Design process

As a designer, I think it is critical to think twice and three times before making any design decisions. But sometimes it is hard to set aside cool features and ideas that prevent me from speculating about the core experience of a product. It is all about connecting the dots and creating a reasonable experience through clear interactions. In interviews, I have to walk through the design from research to ideation to prototype. I tend to set up the story with a background, then talk about research and so on.

Background

What was the motivation to start this project? This can be a problem space given to you or something that came from my own experience.
What was the initial goal? Based on the problem I am trying to solve, what do I want to do? How do I want to solve this problem?

Research

I start from simple online research trying to find any relevant articles, studies, or quantitative numbers that would validate the problem space that I am trying to explore. I believe it is important to confirm that it is a real problem showing there are people who are struggling through this problem. Other than online resources, I tend to do user interviews and surveys to understand the problem and learn about what are the needs and pain points.

Understand the users

Based on the insights from the previous phase, I can create a persona, user flow, and user journey map all of which can help me map out the overall user experience. These processes will guide me and my team throughout the whole project. They work as anchor points where designers can come back anytime to reconfirm the goal.

Ideation

Now I know what the problems are and what users want. It is time to think about an idea that will solve the problems. This is where I can be innovative and apply strategic approaches to find a solution. It doesn’t necessarily have to be one solution. There can be multiple solutions but it is my job to make them live together harmoniously within one smooth experience.

Secondary Research

I tend to do more research after coming up with an idea in order to analyze the market and competitors. Also, I need to validate if my idea is acceptable and executable. Usually, I do these things by digging into more online resources. I try to validate a certain need that will rationalize my approach.

Design

I start with a simple sketch and writing down all necessary features and keywords that will go into the product. Affinity diagram and storyboard are great tools I like to use to illustrate my idea, map out all the important components, and connect the dots. I don’t spend too much time drawing a sketch even though I need to. I usually jump right into wireframe after few drawings of simple sketches of the first few screens. I usually go back to the sketch and add more after the whole design is complete.

Test

When the wireframes are ready, I create a clickable prototype and test it with users. I give them a task to complete and observe their behavior and process. I also ask for opinions from many people.

Hi-fidelity prototype

With insights from the test, I polish my wireframe and create a hi-fidelity prototype to make it look realistic.

Test and iterate

I test it again with the hi-fidelity prototype and iterate based on feedback.