My Process

Everyone’s process varies, but mine is pretty damn good (for me)

Design Process

Every Project is different but will follow a basic process. These processes are rarely ever linear and steps tend to be repeated multiple times before delivery. Some will need card sorting and some might have the information architecture already well defined. The nitty gritty method choice tends to differ but I still follow a general process for every project

Design Principles

Empathy, Teamwork, Clarity, Simplicity – these are some of the basic principles that I try to live by. Keeping those four words in mind helps tremendously.

Teamwork – these are some of the basic principles that I try to live by. Teamwork makes the dream work.

Clarity – these are some of the basic principles that I try to live by. It Goes hand in hand with simplicity, explain it to those who have no idea what’s going on and they should hopefully understand.

Simplicity – these are some of the basic principles that I try to live by. It Goes hand in hand with clarity, keep it simple stupid or K.I.S.S. but not like the terrible band from the 80s (okay they have a couple of jams)

Process Steps

Define: The first step I take is usually to define the general business needs, requirements for the project, and understand the deliverables, timeline, and expectations. It’s important to always stay on the same page with the rest of the team. At this step, I like to jot down my own hypothesis for what I expect the problem might be.
Discover: During this phase, I collect information, talk to people and explore the problem space. I will also look into user reports, and understand why the product came to be the way it is. If user research isn’t within the budget or allocated time, I’ll try to conduct ad hoc guerilla interviews to avoid designing blindly.
Interpret: The interpretation phase allows me to define the users, their needs, and their pain points. Personas, journey maps, storyboards, and problem statements can be defined or redefined. At this stage, I set our goals and the metrics we want to hit for success. This phase is always very insightful.
Ideate: The ideation phase is a lot of fun for me! I like to bring in developers, other designers, stakeholders, and customer support to an ideation session to explore different options. I like to let my mind go wild and come up with as many solutions as I can. I strive for quantity over quality at this stage.
Prototype:
Test:

Design Philosophies

My developer Hat – with my background as a front-end engineer, I speak the language of the developers I work with. I think it is important to understand and empathize not only with your users but also with your team. Knowing how to code helps me understand not only the problems the developers on my team face but I can also explain to them precisely what we want to accomplish.

My Marketing Hat – marketing teams always have tough goals to meet, so it’s important to speak their language. I think it is important to understand and empathize not only with your users but also with your team. Knowing how to code helps me understand not only the problems the developers on my team face but I can also explain to them precisely what I want in the design.

Involve Everyone – Designers should never work in silos. I try to bring in people who I think have the best insights. I talk to developers, product support agents, stakeholders, users, and user researchers, and bring them into the project as early and as often as I can. I enjoy being collaborative and collecting insights from places one might not think to look.

How I like to collaborate & my work style.

I like to find information from where ever I can and there is plenty of information to be found.

This means joining supporters as they answer product questions to understand where users have problems or even scouring reviews of the product as well as competing projects to find insights.

Books I Highly Recommend

CSS Pocket Reference – There’s no way in hell your brain can remember every bit of CSS. So many selectors that you probably haven’t used yet that will make your life so much easier.

Don’t Make Me Think – A quick read at only 180 pages, but this book is chuck full of great knowledge that might make you think twice before jumping into a project.

The Phoenix Project and the DevOps Handbook – One of my favorite books of all time.