THE BRIEF
Whether working freelance or as part of a team in a larger company, the first step is to work with the client to get as much information as possible, this is done through a design brief. A design brief ensures that important design issues are considered and questioned, topics in a design brief may vary but a few good starting points are:
Company/Client Profile – a summary and brief history of the client’s organization will help the design process
Goals—What does the client want to achieve? Rebranding, Generating sales, Encouraging enquiries, Simplifying the onboarding process, and Clearly outlining goals must ensure success.
Target Market – the age, gender, lifestyle, etc. of those the client wants to reach.
If a client is unable to identify these during a design brief. We will spend the time to figure out core values that need to be reflected, by doing an exercise with attributes by brainstorming and writing down as many words or phrases that they would like to reflect. I then narrowed down the list to a select few that work the best. These attributes influence my research process as they pull visual examples of other products that will serve as inspiration. This leads me to the research phase of a project.
RESEARCH
After the brief has been set out and the client’s values and expectations are clear and aligned, it’s time to set out a clear strategy. My preference is an iterative process with my work, even at this early stage in the project, I find it is key to keeping all parties aligned both in expectations and deliverables.
Research often includes looking at competitors to get information about features and their advantages and disadvantages, what they are doing and what they are not doing, and what we can do to set the client apart from their competitors. From there, I start scouring the web for inspiration. Based on the brief and my own digestion of the goals, tone and scope of the project, I started collecting anything and everything that evoked the mood of the attributes of the design. Sometimes it is even helpful to find out what mood you don’t want to evoke. I feel it is essential to look beyond the scope of the internet and not to get lost in what already exists and end up making a bad facsimile of a competitor’s product.
I collect photos, design inspiration, colour swatches, photographs and typeface specimens. My outside interests all fulfil a role in the research phase of a project, such as my love of music, independent coffee shops, museums etc. Inspiration comes in many forms and can be a game changer to the success of a project. During this process, it’s not about finding the ‘pretty’ or the ‘cool’, it’s about discovering that unique aspect that will help me accomplish the project goals.
As the research phase unfolds, I will start to note commonalities between the items, taking time to study each example for what works and why I think it works. Is there a reason that background video is so effective? What qualities made a user want to click a button, scroll down, or stay on that page longer?
A mood board has been established, an essential tool that both myself, my colleagues and the client can refer back to at any stage throughout the process. It becomes the style map that we can continue to refer to to ensure the proper values, mood and tone are being evoked.
DESIGN STRATEGY
The design strategy is how I recommend approaching the project based on the above research. This is the point where the business goals mesh with user needs; it is the roadmap for the visual components that help to build and drive business objectives.
While designing, I focus on implementing personality. If your company, product or website were a person who would it be? The wisecracking friend everyone loves to spend time with? Or that polished friend of yours that seems so trustworthy? These personas are defined from the attributes established in the research process.
I begin this process by rapid prototyping, which in turn starts to build the design strategy itself. I will show you where I am going with the design and where I think it should go. From this, I will get an intuitive feel for whether I am headed in the right direction. This rapid prototyping not only helps test progress in a tangible way, it ultimately makes the design more powerful through strategic thinking. It’s a process of trial and error: observe, identify patterns, generate ideas, get feedback, repeat and keep refining until it is ready to go to market.
As the design strategy continues, so does refining it. This is the time I improve on the design, fix any errors and fine tune the details. Gradually, all the bits and pieces will start to fall into place. By building and refining the strategy early on, it is a chance to uncover problems and fix them in real time, as the strategy continues to unfold.
Implementing user testing at this time is highly beneficial. Receiving feedback from the end user can help solve any obstacles that may have been overlooked from a design perspective. The client should also review the design and provide feedback based on their objectives. This process will continue until the design is approved and ready to launch.
REFINE
The big day! Once a design is approved, it is ready to be launched and implemented across all deliverables, which may include print and web (depending on the project scope). But once it is launched, the project isn’t over – I am prepared to address feedback and make any changes and adjustments that may be necessary within the project scope.