The Dimensional Design Process
Working with a lot of startups and creative clients isn’t easy. Tasks like structuring a process that enables them to segment off the project’s components that need completion in a specific order acting as building blocks to define the full picture can become challenging.
Normally, the beginning phase of any startup involves a tangled bunch of ideas. From design, branding to growth, user experience, and other aspects of a business, a ton of perspective goes into the initial conceptualizing stage.
Given how scattered the thought-process is in the beginning, breakdowns come in handy. I personally use the dimensional metaphor of building a house. Thinking of building a house is a great way to visualize quick and practical iterations for an idea. The end result? A well-defined and high-quality product.
First Dimension
Here’s the blueprint phase. This is the first dimension and the core focus is on defining the structure of the primary features and how their components will be presented to the user for interaction.
This is where wire frames become useful. By defining core features and functions into wire frames, you can get a bird’s’ eye view of the product. In other words, the first dimension is designed to give you an architectural view of your application.
Second Dimension
The second dimension is all about smooth flow. Think about how a friend would move from room to room in your house. In the second dimension, you implement the blueprint from your first while seeking to define the aesthetics and flow for your visitors.
If you think of the house metaphor, this is where you select colors, pick furniture, and imagine a virtual tour of your home. Ideally, the end result of this dimension is a complete prototype which contains visual designs, robust user experience, and the expected flow for future users.
You can share this prototype to gain user feedback, which is monumental for rooting out initial issues.
Third Dimension
The third dimension is where you get the full picture. Think of our house metaphor. This is where house utilities factor in; electricity, plumbing, cable, internet, and gas lines.
You can have a pretty house that’s still pretty dysfunctional. This is why the third dimension is most critical in terms of defining a thorough solution. Here, the application architecture and data flow is determined by defining communication amongst the front-end, middle tier (API) and back end components. This level is essentially where all assumptions are translated to expectations to complete the full picture with the goal of mitigating future rework.
It turns out that the third dimension is also the most neglected one in the design process. Because of overlooking this dimension, a product may end up missing a critical chunk of detail. Subsequently, in addition to losing precious time and money, you’ll have to put additional effort into defining and modifying the current solution.
Conclusion
You can’t rush building a house. Similarly, you can’t rush designing a product. It’s a critical process that forms the foundation and roadmap of your application. A haphazard design process will widen gaps in definition, neglect user scenarios, and — worst of all — burn a hole through your wallet when you will inevitably have to rework features.
A well-envisioned dimensional design process ensures that assumptions are translated to expectations. It allows members to carry a clear perspective on the progress as well as their responsibilities within a process. By maintaining order, expediting the timeline, and iterating until all assumptions are vetted, the dimensional design process is your best bet to a foolproof product.
