Product Design Process
"As Easy as Making Pancakes"
Total Time:
Typically a 2 week sprint, depending on the project size and the team's methodology.
Serves:
This recipe can serve as many users as needed, based on the defined persona constructed.
Ingredients:
10lbs of kindness, 4 1/2 cups of well-aged design principles, 1lb of user research, 1 bunch of chopped user flows, 2 cups of free range visual design, two heaping spoons of interaction design, and freshly ground Figma skills as needed.
Step No. 1
Understand the Recipe
Before even thinking about cooking anything, take a deep dive into what you’re about to cook. Learn as much as you can about pancakes, and absorb the information like a sponge. Talk (but most of all listen) to your team and the users you are serving. The more you know, the better equipped you’ll be to both follow, create, and even defy established conventions.
Step No. 2
Know Who You're Serving
How will I know my pancakes were a success? Who am I serving to? What specific problems might I face when making them? Get to know your user well, and define what success looks like. In UX terms, build a persona (if time allows), and refer to your problem statement(s) and definition of success during your project as a reference point to make sure you’re on the right track.
Step No. 3
Seek Inspiration, but Be Bold
How have others done it before? It’s important to have reference points in design, to consider conventions, but also to challenge them as well. Don’t be afraid to be bold and make something unique. Explore outside the box.
Step No. 4
Mix the Ingredients
Just like making pancake batter, it’s time to mix it up. With a mix of sketches, user flows, wire-frames, and other design tools of your choice; go ahead and start working on mobile designs first. Here’s your chance to test multiple low-fidelity iterations, and don’t be afraid to explore outside the box. Once mobile is in a good place, you can later on translate with ease to tablet and desktop.
Step No. 5
Taste and Refine
As they say, you have to throw out the first pancake... or sometimes many before you get it right. The first pancake(s) are trial runs, working out the kinks before all the variables of even heat and pan seasoning come together. The same applies in the product design process. Iterate, validate, and repeat again until you get it right. Speak with your users and your team, let them try your mix before making all the pancakes.
Step No. 6
Cook with Confidence
After some testing and refinement with our mix, we can now easily go ahead and cook a series of perfect golden-brown fluffy pancakes, just as we would when producing a series of pixel-perfect high fidelity screens. Just remember to keep in mind branding, core design principles, and set up your Figma files right from the get go so that we can later share our work correctly with development and stakeholders.
Step No. 7
Plate it Well
After some testing and refinement with our mix, we can now easily go ahead and cook a series of perfect golden-brown fluffy pancakes, just as we would when producing a series of pixel-perfect high fidelity screens. Just remember to keep in mind branding, core design principles, and set up your Figma files right from the get go so that we can later share our work correctly with development and stakeholders.
Enjoy!
Now it’s time to relax and enjoy your delicious pancakes! As you, your users and your team enjoy the labors of your hard work, now is the perfect time to look back and reflect on what went well and what did not. Wash the dishes well, and prepare them for the next time you make pancakes. I’m sure it will be easier the next time around.