Design is Experimentation
Get your labcoat. Here's my spin on the scientific method:
01
Understand
What is the outcome we're hoping to achieve? I like to start here. Knowing this information helps me figure out how to approach our next steps and where design can be most impactful. I'll also use this time to help us to identify problems statements, ask how we might get to our goal, and most importantly, how will we know what we're doing is working?
Develop
If we know where we're going, we can determine what we need to make. This could be a wireframe, a journey map, a story board, a research plan to understand what we don't know, etc. What's most important here is that we put together what we think the right thing is - to the fidelity that makes the most sense - and learn from it.
02
03
Measure
Back to the question up top - How will we know what we're doing is working? I'm a big fan of a classic hypothesis (We believe that by doing X we will achieve Y based on Z). It doesn't matter if we're using analytics, survey results, or just user feedback, if we're not checking our work, we're just guessing.
Decide
With results come a decision. If we've reached our goal we can move on to the next thing, rinse, and repeat. However, if we didn't quite reach our outcome, we can take a look at the results from our experiment and decide where to go from there. Maybe we try again with some tweaks, or perhaps, we approach the problem in a different way entirely.
04
I also bring integrity
I approach every project and team I work on with a few core tenants in mind.
Turn users into fans
Fans are loyal, recommend, and share their favorite things, including software
Build the Right thing
Then build the thing right. Teams that learn and understand what’s needed before shipping craft better, more
intentional products
Outcomes over Outputs
What are the user behaviors that drive our business results? (Outcomes) What can we do to encourage those
behaviors? (Outputs)
Pyschological Safety
It’s the shared belief among team members that it's OK to take risks, express ideas and concerns, and speak up without risk of punishment or shame
See it in action
Check out these projects where you can see these methods applied
Design Ops • Product Strategy
Designing for Designers
My most meta work - and a story of redemption. I'm leading the creation of a resource hub for our team of designers.
Wireframing • Hardware/Software Interaction
Remixing Key Creation
I simplified a core hardware/software experience for multi-family property owners: creating keys for residents.