Exploration of the Design Process
The design process involves taking a large problem and breaking it down into smaller, more manageable bits to figure out the best approach to solve the problem comprehensively.
The human-centered design process attacks the core of a problem and aims to develop a comprehensive solution. This is done by exploring various alternatives/iterations to find the best possible solution, in the process, unveiling the requirements, viability, and success of the solution.
While each project is unique, there are design steps/stages that allow for developing a great solution or even deciding against a solution- which we will explore in this article.
Importance of the Design Process
Design thinking is not exclusive to designers; great innovators across diverse industries and fields employ design thinking for the following reasons:
- It promotes a better understanding of the people the solution is being created for. This is necessary because without understanding the target users, creating a product that is relevant to them or one that they can relate to is difficult. Hence, creating relevant solutions requires understanding the target users.
- As mentioned earlier, the design process requires that you break problems down to get to the heart of them. This automatically means that it’s useful for complex problems and complex problems exist in every company, industry, and sector. Breaking down problems helps to properly define and redefine as necessary once the core issue is identified.
- The design process is extremely useful in tackling unfamiliar problems. The process demands that certain questions are asked and answered. By doing so, the problem is understood better, bringing you closer to identifying a solution.
- It spurs the improvement of existing solutions. Understanding user interactions coupled with continuous analysis and iteration leads to the development of new and improved solutions.
- The design process ensures creativity and reliability without dependence on only inspiration. This is possible because the process leads to discovering insights and questioning existing methods.
- It provides checks to ensure creative concepts don’t steer away from the user.
The Stages of the Design Exploration
The design process is non-linear; however, a step should never be skipped, and it should not start with the mock-up/prototype.
Stage 1: Empathize
This stage involves user-centered research and, as much as possible, entering into the user's shoes. The idea is to “experience” what they experience; gain an empathic understanding of their needs and the problem you wish to solve. At this stage, It’s important to carry out user observations and consult stakeholders and subject matter experts to aid understanding and avoid any oversight.
The importance of empathy in developing human-centered solutions cannot be overemphasized. It allows design thinkers to set aside existing misconceptions and gain insight into users and their needs. This gives a comprehensive understanding of the problem of users and possible hindrances to the development of the solution.
Stage 2: Define
This next step relies on the insight obtained from the previous stage. It requires defining and outlining the findings from the user research. The information gathered should be organized and analyzed to expose the core problem. The problem statement should be defined from a user-centered perspective.
The Define stage makes the problem clear; by now, all the layers have been taken apart to reveal the core. At this stage, ideas on a solution or ways to reduce user pain points begin to develop. Every idea should be noted down and explored in later stages because there might be cornerstones waiting to be discovered.
Stage 3: Ideate
The ideation stage involves coming up with creative solutions. By now, you should have a comprehensive understanding of the users as well as the problem, so much so that it’s safe to say that you know the problem like the back of your hand. Now it’s time to explore innovative solutions to the problem while looking at the problem from different perspectives. Once every idea has been outlined and explored, and the best solution has been identified, it’s time to move on to the next stage.
Stage 4: Prototype
At this stage, a number of inexpensive scaled-down versions of the solution (or specific features found within the product) are developed to investigate the key solutions generated in the ideation phase. These prototypes can be shared and tested within the team, in other departments, or on a sample population.
This experimental phase aims to identify the best possible solution for the problems identified. The solutions are implemented within the prototypes. Each solution is vetted one after the other in order to either accept, improve or reject based on user feedback. By doing so, you gain a clear view of the users’ experience and the limitations of the solution.
Stage 5: Test
The final phase involves running rigorous tests on the entire solution to ensure that the solution works as required before being sent out to the final users. Tests also aid in understanding the product and how users relate to it.
The results generated are often used to redefine one or more further problems. The testing phase also provides an increased understanding that informs use and how people think, behave and feel towards the product, and may result in going back to a previous stage in the design thinking process. Once this is done, further iterations, alterations, and refinements can be carried out to rule out alternative solutions. The sole purpose is to get as much understanding of the product and its users as possible.
Conclusion
It’s often difficult to challenge existing assumptions and everyday knowledge as people rely on established thinking patterns and systems. We wake up, eat, and shower- sometimes doing these subconsciously rather than starting at the foundation to learn to do these each time.
These already fine-tuned processes and knowledge define our work and our everyday living. So, by default, when we are faced with a new challenge, we go back to our already existing knowledge and often find it difficult to step outside this knowledge box- often called the comfort zone. The design process challenges this “comfort zone” and forces us to question the things we already know.
Hence, we should go back to the drawing board rather than go to our existing knowledge when we face a problem. By doing so, we learn new insights and come up with innovative solutions.
