UX journey complication in the design thinking process.
“All in the golden afternoon
Full leisurely we glide;
For both our oars, with little skill,
By little arms are plied,
While little hands make vain pretence
Our wanderings to guide.”
– Lewis Carroll, “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland”, page 5, VolumeOne Publishing Chicago, Illinois 1998.
When starting to work on a product, the most important thing to remember is that the creation is first and foremost for the convenience of the users. In the process, we may encounter problems that can lead either to the wrong path or to a dead end. There will be a persistent feeling like we are in a maze, similar to Alice in Wonderland. The focus should be to make the UX journey clear and unmistakable in terms of achieving the right goals.
To lead a product’s developing process to successful results and deliver a useful, superior product for the users. The question becomes, how can we achieve that?
Here’s the truth of the matter. Independent of the approach used, very often researchers are caught in the trap of illusory goals and intentions. Worrying more about a product’s appearance and modern look than about its usability.
Consequently, designers are chasing a “rabbit” 🐇 and falling deeper and deeper into an unreal world. The result is an attractive, but faceless (like a million others on dribbble or similar sites) product which is useless from the point of view of the user, so what to do?
DO NOT fall in love with the design solution right away! Check, test, and ask questions:
WHY, WHAT, WHERE, WHEN, WHY
Wonder all the time! It is so much temptation to not do this and skip some steps of the testing while conducting the research and/or wireframing process especially when it is such a huge issue like lack of time and in short term must sacrifice certain research options and ways to complete the project in time. Of course, the design thinking process shouldn’t be like a strict step-by-step guide to follow, but a journey with discovering along the way with “evil villains” 🂽, false paths in a user-flow “labyrinth” 🧶 and eventually, finding actual wisdom that comes from the user’s insights.
Regardless, keeping in mind real concerns, user needs, and pain points is a high priority for any project and will give real direction in this maze. Ultimately, it will make this UX journey pleasant and informative both for the designer and result in a highly effective product that will be user-friendly for the customer. At the end of our journey, an easy, useful, high-quality product is obtained. Thus, a “caterpillar” 🐛 of an idea will turn into a wonderful “butterfly” 🦋.
An infallible Double Diamond methodology will be helpful in defining the hiding “villains”. Even the simplified system of these diamonds will help to find the right way.
Of course, travelling back and forth during the design-thinking process could be endless, so it’s important to come to a better decision at some point and continue with that decision. Please don’t get stuck in this Wonderland forever, just dare to proceed.
In truth, working on a project by using the original Double Diamond process unfortunately is not always done regularly and rigorously, sometimes not in that order, inadvertently or intentionally avoiding some steps. As a result, in the end, there may be confusing or incorrect data.
Without a doubt, design thinking is a great methodology, but not perfectly suitable for every product. There are separate external circumstances, such as time ⏱ and/or limited finances 💸 etc.
However, to make it work I simplified it for the purpose to make your UX journey in the “Wonderland” as easy as possible.
One more tip.
To make your design really work, maximize the test part that shows you the real user experience.
Overall, please pay attention to the real users’ needs and don’t chase illusory goals and intentions at every stage of development.
Thus, considering time and money-saving needs just use my simplified Double Diamond methodology, it could be helpful in everyday design work.
Ready to make a real creation?
Let’s create together!
