has recognised that we need to put down the old Double Diamond and bring in a new one: the Systemic Design Framework.

The Systemic Design Framework is an evolution of Design Council’s design frameworks, starting with the globally renowned Double Diamond, and more recently the Framework for Innovation.

Design Council's article on "Developing [their] new Systemic Design Framework".

Prioritisation of Work

The Theory

A simplified view of how I prioritise work based on user and business requirements.

Visualisation: Yooch Wan