Design Process

Designers’ priorities determine how they will approach a design problem. Design teams that value people’s communities and want to give them…

Designers use mapping methods before, during, and even after they finish the traditional “creation” process. Some methods help clarify a problem…

An overview of the design process (sometimes called "design thinking").

A detailed breakdown of the design process.

People don’t buy products because they want the products, themselves, they “hire” products because they have a job they want that…

Who are the people we are designing with? What are they like? What frustrates them? What are they into, and what…

Details are important when sketching concepts to figure out if something “works.” When that “figuring out” spans media—opening up materials, sounds,…

You can’t do sketches enough. Sketch everything and keep your curiosity fresh. John Singer Sargent Doing lots of thumbnail sketches force…

Storyboards are great for communicating how something is used or the plan for a presentation. Viewers can more easily understand a…

Decision Support Tools The University of Cambridge’s Institute for Manufacturing hosts an exhaustive list of decision support tools on its website.…

Style boards allow designers to group images, typography, and other aspects of designs into a cohesive presentation that captures a “look”…

A few suggestions on what to make when designing products, services, or systems.

Designers and researchers spend a lot of time with ideas. We come up with ideas, we test ideas, we combine ideas,…