Framework

Understand

Understand your users’ needs and the context of the problem you want to solve. Create a research plan. Gather and organize your information.

Now that you know the problem you want to solve, it’s time to deepen your understanding of your users and explore the context of the problem. The more you learn, the more inspiration you’ll have to create ideas.

At the end of this phase, you should have a deep understanding of the people you’re solving for and the problem you want to solve.

Questions to ask yourself and your team

• What should we know before we start thinking of solutions?
• How do we go about finding this information?
• How do we interpret this information?
• Does everyone on the team have a strong understanding of the users?

Imagine

Imagine the possibilities. Look at the problem from a new perspective and explore potential solutions. Select a few to move forward with.

Now that you have a better understanding of your users, reevaluate the problem you want to solve from their point of view. This allows you to reframe the problem and can help you find previously hidden inspiration.

Once you’ve reframed the problem you want to solve, you’re ready to start exploring ways to solve the problem you’ve identified. Give yourself time and an environment where you can brainstorm. As you work through potential solutions, be open to new ideas, no matter how big or small they might seem. You never know which idea will be the right one for your users.

At the end of this phase, you’ll have a consolidated list of ways in which you might solve the problem.

Questions to ask yourself and your team

• Is this problem the one we want to solve?
• How do we make new ideas?
• Do we need more time to explore a variety of ideas?
• Which of these ideas brings the most value to our users?

Test Drive

Test drive ideas. Make prototypes and share with your users to get feedback.

Now that you have potential solutions, it’s time to find out exactly how well they solve your users’ problem. In this phase, you’ll create a representation of your idea and validate your potential solutions with users. Allow yourself to learn and iterate during this phase as you may need to quickly incorporate feedback into your prototypes.

At the end of this phase, you should have a single validated idea to move forward with.

Questions to ask yourself and your team

• What do we want to learn?
• What type of prototype do we need?
• How well does the solution solve the users’ problem?

Reflect

Reflect on what you’ve learned. Review the results of your prototypes, explore what worked and what didn’t. Decide what your next steps are.　

This is an important phase in your work toward a finished solution. You’ve explored your users’ perspectives, determined the problem you want to solve, and prototyped potential solutions. Now it’s time to reflect on how far you’ve come and what you’ve learned.

As you reflect on your project, think about any questions you still have left to answer before deciding how you want to progress. You have two options for moving your project forward:

Moving forward. Progress on your solution with your users’ feedback. As you move towards implementation and shift to other development processes, the mindsets you’ve learned here will carry over.

Keep iterating.  Maybe part of your solution didn’t work well. Take another pass at improving your idea and retest it with your users—inform your decisions based on what you learn from them.

Questions to ask yourself and your team

• How do we share our solution while telling a compelling story to our business?
• What can we learn from the feedback we gathered from our prototype?