My Process
Approaching a project with the right process is sometimes a problem solving exercise as its own. Working with different clients requires flexibility and innovating new ways of working together. I enjoy constantly looking for new opportunities to improve the process to make the project smoother, more efficient, and more enjoyable. I do find some key points of the process important that I always make an effort to include.
Defining the Problem & Success
Before jumping into solutioning and designs, I first try to identify the problem that is trying to be solved and how success can be measured based on business needs and user needs. This establishes a baseline for myself and the team to use as principles and align on the project’s high level mission. We can also determine if outside research needs to occur before or during the building and testing of the product or website. Some methods used to establish the problem and success are stakeholder interviews, existing research, analytics, audits, and project kick off meetings. After, some parallel research may start such as user interviews, focus groups, diary studies, and data analysis. This can help with the creation of personas, user journeys, and service maps, to gain a more holistic understanding of the product and check that it is heading in the right direction before more work is done..
Strategy & Concepting
Brainstorming with multiple disciplines is invaluable. Great ideas can come from anyone and having a diverse team allows for more views and understanding. Additionally, a shared vision helps to align the team and creates a more personal interest in the project. The output o this can include high level diagrams, flows, and low fidelity wireframes.
Wireframes & Prototyping
With a shared vision, I start the wireframing process. Wireframing helps to decide on more detailed interactions and flows. I use the wireframes to both finalize requirements and collaborate with developers to understand the effort of work and how plausible it would be to fit in the scope of the work. I also incorporate interaction design by prototyping if it is an easier way to explain an interaction or concept.
Testing
User testing is always important. I create a test plan on what areas of the application or site that will be tested and the questions accompanying it. Sometimes this may be a usability test to determine if any interactions or architecture of the product resonates with the user group. Other times is may be an A/B Test to determine which design is more successful to accomplish the goals. This sometimes may require creating a higher fidelity prototype and possibly working with a designer and developer depending on what the goal is for testing. After conducting the tests comes the synthesis to determine if hypotheses were successful and recommendation on next steps.
Iterate
Iteration is where I get to apply the learnings to the product. Not only can you learn from the tests that were conducted with users, but also learning from the rest of the team as well to build an amazing product. This is probably my favorite part of the process because it is where we can see the product come to actualization against the hypotheses with the ability to continue to learn and grow. There’s no limit to what you can learn form a project and I’m always excited to improve my knowledge and understanding.
Get in Touch
Have a question or just want a chat? Please send a message if you’d like to work with me or want to learn more about me or my work.