05 Stages | 09 Deliverables
I follow a design process that focuses on conducting user interviews, uncovering pain points, developing personas, sketching solutions, gathering feedback, storyboarding, designing mockups, prototyping and running user studies that test & validate proposed design solutions.
01 Map | Understand the Problem
USER INTERVIEWS
Understand who the person is
Understand the problems they have
USER STORIES
Uncover and transform pain points into User Stories
As a <type of user>, I want to <goal>, so that <benefit>
02 Sketch | Sketch Solutions
LIGHTNING DEMOS
Make a list of 10-20 great products
Spend three minutes on each product chosen
Capture one big idea from each product
SOLUTION SKETCHES
Review User Stories
Draw a set of UI screens that solve the problem best
Repeat 5x’s
THREE STEP SKETCH*
Review everything: User Interviews, User Stories, Design Brief etc. and look at competition while writing down things that jump out at you.
Jotting Ideas: Take 20 minutes creating little sketches which could be Flows, UI Elements, or the beginning of a Solution Sketch.
Crazy 8’s: Take one small idea and iterate on it eight different ways via eight one-minute timed rounds
*An action, not a deliverable.
03 Decide | Choose a Direction & Storyboard
GETTING FEEDBACK*
Explain the goal
Explain the context
Explain that you want two types of feedback; Usefulness & Usability
Reveal your Solution Sketches
Decide on which Solution Sketch or Sketches solve the problem best.
STORYBOARD
Choose your tool (paper, stickies or whiteboard)
Make a template
List MVP
Choose an opening scene
Fill out your storyboard
*An action, not a deliverable.
04 Prototype | Design Mocks & Create a Prototype
DESIGN MOCKUPS
Have your storyboard where you can copy it
Design an ugly fast, first-take in your tool of choice with boring native UI Components
Take a step back and simulate clicking through by yourself
Iterate, improving on the design of the mockups
Try and walk through it again
Iterate
Try and walk through it again
Tweak visuals and design custom components as needed
BUILD A CLICKABLE PROTOTYPE
Load all of your flat images in your software of choice
Animate the transitions between each view (optional)
Make sure you can smoothly walk through your prototype by pretending to be the user
05 Test | Get Feedback on Your Prototype
PLAN A USER STUDY
Write your research plan
Write your interview guide
Create a spreadsheet
RUN A USER STUDY
Gather all your materials
Do a practice interview
Follow your interview script
Write down feedback in a spreadsheet (color blocks for feedback patterns)
DECIDE WHAT’S NEXT?*
Create a next steps tab (spreadsheet)
Write down 5 key take aways
Next steps
*An action, not a deliverable.
My product design process is based off former Google G-Mail designer & Design Sprint Facilitator, Xander Pollock. At Google, Xander spent four years learning directly from Design Sprint creator Jake Knapp. From this experience, Xander created a repeatable, day-to-day product design process that I personally use on a daily basis (at the highest level). I would strongly encourage any aspiring or seasoned product designer to take his course.
Thank you Xander!