APPROACH

INVESTIGATION

The main goal is to thoroughly understand the business, brand, industry, content, and technology to identify opportunities for innovation and sustainable competitive differentiation; this involves investigating the 

• The company's business model

• The company's competitive advantage

• The company's performance

• Employee goals

• Understand the brand's value proposition

• Understand the target audience

• Understand the industry trends

• Identifying the best practices and substitutes

• Reviewing competitors and successful experiences

The ultimate goal is a clear understanding of the competitive landscape and a starting point for further research.

INSIGHT

Good design requires understanding users and insights gained from research. To do this, start by understanding the market and identifying key targets. Find out what users need, motivations, goals, frustrations, and pain points. To conduct the research efficiently, use fast online recruiting start-ups and intercept methods. Contextual inquiry and ethnography are also helpful for understanding user behavior.

DESIGN WORKSHOP

Design thinking methods and workshops effectively unleash creativity and gather fresh perspectives from cross-functional teams. These activities also help generate buy-in and excitement from stakeholders. Choosing suitable methods requires experience and exploration. Basic techniques like card sorting and design studios are great for rapid prototyping. At the same time, more advanced procedures like user journey sketching and goal exaggeration infuse creativity into prototypes across different mediums. The end goal is to create a shared and viable experience hypothesis.

PROTOTYPE

Prototyping has many different levels of detail, from paper to actual code. Validation of the experience is crucial to solidify the experience strategy. Medium-fidelity prototypes (such as high-fidelity wireframes) allow for maximum user input. Remote or in-person testing, moderated or unmoderated, will depend on factors like timing, budget, geography, and the number of personas. The team should observe testing whenever possible to gain insights and prevent attachment to one idea. After validation, the team can proceed confidently with the launch iteration cycle.

The best approach is to start with a low-fidelity version of the entire experience and then refine the pieces. Beginning with sketching and moving into high-fidelity wireframes or loose comps helps developers visualize the experience and participate in the process. Using the same design tool for all phases of development makes the process faster and more efficient and allows designers to make changes to files easily.

BUILD

The iterative process of building an experience is completed through either a waterfall or agile approach. What matters is that users validate the experience at every step, and the team is willing to adapt the experience as necessary, regardless of which method they use.

Testing interactions, copy, and interface elements before launch are crucial because these individual elements impact the final experience's usability. Testing must produce actionable results. Multiple quick rounds of testing can help incorporate feedback efficiently and lead to the optimal experience.