Practice

Design space

Design doesn’t happen in a vacuum. I collaborate inter-disciplinary across organizational structures, and at the intersection of design, business, technology, and data. I want to turn insights into a design strategy, and deliver results, that democratize the use of technology, and create value for all intended audiences.

Philosophy & approach

My definition of design sees it as the plan to change a current situation to a desired outcome. My approach to design is focused on the audience I design for and in the context of behavior, systemic dimensions, and time. I believe this ensures a forward-thinking, inclusive, and holistic outlook that also allows to manage risks.

Design is a contact sport. Solid and transparent communication during all stages of the design process are key to successful and desired outcomes.

Design is also about shaping. Media, or other platforms are part of the solution space which I need to be (at least) familiar with. I regularly take courses, attend conferences, and stay up to date on the latest technologies, approaches, and methods for effective collaboration.

Processes and frameworks

Defining and solving design problems is never a linear process, because designers mix and match process and methodologies to get in the most sensible way to outcomes. The process however can be made more structured and systematic through frameworks that can be combined and adapted to the project’s needs.

Some of the processes I have experience with:

• Agile Design: Emphasizes iterative development, where requirements and solutions evolve through collaboration between cross-functional teams.
• Design Sprint: A time-boxed five-phase process that uses design thinking to reduce the risk when bringing a new product, service, or a feature to the market.
• Design Thinking: A problem-solving approach that involves empathy, ideation, prototyping, and testing to solve complex problems in a user-centered way.
• Double Diamond: Divides the design process into four distinct phases—Discover, Define, Develop, and Deliver—to map the divergent and convergent stages of the design process.
• Scrum: An agile framework for developing, delivering, and sustaining complex products through collaboration. Risk can be managed through staging processes and sandbox environments.
• Systems Thinking: An approach to problem-solving that views “problems” as parts of an overall system, rather than reacting to specific parts, outcomes, or events.
• Value Proposition Design: A process where a team or company designs products and services that directly address the customers’ values, needs, pains, and gains.

Depending on the context and expectations one process or framework is more suitable to reach an outcome. In the simplest form, most processes have some or all of those phases:

• Problem definition
• Research and analysis
• Ideation
• Concept development
• Design and development
• Testing and evaluation
• Implementation
• Launch and feedback loops

Methodologies

Every design, research initiative, transformation project, or new venture requires an approach appropriate to the goals, the environment and the constraints it’s conducted in. In my work I take these factors into account, and combine methodologies as I see them fit. Each methodology has its principles, processes, and applications, making them suitable for different types of projects and goals.

Methodologies I have used alone or in combination over the course of my career:

• Activity-Centered Design: Focuses on designing around the activities that users will perform with the product or system.
• Anticipatory Design: Employs algorithms and user data to predict and provide solutions to user needs before they are expressly stated, aiming to reduce cognitive load and decision fatigue.
• Atomic Design: Breaks down interfaces into fundamental components, called “atoms,” which can be combined to form more complex components, and eventually, complete interfaces or “templates” and “pages.” This methodology helps create consistent, scalable, and maintainable design systems.
• Co-Design/Cooperative Design: Involves stakeholders, especially end-users, in the design process to ensure the outcome meets their needs and is usable.
• Contextual Design: A user-centered design process that designs products based on a deep understanding of how users interact with the product in their natural environment.
• Emotional Design: Focuses on creating products that elicit positive emotions from users, enhancing their interaction with the product.
• Experience Design (XD): Concerned with the holistic creation of the experience of a product or service, including aspects of branding, design, usability, and function.
• Human-Centered Design (HCD): Prioritizes the human perspective in all steps of the problem-solving process.
• Inclusive Design: Designs products, devices, services, or environments for people who experience disabilities.
• Interaction Design (IxD): Focuses on creating engaging interfaces with well thought out behaviors.
• Lean UX: Focuses on the experience under design and is less focused on deliverables than traditional UX. It requires a greater level of collaboration with the entire team.
• Modular Design: Breaks down a system into smaller parts (modules) that can be independently created and then used in different systems to drive multiple functionalities.
• Participatory Design: Encourages all stakeholders (e.g., employees, partners, customers) to participate in the design process.
• Pair Design: A collaborative design approach where two designers work together on the same task, sharing and iterating on ideas in real-time. This method fosters creativity, rapid prototyping, and a deeper understanding of design problems and solutions.
• Responsive Design: Ensures that a website’s layout changes according to the screen size and orientation of the device being used to view it.
• Scenario Planning: A strategic planning method to make flexible long-term plans, considering various future scenarios and outcomes.
• Scrum: An agile framework for developing, delivering, and sustaining complex products through collaboration.
• Strategic Foresight: Involves systematic future intelligence gathering and analysis to help anticipate and prepare for potential futures.
• Systems Design: Focuses on how complex systems interrelate and work within the context of larger systems.
• Universal Design: The design of buildings, products, or environments to make them accessible to all people, regardless of age, disability, or other factors.
• User-Centered Design (UCD): Focuses on enhancing the experience of the user by making products more usable and accessible.
• Value Sensitive Design (VSD): Integrates human values into the design process, systematically considering the ethical aspects of technology.

