Ideation Deserves more Credit in the Design Process
While new designers are fascinated by the fun research methods or the fancy visual design; less time is spent in perfecting Ideation which is the easiest step to perform and most underrated.
What is Ideation?
According to me, ideation includes everything from the point when you come up with an idea to the point where you dive into user research. It may even overlap a bit (with competitive analysis). We should try to understand a problem and come up with a solution. Simply saying “I will make this better” is not good enough.
How to do it right?
Start with a simple description of the problem, to identify factors which are related to the project and may have an impact on the user. Find answers to all relevant questions like who are the target audiences, what is the need and motivation, why will someone use this instead of the other solutions (status quo), how will you market it, what is the technology used, is there any initial user insight, is there a proof of concept, is there any initial data, list the competition, rate the other solution, try to predict the rating for your product and finally define the metrics to measure success. To define the project a little better; create a rough feature list and mindmap. And keep an open mind to change this completely as the project moves forward. If possible, try to have multiple ideas that you go through these questions for. You will figure out the best path forward based on the answers.
Identifying psychological and UI patterns at this stage is a great way to jump-start the interaction design.
How does it benefit me?
The initial user data, status quo, and competition review help make a product that will be well received by the target audience. Looking at the success metrics, the stakeholders will be able to understand when the project is successful. Additionally, defining success as a part of ideation means that we will spend less time coming up with a testing plan.
How do I get better at it?
A great way to get better at ideation is to look at sprints and design challenge processes and learn what questions to ask. One important point to remember is that anyone on the project team is not a user, this perspective helps you avoid any biases during ideation.
