A visualization and description of a iterative design process synthesized based on my UX industry and HCI academic experience.

1. Design Process
Varun Khanduja- Experience Designer

2. DESIGN PHILOSOPHY
No two design processes are same and a design process is not linear. It is highly iterative and can
start at any point for the designer. The primary focus of a design process should be innovation for
users. Tools are means to achieve the design objective and shouldn’t be substituted as a means to
encourage design thinking or solving a nagging design problem. A good design process is
applicable regardless of the technology or the relevant medium being used to achieve the design
solution. A design process should invoke innovation from all relevant stakeholders and be
applicable regardless of agile or waterfall methodology. The ideal design process is about
understanding and embracing constraints.

4. UNDERSTAND THE PROBLEM
Target Audience
Review demographic profile (collaboration
with business stakeholders)
Business Objectives
Review Business requirement document, Role
access models (collaboration with business
stakeholders)
Existing Solutions
Review existing technological and non-
technological solutions (collaboration with
business and technology stakeholders)
Understand Constraints
Understand constraints set by different
stakeholders and develop strategy to prioritize
and consider the constraints while designing

5. USER REASEARCH & EXPERIENCE VISION
User Persona
Survey, User Interview, Focus group- User
persona.
User Environment
Ethnography, Contextual inquiry, User
shadowing, Analytics data.
User Journey
User Journey Mapping across various touch
points, persona, user emotions & user mental
models. Affinity diagram.
Ideate High Level Concept
Conceptual models reflecting divergent
architectural concepts.

6. DETAIL DESIGN
Competitive Edge
Competitive UX analysis
Current HCI Patterns
UI design pattern analysis and HCI research.
Data flow through top 2-3 concept
models
Conceptual flow & User journey mapping
revisions for various user persona.
Internal feedback
Design review sessions with fellow designers.
Data flow through individual screens
Interaction & user flow
External feedback
Present to Business, marketing & technology
stakeholders

7. TEST & ITERATE
User Testing
Usability Testing, A/B Live Testing,
Heuristic Evaluation.
Iterate
Revise designs based on data and
priority level of each problem identified.
Marketing Optimization
SEO and marketing approved final
content. (collaboration with marketing
stakeholders)
Visual Design
Using existing style guide for high fidelity
mockups or collaborating with visual
designer to get desired look and feel.

8. Style Guide
Document UI style guide & user flows based
on roles. (collaboration with technical
stakeholders)
Development support
In development & debugging related design
changes. (collaboration with technical
stakeholders)
Inspiration & Project Reflection
Document any new functionalities noted
throughout the project & how process could
be improved.
DOCUMENT & IMPLEMENTATION SUPPORT
POST LAUNCH
Customer Feedback
Analyze customer feedback through analytics