Throughout my professional journey, I have gained experience in utilizing two distinct product design strategies. While one of these methodologies is widely adopted in the design industry, each approach has its own set of advantages and limitations. At present, my perspective is that neither the agile nor the waterfall method can be deemed superior to the other. Team collaboration can often be a complex process, and hence, it is crucial to adopt the methodology that is most effective for your team. Personally, my preference is for a model centered around continuous refinement and evolution. This entails beginning with a fundamental concept or vision and gradually enhancing the product's usability and aesthetic appeal through small, incremental steps over an extended period.
The process I learned in school has proven to be effective under ideal circumstances. Personally, I find it preferable to the double diamond approach. I particularly appreciate how the Nielsen Norman Group breaks down the process into three clear phases: Understand, Explore, and Materialize. Let me elaborate on each step:
https://www.nngroup.com/articles/design-thinking/
When I am tasked with a new project or job, often times the client has an idea of what they want to create but they lack the necessary foundation or design system to build efficiently and effectively. In such cases, my approach involves the following steps: First and foremost, it is important to understand the brand and how it should interact with customers. This is a crucial step as it sets the tone and direction for the entire project. Next, I define the basics of a design system such as border radius, border widths, breakpoints, color, grid system, opacity levels, shadows, shapes, sizing, spacing, and typography using tokens. This step provides the necessary framework to ensure consistency and cohesiveness throughout the project. After setting up the design system, I build out some basic components such as buttons, text fields, and dropdowns. These components serve as the building blocks for the rest of the project. I then take these tokens and basic components and start putting them into different configurations using the MDS method. This method involves zooming in to a specific component and then zooming out to think about the design of the whole interface. I repeat this process multiple times and gradually work towards higher-order components such as navigation and form layout. In summary, my approach involves a thorough understanding of the brand, the creation of a robust design system, building out basic components, and implementing the MDS method to create a cohesive and efficient project.