Design thinking is rapidly spreading among organizations, both in terms of interest and practices. Rather than solely concerning the "form" of products, it is embraced as a formal method for creatively resolving issues, aiming to stimulate innovation. Nonetheless, its practical adoption has outpaced the dissemination of its theoretical underpinnings. Design thinking, or the design process, can be delineated within a structured sequence of steps adopted by designers to craft efficacious UI/UX designs that cater to user requirements. This process guides the designer in identifying the problem, defining user needs, and generating innovative solutions through prototyping and interactive testing. Its flexible nature allows adaptations to the specific project requirements, making it a valuable tool in the field of UI/UX design. Design thinking is a problem-solving approach that involves empathy, user-centeredness, understanding user needs and preferences, ideation of solutions, prototyping, and testing to create a design that meets user needs.
A structured design process may follow these six main phases:
- Understanding: the process begins with the research phase, aimed at gathering in-depth information about the user, the problem to be solved, and the competition. This phase involves user research, competitor analysis, and industry research. The collected information fuels the phase of understanding and empathy, where users are interviewed to understand their motivations, leveraging psychological knowledge to guide the design.
- Definition: designers use the gathered information to identify the real problem and define the needs and objectives of the user.
- Ideation: this phase involves generating innovative concepts through techniques such as brainstorming, sketching, and prototyping. The ideas that emerge are then transformed into prototypes during the prototyping phase.
- Prototyping: during this phase, designers typically create an initial low-fidelity prototype. This stage allows the initial design to undergo testing and improvements before moving on to high-fidelity prototypes.
- Testing and optimization: experimenting with the prototype is essential to refine the design and enhance the user experience by considering feedback. A thorough analysis of feedback through tests, interviews, and questionnaires may reveal critical issues or areas for improvement.
- Iteration: with a focus on continual improvement, the design is refined and iterated upon, involving the creation and validation of new prototypes based on feedback received, until reaching the final version of the project.
The proposed phases should not be seen as linear, consecutive, or definitive, but rather as an initial framework that can be modified based on feedback gathered from users. If fundamental issues arise during the testing phase, for example, it may be necessary to reconsider conducting further research, and so on.
For this reason, it's of paramount importance to design refined solutions tailored to user needs, where research and testing serve as valuable resources to enhance customer satisfaction, reduce additional development costs, and generate a return on investment (ROI) in design. For instance, we can mention the Design Sprint approach introduced by Google Ventures, which has facilitated the creation of a methodology for advancing digital products.
If you wish to design a product or have a general overview before moving to the prototyping phase, it's beneficial to organize your thoughts using screens, sketches, and lists to structure ideas, highlight solutions, and establish priorities. Additionally, effective presentation and communication of the process and ideas are crucial for engaging others clearly and compellingly. Here are some tools that can simplify this process:
- Screens and Sketches: utilize screens and sketches to quickly and succinctly visualize the ideas and key concepts of your product. This approach allows you to explore various options and establish priorities effectively before moving on to the prototyping phase. You can leverage drawing software such as Sketch or Adobe XD to create interactive screens and detailed sketches.
- Lists: organize your ideas and product features using bulleted or numbered lists. This allows you to maintain a clear and structured organization, highlighting priorities and key functionalities. You can utilize tools such as Microsoft Word or Google Docs to create and share lists collaboratively.
- Presentations and infographics: communicate your process and ideas in an engaging manner through presentations and infographics. Utilize graphs, images, and text to clearly illustrate concepts and engage the audience. Tools like PowerPoint, Keynote, or Canva provide templates and features to create professional and captivating presentations and infographics.
By leveraging these tools, you'll be able to organize your ideas, present the process and solutions clearly and engagingly, effectively preparing yourself for the prototyping phase and beyond.