How I work

Recently I came across an old version of my design process. It's the third image in the carousel above.

I'm sure I'm not alone is shuddering when I look at old work. I guess it's an indication of how far I've come - looking back on old work and finding flaws in it. 

Interestingly, the process I follow hasn't changed much in my 15 or so years of practicing. What has changed is how I express it.

My design process has 4 elements:

• Define: discover the problem to solve or the opportunity to address. Distill context and constraints into its base form to understand what we're really doing here.

• Design: use creativity to propose an answer to the question raised while defining. Consider optimism and practicality.

• Deliver: build the thing. Get it into the world. Serve it to people.

• Dissect: asses the response the thing got. How are we measuring that response? How can it be made better?

And of course, keep going in the loop. Forever. Or until budget or time stops us.

Why is it important to have a design process (one might ask)? I have certainly asked myself that at times.

I think it's important because a process denotes rigour. It communicates professionalism, and generates confidence. It demystifies something 'creative' and 'nebulous' into a list people can understand.

And, because I'm trained as a designer, I call this a 'design process'. 

As I've moved through my career into product management I recognise this is essentially agile development.

It's the same gist: know your context, create a solution for that context, put the solution in the context, see if it's working. Repeat.

All of this is to say it's interesting, and comforting, to see the core of how I work has remained the same over my career.

Note: I've included the graphic design working image above for those that are interested in the visual evolution of the symbol. A visual version of 'show your working'.