Did you ever...
- ... felt like you were doing something just because it’s expected of you?
- ... spent many hours on a task but questioned whether it was worth it?
- ... realize that there was a misunderstanding in initial requirements?
We consistently strive for excellence in our design work, be it a well-documented design system, or flows in which we cover all possible outcomes, not just the happy ones. However, obstacles such as budget limitations, time constraints, and plan changes can sometimes interfere with our goals.
In those situations, it is important to remember that although we are designers, we are not in the business of designing. We're in the business of building digital products. Designing them involves managing technical limitations, user requirements, and business requirements. It's important to keep these aspects in balance. If one dominates, the project may run out of budget and become unprofitable.
Products we create should be feasible, useful, and profitable. We must be flexible and adapt to the project's specific needs. Our focus should be on solving project issues, not just design problems. To do that, we need to apply value-focused thinking.
Value-focused thinking is designed to focus the decision maker on the essential activities that must occur prior to “solving a decision problem.” Value-focused thinking helps uncover hidden objectives and leads to more productive information collection. It can improve communication among parties concerned about a decision, facilitate involvement of multiple stakeholders, and enhance the coordination of interconnected decisions.
In product design, value focused approach can be applied to three levels:
- Feature level
- Technical level
- Process level
Feature level
A team working on a recipe app with a comment feature was tasked by the product owner to design a user flow for individuals banned due to inappropriate behavior. The team invested significant effort in creating a polished experience for banned users. However, they later realized this added little value to the broader user community or the business. In the end, thousands of euros were spent on an overly refined solution when a simpler banning process would have been more effective.
Lesson learned: Consider the business value of the features and users you are designing for. Always consider efforts to be proportional to the value.
Technical level
Our task was to improve the experience of the existing back-office dashboard for the hotel asset management app. The app had a very outdated UI and messy design file. In this case, we created the new file using the Ant component library, which closely resembled the app’s existing components. This approach allowed us to maintain focus on UX and save some valuable time.
Lesson learned: Think about how to efficiently solve the project problem. Not a design problem.
Process level
We were in the initial phase of defining an IoT app. The client had a tight budget and deadline, but we needed to do thorough design and usability testing. We decided to rush the design, focus only on happy flows, do rudimentary UI, and skip the design system to test the value proposition early.
Lesson learned: Be flexible, find where the biggest value is, and invest time in that.
How to achieve and nurture this mindset?
- Stay flexible: Adapt to changing circumstances and requirements.
- Be proactive: Anticipate potential problems and propose solutions ahead of time
- Focus on the benefits: Consider the end value of each design decision you make
- Think critically: Don’t follow design process blindly, question and refine them when needed
- Adjust level of detail: Understanding the project scope and goals helps in deciding how much detail to go into
- Communicate transparently: Maintain open, honest communication with the client
- Challenge the client when necessary: Don’t blindly listen to the client, it’s okay to respectfully oppose when their ideas might not align with the project’s goals
- Collaborate effectively: Communicate with your project team, design colleagues and team leads to share insights and align efforts
When making decisions, remember to consider important product aspects. This involves understanding the technical limitations, what the users need from the product, and what goals are required for business success. By thinking about these things, you can make decisions that meet both user and business expectations.