OVERVIEW
The overall process I implement for product design is lean and iterative. Once initial insights are discovered using design research and analysis, it is crucial to craft conceptual prototypes that define the right "skeleton" for the solution. Then I rely on building things and putting them in front of people, to learn and course correct. Finally, we work as a team to prioritize and optimize the designs for the real world.
Here is one way to illustrate the overall flow of the design process I use, which I first encountered in a presentation by Apple alums Kate Gomall and Laurie Vertelney:
RESEARCH
Before directing the implementation of a design, we need to make sure we have a GOOD design. This is more likely when we start with design research, to find the criteria for a successful product (according to the people who will use the process or tool.) In this case, design research means exploring the environment that people use products and follow workflow processes, in order to identify patterns of behavior, data flow, communications and other variables that can in turn be used to drive design. It is also helpful to try out early prototypes during this stage.
DESIGN-BUILD-TEST CYCLE
Then, we iteratively explore solutions, and make sure to put them in front of people, to pick the most promising approach while simultaneously validating the product concept.
I use interactive AI-powered prototype tools like Figma Make to explore many options early in the process, before applying design systems and branding. The speed and power are amazing, and I make sure my teams use AI tools to help the process along. It's a beautiful time to be a designer!
SPECIFY
As user experience becomes more integrated with lean development methods, specification is becoming less about exhaustive documentation and more about strong communication. In a lean development team, the specification is often simply the software and software documentation, in accordance with Agile principles.
As tools like Figma Design empower developers to inspect designs at the pixel level, the need for static specs is going away almost entirely. But up-front requirements analysis still keeps people on the same page, so clear design criteria are still important.