To start, we need to gain an empathetic understanding of the problem we are trying to solve. This is generally achieved through user research, working with them to identify the requirements that need to be addressed.
Empathy is fundamental to a user-centered design process because it allows us to set aside our own assumptions and try to put ourselves in the user’s shoes, gaining the most realistic view possible of their frustrations, hopes, fears, and limitations. But also of their reasoning, needs, and goals.
In this initial stage, it can be very beneficial for our research to conduct surveys, interviews, workshops, and any other type of technique that allows us to gather relevant information to help in the empathetic understanding.
At this point, it is time to process the data collected during the first stage, analyze our observations, and synthesize them by defining the core problems we have identified. These definitions are called problem statements.
We can produce materials that will help outline the project. Extract information, find affinities between tasks, identify the main user profiles to create personas or avatars, site maps, content inventories, screen flows, navigation models, task flows, user journeys, and scenarios. All these artifacts will help keep our efforts user-centered before proceeding to ideation.
With this research in hand, we will define the problem we are trying to solve and establish a hypothesis.
At this stage, we can start generating ideas. The knowledge gained during the previous two phases provides the foundation for us to “think outside the box,” seeking alternative ways of viewing things and identifying opportunities and innovative solutions.
Techniques such as brainstorming are particularly useful in this stage to explore many possible solutions in a spontaneous, fluid, and “non-linear” manner.
We enter an experimental phase where we can test or validate ideas, assumptions, and other aspects of the conceptualization, so that the designers involved can start making necessary adjustments or possible changes in direction.
The goal is to identify the best possible solution for each problem found.
This can be done using simple paper prototypes, producing some low-cost and scaled-down versions of the product (or specific features within the product) to test the ideas we have generated.
Using these prototypes, we test our assumptions, comparing them with our hypothesis.
Even though we are in the final phase, it is essential to test the prototypes rigorously. Design thinking is iterative, so often, the test results are used to redefine one or more additional problems. For this reason, it is often necessary to return to previous stages to make new iterations, alterations, or refinements to seek or discard alternative solutions.
In each loop of the process, the fidelity of the prototypes increases. The sooner we can identify and solve problems during the process, the easier and less costly it will be to make changes and adjustments.
As we progress through the process and the fidelity of what we are building increases, making changes becomes more expensive. This is why creating prototypes as early as possible is so important.
Testing sessions provide new information and are repeated until a “Minimum Viable Product” (MVP) is obtained.
Finally, specifications are created, and wireframes are turned into a complete design solution. The design is reviewed with stakeholders to gather feedback and opinions.
To conclude, we must understand that each project is different. These detailed steps contribute to the entire design project, but their entirety is not a sequential structure that can be executed in all cases.
The main goal of each project is to gain the deepest understanding of the users and determine what their ideal solution or product would be.