The 5 steps design process

I.D.E.A.S — the five stages design process

Photo by Amy Shamblen on Unsplash

I believe the best design process is to learn, do and repeat; it’s hard to define the process upfront as the design is a non-linear activity.

However, some basic guidelines will prevent us from inventing the wheel and spending too much time on the wrong things.

Here is the five stages design process that I use for my design approach. Let’s dive into each step:

1. Identification

I begin every project by identifying user needs and business goals.

I work closely with the team and stakeholders during this stage to formulate assumptions and validate them through various research and interview.

As a result, we will form testable and measurable hypotheses to move to the next step.

2. Design

Design is an action-oriented learning process. We will learn by doing here and turn the abstract into a tangible.

The cross-functional team will work closely to shape the ideas. We sketch and wireframe, workshop, feedback & critique, brainstorm, etc., to visualise our hypothesis.

Therefore we turn ideas into various concepts, mock them up, and prepare them for the next step.