With a well-defined problem and a clear understanding of the target user, UX designers move on to the third step of the design thinking process: Ideate. As Uijun Park explains in his book “Introduction to Design Thinking for UX Beginners,” the Ideate phase is all about generating a wide range of potential solutions to the problem identified in the Define stage.
The key to successful ideation is encouraging diverse and creative thinking. Park emphasizes the importance of involving team members from various disciplines, such as developers, marketers, and product managers, in the brainstorming process. By bringing together different perspectives and expertise, teams can generate more innovative and comprehensive solutions.
To facilitate effective ideation, Park suggests several techniques, including:
- Brainwriting: Participants write down their ideas on paper or post-it notes within a set time frame and then share them with the group. This approach ensures that everyone, including introverts, has an opportunity to contribute.
- Competitive Case Demo: Team members research and present real-world examples of how other companies or products have solved similar problems, sparking discussion and inspiring new ideas.
- Sketch Workshop: Using methods like “Crazy 8s,” participants rapidly sketch eight distinct ideas in eight minutes, prioritizing quantity over quality to push creative boundaries.
Once a wide range of ideas has been generated, the next step is to narrow them down and select the most promising ones to pursue. Park advises considering factors such as feasibility, impact on users, and alignment with business goals when prioritizing ideas. Dot voting, where team members distribute a limited number of votes among the ideas, is a popular method for collaborative decision-making.
Continuing the shoe-shopping app case study, the UX designer and their team generate several ideas to address the problem of limited product photos on the detail page. These ideas include adding a 360-degree video of the shoe, implementing augmented reality try-on, and creating a photo gallery. After evaluating the ideas based on feasibility and impact, the team selects the photo gallery concept to prototype and test.
Park also addresses a common concern among UX designers: the need to generate entirely original ideas. He argues that striving for complete originality is not always necessary, as many successful products build upon existing concepts and best practices. Instead, he encourages designers to focus on creating value for users by solving their problems effectively, even if that means adapting or refining existing ideas.
By the end of the Ideate phase, UX designers should have a shortlist of promising solutions to explore further. The next step is to bring these ideas to life through prototyping, which allows designers to test and refine their concepts before investing significant resources in development.
In the upcoming section, we will dive into Step 4: Prototype, where designers create tangible representations of their ideas to gather feedback and iterate on their designs. Get ready to see your ideas take shape!