Every digital project is a critical touchpoint for brands, requiring meticulous attention to detail to effectively convey the brand's principles. Combining this with research is essential to accurately translate these principles into design.
I like to see design as a toolbox, filled with a variety of methods and frameworks ready to be deployed as the unique challenges of each project demand. Understanding the specific needs of a project is crucial, discerning which methodologies to employ, identifying opportunities for streamlining, and determining the optimal roles and timings for team members.
My approach is a fusion of service design principles, grounded in robust UX methodologies, enriched with the agility and efficiency of lean startup thinking. This holistic strategy ensures that every design solution is not only innovative and user-centric but also strategically aligned with the project's goals.
A holistic approach in design means to consider all aspects of the user experience: the product, the business context, the user, the team, the timeline and the budget. This way of looking at projects, means going beyond the visual side of design and translating that research in key principles, such as the following:
This approach to projects follows a well-established method, effectively tailored to meet the project's specific demands of time, budget, and team dynamics. A critical success factor in this approach is the clear outlining of milestones, ensuring they are well communicated and accessible to every team member.
In this phase, the focus is on identifying the needs of target audiences and the market, assembling the project team, and defining the design challenge. This involves understanding the business through service blueprints and stakeholder workshops, grasping the brand's story, position, tonality, and goals, comprehending user needs, and clearly defining the project's objectives and KPI’s.
This stage transforms the design challenge into concrete product positioning and direction, defining product benefits and design principles, and describing potential use cases and features. This process includes the creation of hypotheses and the rapid testing of solutions to validate these assumptions as early as possible. It includes planning the communication strategy, brand experience, user experience, generating ideas, and defining success metrics.
At this point, user-centered use cases are translated into user flows, wireframes, and design moods. A first prototype is developed to make the user experience and interface tangible and testable, involving tasks like structuring design tasks, creating branded interactions, designing screen and space-based interactions, as well as virtual and augmented realities, and smart objects, followed by prototyping and testing.
This phase involves testing and optimizing the business model's value proposition and the usability of the digital products, making holistic design decisions and preparing for implementation. It includes developing systems, creating style guides and pattern libraries, monitoring production, and managing project launch and debrief.
Finally, the UX/UI details are refined and implemented in collaboration with developers, and the product's effectiveness is analyzed through KPIs in live operations, with the potential for optimization or further development based on new use cases.
Each of these stages reflects a comprehensive approach to the project lifecycle, from initial concept to scaling and integration into the broader business and cultural context, ensuring a successful and sustainable digital solution.