Let’s articulate what phases of work (“stretches”) our designers will do from the beginning to end of a project.
After noticing that feedback cycles have been getting derailed by mismatched expectations, I wanted to propose a framework for working to the team.
Say the product team is creating a brand new feature (for example, a new “Create my profile” page for learners). To help the team create this feature, a designer might do exploratory work at one point, definitional work at another point, and executional work at another. If the team isn’t aligned on what kind of work a designer is doing when, we risk a designer not focusing on the right work and/or the team not giving the right kind of feedback. This can lead to inefficiency and misunderstandings. And, well — it has 😅
“Process of a Junior Designer” from Junior Designers vs Senior Designers by Julie Zhou
It’s always a challenge keeping the product design process moving forward smoothly. While sometimes, it can be essential to revisit initial premises, take steps backwards, explore parallel paths, or simply hit the pause button, oftentimes, we can avoid unnecessarily going in loops by setting the right expectations about what kind of design work designers will do when and how best to react to it.
“Process of a Junior Designer” from Junior Designers vs Senior Designers by Julie Zhou
The design team believes we can establish a more smooth, aligned, and efficient design process by:
Working in “stretches” allows the team to map where a designer might be in their process. Think of it like the way you might follow a friend’s pin on Google Maps on their cross-country roadtrip. From beginning to end of a project, a designer might progress from stretch 1 to stretch 2 to stretch 3. Usually, the first stretch is where a designer does exploratory work. Stretch 2 is where they do definitional work. Stretch 3 is where they execute on the defined vision.
I applied the concept of “stretches” to Julie Zhou’s illustration.
Let’s break down what each stretch covers.