Techniques & toolbox

In addition to process, approach and methodologies I combine a variety of tools and techniques in my work.

Some techniques I work with:

• 5 Whys: A technique used to explore the underlying cause-and-effect relationships underlying a particular problem.
• A/B Testing: A comparison in which two versions (A and B) which are identical except for one variation that might affect a user’s behavior.
• Affinity Diagramming: A tool used to organize data, ideas, and insights into categories based on their natural relationships.
• Brainstorming: A technique of generating ideas to solve a problem in a creative, uninhibited manner.
• Card Sorting: A technique used to help structure or restructure information, categorize content, and derive a site or product structure.
• Competitive Analysis: An assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of current and potential competitors.
• Context Mapping: A technique to gather insights by mapping out the context in which a product or service will be used.
• Empathy Mapping: A collaborative visualization technique used to articulate what we know about a particular type of user.
• Ethnographic Study: Involves observing users in their natural environment to understand their way of life for the purpose of designing a product that fits into their lives.
• Heuristic Evaluation: A usability inspection method for software that helps to identify usability problems in the user interface (UI).
• Journey Mapping: A holistic technique to understanding the flow of experiences a customer has with an organization.
• Mind Mapping: A diagram used to visually organize information, showing relationships among pieces of the whole.
• Mood Boards: A type of collage consisting of images, text, and samples of objects in a composition.
• Minimal viable product/Minimal lovable product: A low key working prototype that can be used when wire framing and other prototyping techniques are not suitable for a project.
• Persona Development: Creating fictional characters based on your research to represent the different user types that might use your service, product, site, or brand.
• Prototyping: An early sample, model, or release of a product built to test a concept or process. Can be low or high fidelity depending on evaluation criteria.
• Stakeholder Analysis: Assessment of a system and potential changes to it as they relate to relevant and interested parties.
• Sketching/Storyboarding: A method of telling a story with drawings in a sequence. Useful for widening the perspective with all stakeholders involved.
• Survey Research: A technique of collecting information from a sample of people, traditionally with a questionnaire.
• SWOT Analysis: A strategic planning technique used to identify the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats related to project or business ventures.
• Task Analysis: The act of learning about ordinary users by observing them in action to understand in detail how they perform their tasks and achieve their intended goals.
• Usability Testing: A technique used in user-centered interaction design to evaluate a product by testing it on users.
• User Flow Diagrams: A flowchart detailing the steps a user takes to complete a task or achieve a goal on a site or app.
• User Stories: Short, simple descriptions of a feature told from the perspective of the person who desires the new capability, usually a user or customer of the system.
• Wire framing: A way to design a website service at the structural level. Typically low-fidelity, can be interactive or not. Useful when dealing with non-dynamic content that does not have to be altered.
• Workshop: A way to conduct generative research or gain insights into a topic.