Teamwork, experimentation and continious learning guide my approach to problem-solving
Design process
Project context mapping
Starting out by unpacking the brief. Often through a project context map using FigJam or a writing up a doc that outlines project objectives, target audience, previous discovery research insights and key measurements. We also map our riskiest assumptions.
Empathy & Insights
Turning our riskiest assumptions into testable hypotheses with experiment metrics. Conducting generative research using tools like stakeholder interviews and my favourite method, qual guerrilla research. These methods help us gather insights into user needs, behaviours, and pain points.
Define
Conducting product UX/UI audits, competitor research and establishing favourite players within and outside the sector. Drafting feature hypotheses, using persona matrixes and the UBN (User & Business Needs) framework to ensure user-centricity
Ideate
During the ideation phase, I love facilitating multi-disciplinary design studios to generate diverse ideas, often just with Miro, pen & paper. I invite developers, POs & QAs, they often have the best ideas. Additionally, I find the cards developed by ‘Method kit‘ to be a good ideation tool & like bringing in visual ‘lightning’ style research to spark creativity. SiteInspire & Muzli are great sources of inspiration and I use Dropmark to organise it.
Test & Learn
To validate design hypotheses, we recruit users for concept and usability testing. Practising inclusive design is a given, so we make sure we recruit with a diverse group of users. Lookback.io is a useful tool for documenting research sessions and capturing insights. I also love Maze.co for unmoderated testing.
Growth
To drive growth, we establish feedback channels for continuous improvement. Analytics tools and continuous user testing provide insights into user behaviour and help identify areas for optimisation. Depending on the project context, we might experiment with funnel and conversion rate optimisation techniques (I find consumer psychology within experience design incredibly interesting) .
Improve & Reflect
Continuous feedback from a diverse range of stakeholders is essential for improvement. Analysing feedback channels, Design critiques, daily stand-ups, and retrospectives contribute to a culture of continuous learning.
Philosophy
The user needs
Understanding and validating the core needs of the people we’re designing for. What are they dreaming of, what do they desire. A principle we lived by at one of the first companies I ever worked for was “The failure of a business is most likely to come from a need that isn’t real, rather than a product that isn’t perfect”.
The business needs & vision
Creating and visualising a clear vision that the whole team can work towards. In each project, let’s define the ultimate dream scenario, as that exercise itself will make it more accessible and possible. Lets start at the end. What would the ideal outcome & impact look like?
The team
“There’s no team without trust,” says Paul Santagata, Head of Industry at Google. The two-year study on team performance, revealed that the highest-performing teams have one thing in common: psychological safety, the belief that you won’t be punished when you make a mistake. Team dynamics is in my blood since Hyper Island. I often lead team building exercises like the marshmallow challenge and baseball cards.
Making your team thrive with feedback
In this article on Medium, I’m sharing tips on how to lead a session to discover blind spots and provide peer feedback within your team, even when working remotely.
