6D Design Thinking Process
Designing delightful user experiences is all about empathy, curiosity, and lots and lots of problem-solving. I do make the effort to follow a clear, consistent process–not gonna lie though—our world is pretty chaotic. There’s usually some unexpected challenge or obstacle to size up. But that’s part of what makes it fun! While my process gives me a solid starting point, time and again success has come down to being flexible, creative, and methodically collaborative.
With this disclaimer aside, check out the 6D design thinking process:
Goal: Empathize with the user by unearthing their contexts and needs.
Explore user perspectives through interviews, surveys, and workshops.
Build personas and journey maps to really understand where they’re coming from.
Dive into the data to uncover trends and opportunities.
Goal: Clearly articulate the problem to solve through collaborative alignment.
Identify key pain points and challenges.
Facilitate consensus on priorities and goals across myriad stakeholders.
Turn insights into actionable problem statements.
Goal: Imagine the imminent future by exploring the wild and wise possibilities.
Conduct brainstorming sessions and ideation workshops.
Research competitive solutions and market trends.
Prioritize ideas based on feasibility and impact.
Goal: Create solutions that address user needs and goals through iterative refinement.
Map out user flows and interactions.
Sketch concepts and build low- to high-fidelity prototypes, testing them with users at each stage to ensure alignment with needs.
The Critique!
Iterate and refine designs through usability testing and user feedback.
Goal: Implement solutions effectively by evaluating performance early and often.
Collaborate with developers seamlessly to bring designs to life with clear specifications and assets.
Test the final solution pre-launch to validate functionality and usability.
Iterate and refine designs through usability testing and user feedback.
Goal: Continuously refine and improve solutions through post-launch monitoring.
Collect post-launch data and user feedback.
Identify opportunities for iteration and enhancement.
Ensure the solution evolves with user needs over time.
Design is an ongoing cycle. One of my favorite activities is to riff on some great work one of my colleagues put together. Or even better, to watch them take one of my own MVPs to the next level. Together we shine brighter.With this disclaimer aside, check out the 6D design thinking process:
collaboration is everything!