Process

Design Thinking Method
Design is not linear.
I utilize these design thinking principles with every digital problem.
Empathize
Define
Ideate
Prototype
Test
Iterate
EMPATHIZE
Why do we need to find out what is happening today?
  • Learn which personas/archetype are impacted
  • Learn pain points
  • Learn needs
  • Learn about internal journeys
  • Learn about user journeys
EMPATHIZE
How do we find out what is happening today?

01

Interview Internal Teams

02

Interview Users

03

Website Metrics
EMPATHIZE
Interview Internal Teams
Meeting with key stakeholders, SMEs, product and engineering allows us to understand the internal perception and impact of the current and future state.
  1. Identify and schedule SME test participants
  2. Build study
  3. Schedule tests
  4. Conduct tests
  5. Synthesize data
  6. Report findings
Empathize + Define
As I information gather, I begin defining personas and user journeys.
This method ensures a thorough evaluation that mitigates the risk of re-work.
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EMPATHIZE
Web Metrics and Customer Data
  • Are there trends in website metrics?
  • What does the event-based data tell us?
  • Where are we seeing user pathing?
  • What are the current key conversion indicators?
  • Is there any other customer data?
Empathize + Define
I begin carving out the user flow to inform user interview questions.
EMPATHIZE
Interview End Users
Taking what I learned from internal interviews, website metrics and user feedback, now I can interview users.

01

Source and recruit customer test participants

02

Build Study

03

Determine method of testing and tools

04

Conduct tests

05

Synthesize data

06

Report findings
DEFINE
Personas and User Journeys
If personas are already defined, I would refine what we know about the personas and use cases related to the feature, based on what I have gathered thus far.
Considerations when personas are not already defined:
Demographics
Customer type
What are the different use cases for each persona?
Empathize - User Journeys
Now, we synthesize what we learned and look for opportunities to build each user journey:
What are their actions?
What are their goals?
What are they thinking?
What are they feeling?
DEFINE
User Flows
User flows are mapped out to identify the different entry points, possible paths a user takes to complete a task and the different touch points we engage with each persona.
current-ux-flowchart
Deliverables when done empathizing and defining:
  • Internal feedback and perception
  • Data analysis
  • Defined personas
  • Defined user flow
  • Defined user journeys
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IDEATE
Next, I look at published research and competitive analysis to bring ideas to the table.
Looking at published UX Research from Nielsen Norman Group as well as Baymard Institute.

I would also look at the Information Architecture, if it makes sense for the problem.
Prototype
Taking ideas and putting pen to paper...or as the saying goes...

Low-fidelity or high-fidelity wireframes are created either in a collaborative white board setting or in a more formal presentation format. First shared with the project team and key stakeholders then presented to users for testing and feedback.

Test

Informs us if the changes are meeting user needs
  • Low or high fidelity wireframes
  • Build study objectives and test script
  • Determine method of testing and tools

Iterate

Here we break down features to track for success
  • Refine wireframes and prototypes
  • Share revised with internal team
  • Test revised with user groups