You're a designer evaluating your design process. What's the most common mistake you're making?

Common design process mistakes include lack of clarity, poor research, not involving users, lack of creativity, skipping testing, not seeking feedback, not documenting, and rushing into prototyping.

In my opinion, the most common mistake would be a misunderstanding of the campaign brief and doing what designers typically prefer

It's important to recognize another common mistake beyond skipping research: overlooking continuous feedback loops. While conducting initial research is vital, failing to integrate iterative feedback throughout the design journey can hinder the evolution of your solutions. Include feedback loops that involve stakeholders, clients, and end-users at various stages. Regular critiques and user testing provide invaluable insights, allowing you to refine and validate your design iteratively. This approach ensures that your final product addresses the initial research findings and also adapts to emerging insights, keeping it aligned with evolving user needs and expectations.

The research phase is crucial for understanding the context, needs, goals, and pain points of users. It's important to avoid designing based solely on assumptions or personal preferences. Without really knowing what users struggle with, what they want, and how they behave, designs can end up missing the mark and not helping users as much as they could. To avoid these mistakes, it's important to carefully consider the appropriate research method, give priority to conducting thorough user research, and ensure enough time and resources are dedicated to the process.

Skipping and rushing research are common results of tight deadlines in product development. As product designers, we need to have the capability to communicate to business stakeholders the need to understand context, goals and expectations of our users in order to deliver a usefull product. Immaturity in accepting that research is not necessary can lead to the loss of users in the long term. In this regard, commiting to a process of continuous iteration is usually the best approach.

An additional pitfall in the design process that designers should be wary of is overemphasizing aesthetics at the expense of functionality. While visual appeal is fundamental, focusing solely on creating a visually stunning design can overshadow the primary goal of solving user problems and improving functionality. Striking the right balance between aesthetics and usability is paramount. Ensure that your design looks good and also provides a seamless and intuitive user experience. Incorporating user testing and feedback loops can help uncover any usability issues that might arise from a design that prioritizes aesthetics over functionality.

One of the most common mistakes is when designers try to impose their own ideas without grounding them in solid research. It's true that as designers, we possess experience that allows us to anticipate some user behaviors. However, it's important to remember that we are not the users. Ensuring our designs align with the users' needs and perspectives is essential

Avoid getting too attached to your ideas. Stay open to feedback and be willing to change or explore other options. Remember, the goal is to create designs that best serve the users, not just your personal preferences. Collaborate with others and be flexible in your approach. One common mistake is neglecting to test your designs with real users. It's crucial to gather feedback early and often to ensure your designs are meeting user needs effectively. This can help you identify and address any usability issues before they become major problems.

Falling in love with your designs is a sign of insecurity about your abilities. I've gone through this and probably every designer has. What you have to remember is that you are not your work. You have to detach yourself from your work, judge it objectively, and actively ask for feedback from designers and non-designers (They're the people your designs are supposed to help and dazzle).

I try (admittedly falling short at times) to keep in mind that good ideas can come from anywhere. As artists we can be too emotionally connected to our work. It probably stems from our original love of some sort of art, in my case drawing & painting. So when someone outside of our field gives you feedback sometimes our reaction is to recoil, bristle up, tell yourself that "they" don't know what they are talking about & immediately push back with "no". Try to remember that your co-worker isn't a high school bully making fun of your pony drawing and is a colleague that wants the project to succeed as much as you do. Take their input, sit with it objectively, if you have strong feelings against what was offered state your case as to why.

Usability testing and iteration play a pivotal role in validating assumptions, evaluating results, and identifying areas for improvement. Despite having conducted thorough research and crafted thoughtful designs, there is always room for improvement. Neglecting to test designs with real users and not incorporating their feedback through iteration may result in products or solutions that don't achieve optimal performance or resonate with the target audience.

Ensure consistency across design deliverables is an usability heuristic and it influences a lot the perception of users when interacting with a product. Every process stage is important and when we think about refining spacings and micro-interactions, design critique sessions play a pivotal role in the end product. Furthermore, UX/UI specialists need to test the product after development to ensure that everything is compliant with the guidelines delivered initially.

To avoid overlooking details: 1. Use checklists to review design elements like typography and color. 2. Get feedback from peers to catch things you might miss. Best solution: Implement a thorough QA process to ensure all details are polished before final delivery.

This remains one key issue, along with 'falling in love with your design'. Make sure your designs align with the overall business goals, user needs, and what you originally set out to achieve. Beyond this, I am a fan of minimalism and it reduces cognitive load hence I ensure my designs only have what is needed. Keeping the bigger picture in mind. This will help you avoid getting sidetracked and create something truly valuable.

Yup. Don't do this. lol. For me, this is why research is key, and more specifically why research that goes beyond the context of local workflows or just one feature area is so critical. You need the most holistic picture you can possibly paint. Where was the person before they encountered this piece? What were they doing? Where will they go next? Why? Will they be back? What would cause that? Who is this person? Why even pick up this tool? How does this fit into the rest of their day? Their week? Even if you're only working on one function or workflow you need to have a sense of the grander scheme. Think of it like a painting. Every once in a while you have to back up and look at it from far away or your details can destroy the whole piece.

Another common mistake is rushing through brainstorming and prototyping. Even though there's pressure to meet deadlines or make stakeholders happy quickly, it's important not to give in to that pressure and always take time to explore different ideas, list all the ideas, prioritize them, get feedback, and refine them. This can lead to more innovative and refined solutions that better meet user needs and expectations.

To confuse design thinking being a linear process, Design thinking is more of a mindset than a strict process. It encourages designers to embrace uncertainty, iterate rapidly, and remain open to new ideas throughout the problem-solving journey. By embracing this non-linear approach, designers can uncover unexpected insights and create truly impactful solutions.

When evaluating your design process, look from an outer perspective. While many elements constitute the design process, be aware of the varying importance of those components – the commonly made mistake is centering your process around the wrong thing. For some challenges, your attention should gravitate to the end customer; for some, you should build your process based on the business need, competitor research, or your team's capabilities. You can start by writing down a list of goals and restraints for each part of the common design process. Take a second look, show it to someone, and portion your time accordingly for each phase. This way, you'll have a design process corresponding to your challenge and abilities.