The Define Stage (Stage 2)
Define Objectives — Define a key strategy and analyse what’s the best path to actually arrive at the solution.
Define Methods
User Journey
The define stage is about breaking down the ideas into meaningful categories and defining strategies.
One way is to create a user journey: a map that lists all the stages that someone goes through from learning about the product to becoming an expert user.
If it’s for an onboarding flow. Look at major steps someone signing up for the service.
If you’re trying to create a product, the stages begin from
- someone learning about your product — perhaps from a write-up,
- discovering it — from Google search maybe,
- using it for the first time — a tutorial to guide first timers,
- first time they return — how do you make your app sticky?
- and eventually becoming an expert user.
The Golden Path
Whether a solution succeeds or fails depends very much on did you get the golden path correct?
The golden path is the absolute key for the product to work for the users to come and get what they want.
In simple terms, what your app is commonly used for.
Design Principles
The market is already very congested. If you can’t find a good positioning, nobody is going to find you.
What 3 words would you like for users to describe your product?
List all the possible design principles your team cares about individually, and select the best ideas as a team.
At the end of the sprint, you can ask users to describe the prototype in 3 words, and compare that list to your original intention.
Decision Sliders
Use sliders to decide on the key visual and emotional qualities you want to express in a new product.
Products are made of many decisions and assumptions.
One great practice in Lefty Talents Group is to list the core decisions that affect the user experience. For example, you may need to decide whether a service is going to be free or paid?
List both options, and use slides to mark decisions: a, b or both. Decisions can be revised, of course, but changes in the sliders can alter design decisions.
This chart can help to remind people about what’s important for the user experience. Visualizing the decision space can lead to a deeper grasp of what the product should look like and how it can support users in their tasks.
First Tweet
Writing that can help the team focus their strategy in 140 characters… or less.
Follow us on Twitter to join us on our innovation journey.
