01. Discover
Understanding the problem you are trying to solve and who you are solving it for is the most impart part of the design process. Discovery can include research recruitment, exploratory qualitative research, researching online communities, asset gathering, etc. to determine what the user is trying to accomplish and what barriers may be in the way. At this stage, it’s important not to solely focus on a company’s offerings and solutions since they may not always align with user needs and can constrict thinking.
02. Define
Clearly defining the problem and narrowing the scope of the challenge helps to focus efforts in the solution phase. If the scope is too broad or ambiguous at this stage it becomes easy to lose sight of the goal and the quality of solutions can suffer. At this stage, it’s common to come up with a problem definition or statement and jobs to be done. Key metrics should also be defined at this stage so that success can be measured during the evaluative and monitoring stages.
03. Create
After narrowing in on a defined problem and gathering all the necessary assets it’s time to enter the solution space. The creation phase consists of heavy ideation both with stakeholder groups and independently. It's important to go wide and gather ideas from diverse perspectives and equally as important to have heads-down time to immerse yourself in the problem and potential solutions. There may also be opportunities to co-collaborate with users. Artifacts in this phase include brainstorm boards, storyboards, inspiration gathering, flowcharting, and prototyping. There are various methods to help you break through first-level thinking such as oblique strategies and cross-pollinated ideation.
04. Evaluate
Evaluation is a time to reflect on the broad work that was done during ideation and narrowing it down to a testable artifact. Evaluation can vary from quick pulse checks to see if concepts are heading in the right direction, to more in-depth and time intensive studies to evaluate desirability, interaction, architecture, and comprehension. Activities in this phase can include creating learning plans and facilitation scripts, participant recruitment, information architecture evaluation, usability testing, and concept testing.
05. Develop
Refined designs are brought to life through collaboration between designers, developers, and other stakeholders to ensure the intent and integrity of tested design remain intact. There is a huge opportunity for failure here when live product doesn't resemble what had been evaluated which often leads to unexpected sentiment, often negative, during the monitoring stage. This can be avoided through consistent collaboration with developers or producers throughout the design process to ensure ideas are feasible.
06. Monitor
As is often said, what isn't measured can not be managed. As much as measurement is lauded within companies, it's often one of the most challenging aspects of the design process that can often go ignored which is why it's important to establish metrics early in the design process. Metrics should be relevant and connected to the business goals of stakeholders. They should be specific, clearly defined, and include essential details. They should be fairly effortless to access otherwise outcomes likely won't get measured. Finally, metrics should be appealing by adding interest and relevance.
“Good design is a matter of discipline. It starts by looking at the problem and collecting all the available information about it. If you understand the problem, you have the solution. It’s really more about logic than imagination.”