I am a product designer and user experience advocate with over twenty years in the software design world, half of them dedicated to the discipline of UX in the realms of healthcare, finance, and transportation. I shape ideas by leading collaborative projects across distributed teams and maintaining a heavy focus on user-centered design.
I'm a firm believer that the large picture architecture aspects of design can make or break a product, especially in the early stages, and I strive to ensure that foundation is valid and robust before painting the finer details on that canvas.
I have worked alongside some wide-view product designers and I've picked up some proficiency in turning big ideas and concepts into straightforward pathways for the benefit of those who use my designs.
Determine how the software is truly being used.
How are people using it?
Where are people using it?
Why are they using it?
Get honest answers to these questions and now we've got a starting framework. The software must be tailor-made for the customers' unique situations.
Will the software provide sufficient "you are here" markers, shiny trails of breadcrumbs, or other sorts of directions?
Does the customer understand where they currently are?
Can they find where they need to go or the tools needed to perform a task?
If the answer is "no," there will be one place customers are sure to find - the exit.
If a customer clicks a button, types in a box, or moves a slider, the element's behavior should not come as a surprise.
Familiar interactions come with learned expectations and any disruptions risk frustrating those customers we're trying to help.
Communicate
At the start of the product or feature proposal, I meet with key stakeholders to confirm my understanding of the business problem at hand. I'll interview the folks currently using the application to understand their point of view and create a journey map to describe how they currently accomplish their tasks. The purpose of this stage is to fully understand the true issue and ensure that the proposal is not simply chasing a symptom. This communication continues throughout the entire process to ensure everyone is properly informed and up-to-date.
Sketch
When the initial conversations, validation, and analysis reveal a possible direction, I crack open the notebook and start sketching to get a number of ideas on paper. I'm aiming for quantity at this stage because the name of the game is iteration - combine, refine, rinse, repeat. Based on the earlier conversations and my own expertise, I'll narrow down to around three options:
- an extravagant "if all the money, time, and technology were available" option
- a "minimum viable product" option
- a wild card option to spark disruptive innovation
Present
The options are presented to the design leadership team to determine whether any constraints limit us: time, budget, technology, etc. Pieces of these options get picked apart and glued back together in a process that should represent the best parts of them all. I merrily take my new hodgepodge masterpiece to get feedback from the customers: Does the workflow or screen make sense? Do they believe it could solve their concerns? Does this solution bring up new concerns? If necessary, I incorporate these ideas and revise the proposal, cycling through this stage as needed. Within a few iterations, I proceed to the next step.
Test
A/B testing, over-the-shoulder lab testing, or even just first glance testing; getting data at this stage is key to determining the solution's success. I engage the customers in a more rigorous breakdown of the proposal and carefully chart their responses. If the numbers are positive, everything moves over to the dev team where they can do what they do best and bring that design to life.
Follow through
With the solution in front of users in a live setting, paying attention to how it is received is incredibly important. Does the solution perform well? Does it really solve the customers' concerns as we believed? Do we now have hard numbers proving that the effort was worth it? These questions are answered in a variety of ways, including monitoring the logs and service calls, sending surveys, and continued conversations with those folks from the earlier stages.