Learn the Ropes of the Diamond² Design Process
The diamond² design process (or double diamond) is a method to steer your design process like a pro.
Created by The British Design Council, it is a way that practitioners can curate their design process in the most effective way with divergence and convergence at front of mind.
The Model
The double diamond is made up of the following:
1) Discover the need
2) Define the hypothesis
3) Design sprint
4) Deliver the plan
Discover The Need
When starting an design engagement it’s important to first of all learn the current state of play. Too often, practitioners jump into a brief and try to pin point and nail a hypothesis straight away without truly understanding what the needs of the customers, stakeholders and partners really are. Start at the beginning and research to find out what the hot topics are.
Every block of stone has a statue inside it and it is the task of the sculptor to discover it.
— Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni • Sculptor, Painter, Poet + Architect
1.1 Understand the problem statement
- Problem Statement
- Customers
- Stakeholders
- Partners
1.2 Sequence Topics
- White Boards
- Post-its
- Sharpies and Paper
1.3 Primary User Research
- Questions
- Surveys
- Workshops
- Interviews
- Ethnography
1.4 Secondary User Research
- Competitive Analysis/Reviews
- Analytics
Define the Hypothesis
Work towards gathering insights, cluster themes, create the hypothesis and formulate the approach once you truly understand the needs based on user research.
A good problem statement often includes what is known, what is unknown, and what is sought.
— Edward Hodnett • Author
2.1 Insights
- Photos
- Reports
- Research Wall
2.2 Themes
- Cluster Trends Based on Insights
2.3 Opportunity
- Hypothesis
- Possible Solutions
- Actions
2.4 Approach
- How Might we Progress
- Reframe Problem
Start Design Sprint
Kick off your design sprint but don’t get too ahead of yourself. Focus on designs and iterate the designs before usability testing. Keep it lo-fi.
If you’re not failing every now and again, it’s a sign you’re not doing anything very innovative.
— Woody Allen • Filmmaker, Writer, Actor, Comedian, Playwright + Musician
3.1 Understand the problem statement
- Sketching
- Rapid Prototyping
- Design Discussions
3.2 Evaluation
- Voting (anonymity)
- Lo-Fi Designs/Wireframes
- Testing Internally
- Testing Externally
3.3 + 3.4 Ideate
- Draw
- Create
- Sketch
- Word it Out
- Lean Canvas
Deliver the Plan
Build the prototypes, journey into usability testing, iterate and validate. Then deliver your plan for the development phase.
Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.
— Barack Obama • 44th President of the United States
4.1, 4.2, 4.3 + 4.4 Build, Test, Iterate + Validate
- Lo to Hi-fi/Wireframes
- Clickable Prototype(s)
- Sketch App + Invision + Zeplin
- Usability Testing
- UI Designs
- Interaction Design
- Information Architecture
- Sparring
- Final Design
- Plan to for Delivering Development
fin
If you found this helpful,👏👏👏👏👏 like you’re at a concert waiting for the encore on the side or down below. Follow me for more articles on XD, BX, CX, UX, UI, IxD, User Research, Human Centred Design and Service Design.
— ST
Designologist I/O is an exclusive global Slack community of design technologist, evangelists and thought leaders. We strive to innovate, challenge and evolve the TxD (technology/experience/design) industry. We’ve got a global social following of 40k+ and we’re currently taking sign ups for our Slack channel in countries around the globe. Once we hit 50 members in a region, we will officially create that regional chapter.
Join the conversation for FREE at designologist.io or follow us on twitter.com/DesignologistIO to get curated industry updates.
About the author
Joining international consulting firm Ippon Technologies and reporting into the Managing Director of Ippon Australia, Sherwin is the head of Ippon Australia’s experience design consulting practice. A thought leader in experience design, he is tasked with building up the firm’s XD capability and oversees all aspects of BX, CX, UX, UI, IxD, User Research, Human Centred Design and Service Design.
With over 10 years in the industry as a design technologist, Sherwin is the former Head of Digital CX Development at The Good Guys, former Head of eBusiness Operations at AAMI and former Head of eBusiness Support at Melbourne IT. He holds a Double Masters for the Master of Information Systems Management/Master of Business Administration, a Double Degree for the Bachelor of Business Information Systems/Bachelor of Business and a Diploma of Information Technology (Network Engineering).
