UX1: Thinking like a product designer
The design process, and where designers fit
🎯You'll be able to
Describe a design process from problem to release, and explain how designers work with product managers, developers and others.
🏠The everyday picture
An architect doesn't hand the builders a painting of a house. They visit the site, talk to the family, sketch options, agree a plan, then give the builders drawings they can build from, and visit during construction.
📘What it really is
- Discover: understand people and the problem (research: UX2 and UX3).
- Define: agree the problem statement, the journeys and what's in scope (UX4).
- Develop: sketch, wireframe and prototype several ideas, and test them (UX5 to UX8).
- Deliver: hand over designs, components and states; check the build; measure after release (UX9).
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This is often drawn as a double diamond: widen to explore, narrow to decide, twice. In practice teams loop back when tests surprise them.
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Working with others:
- Product managers own the goals and priorities; designers bring evidence about people.
- Developers know what's quick or slow to build; involve them early so designs are practical.
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Support and sales hear about problems every day; their tickets are research.
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Ethics run through every stage: consent in research, honesty in design (no tricks), privacy and accessibility (UX7, UX8).
📝A worked example
Input: the SehatSlot project, mapped to the four stages and this path's modules.
| Stage | SehatSlot work | Kit files | Modules |
|---|---|---|---|
| Discover | Plan and run the five sessions; read the survey | research/ |
UX2, UX3 |
| Define | Problem statement, journey, findings | research/findings.md |
UX3, UX4 |
| Develop | Redesign the journey with every state | prototype/ |
UX5 to UX8 |
| Deliver | Tokens, components and documentation | design-system/ |
UX9 |
Expected output: a one-page plan showing which stage each project belongs to and what it hands to the next.
🌍Where it's used
- Agile teams run small loops of this process every few weeks rather than one long project.
- Agencies use it to explain to clients what they'll get and when.
- Government digital services often use named phases (discovery, alpha, beta, live) with a review before each.
📝Case scenario
A bank's team skipped discovery for a new loan form and went straight to high-fidelity screens. Developers found late that two required fields came from a system the team couldn't reach. A one-day talk with developers in week one would have saved three weeks.
🖱️Try it
For a product you know, write one sentence for each of the four stages: what the team would do and what it would hand on. Success: each stage has an output someone else can use.
⚠️Common mistakes
- Jumping to high fidelity. Sign: polished screens in the first week. Fix: sketch several ideas first (UX5).
- Handing over and walking away. Sign: the built product looks different and nobody noticed. Fix: review the build (UX9).
- Research once, then not again. Sign: decisions rest on a study from years ago. Fix: test each major change.
🛠️For your project
The capstone's demo follows these stages: what you found, what you designed, what you handed over and how you checked it.
✅Quick check
Name the four stages of the double diamond.
Show the answer
Discover, define, develop and deliver.
Why involve developers early?
Show the answer
They know what is practical and quick to build, so designs don't need to be redone late.