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Immerse myself in the real world
While online user research, competitor analysis, and inspiration from similar products can provide insightful, I believe that some products aim to solve new issues and for that, breakthrough ideas are born from understanding of real-world problems that we are trying to solve for our user. This understanding isn't gained by sitting at a desk.
Observing users in their world gives you the opportunity to empathize with their experience, understand their context, uncover hidden needs, and hear their honest and unfettered feedback. I try and soak up what I see without judgement and observe the obvious with a critical eye. Great discoveries often begin with an observation you can’t explain.
Empathy begins with getting to know people as people, not just as users. I prefer to ask them open-ended questions about how they live and work in relation to the product goal. I listen to their stories to understand their hopes, fears, and goals that motivate them and attempt to put myself in their shoes to absorb the highs, lows, and nuances of their lived experiences first-hand.
Your users don’t live in a bubble. They’re often part of complex, interdependent systems of people and processes that work together to achieve a greater goal. I watch users interact with the people and tools in their environment, to find out who they rely on and who relies on them. Sometimes the most effective way to help your users is to help the people around them.
Users won’t always be able to express their needs, so it’s my goal to read between the lines and uncover them -- to reveal their challenges and figure out what’s at stake if they fail and to find out how they measure success and where their existing solutions fall short.
Iteratively, I test my ideas, assumptions, and prototypes by putting them in my users’ hands. I observe their interactions, listen carefully, and capture their feedback as faithfully as you can.
User-oriented introspection
As a project progresses, either as a freelancer or as part of a team, are constantly taking in new information. Observing generates fresh data about the real world, while making generates new ideas and opportunities to pursue. But as this information reveals the complexity of our problem space, it’s easy to get overwhelmed, drift out of alignment, or lose sight of the mission we set out to accomplish together.
This is why it’s important to regularly reflect, with myself or even better as a team. This allows us to synchronize our actions, synthesize what we've learned, and share our “aha” moments. If the situation has changed, it allows us time to rethink how to move forward.
When reflecting, I try to have the empathy to understand diverse perspectives, the flexibility to respond to change, and the integrity to stay true to project values.
I cultivate a common identity by discovering what unites me, the rest of the team I work with, and my client. I like to have meeting where we get to know each other as people and build empathy with them as I would with the users -- cherishing the diversity of perspectives
Whenever I feel that I am drifting out of alignment, I slow down and examine the intent and motivations behind our work, to come to a refined understanding of your users, the problem I am solving, and the outcome I am working to achieve.
As new information is gathered, I take stock of what I know and what I don’t know. I synthesize this knowledge to uncover hidden insight that illuminates the path forward. An insight isn’t restating an observation—it’s a leap in clarity, reframing your point of view and changing your convictions about what’s important.
As the understanding of the project evolves, I try to refrain from moving forward blindly. I like to involve my client as part of the team to decide the next move forward.
Giving concrete form to gathered ideas
Like most creatives and all perfectionists, we fall victim to “analysis paralysis” sometimes. It’s tempting to put off making because we aren’t confident we have enough understanding. Sometimes we’re just afraid to share ideas before they’re fully baked. To avoid this, I am conscious to avoid this and remind myself the of the valuable insights I will gain during the making process. I remind myself what I will create is not a one-time task. The product, like the loop, is iterative and non-linear.
Making gives form to abstract ideas, giving me the chance to try out new ideas and see them take effect in the real world. I found that the earlier I make, the faster I learn. I try to summon the curiosity to try out unexplored ideas, have the audacity to put your ideas into the world. Sometimes I'm wrong— but I don't think there’s anything wrong with that.
During the making process, I ask other stakeholders to participate and build on the current ideas together.
I don’t wait until an idea is perfect—it most likely won’t happen. I think of this iteration as think with my hands and it helps me uncover new ideas in real time, usually run into accidents and allows me to receive feedback from others on an actual product, rather than abstract ideas and findings.
Are we seeing the same thing? A picture is worth a thousand words, so I don’t tell my client my idea; I show them, even if it's basic and unpolished. This way, I can more effectively get across by making something that expresses my intent, coming up with the user story and showing why it matters.
Prototypes are experiments that help to validate or invalidate my hypotheses and assumptions. Although it’s helpful thinking of everything I make as a prototype, low-fidelity prototypes help me simulate ideas and test hypotheses quickly and cheaply. No need to make it perfect—just make it appropriate enough for the feedback you need.
Once the stakeholders and I have committed to an idea, I turn my intent into an outcome. While I am making, I stay cautious to listen, learn, and course-correct as I work out the details. Everything is a prototype, even in-market solutions. Fail early and learn fast.
Hills are statements of intent written as meaningful user outcomes. They tell you me where to go, but not how to get there, empowering me, my team members and stakeholders to explore breakthrough ideas without losing sight of the goal.
Playbacks bring stakeholders into the loop in a space to tell findings and stories and exchange feedback. They reveal misalignment and measure progress against the big picture problem we are solving.
Sponsor Users are real-world users that regularly contribute their domain expertise to the project, preferably on a long-term basis, helping me stay in touch with users’ real-world needs throughout the project.