The companies we visited use some key tools and techniques in order to manage their design processes in an effective and consistent manner.
Design methods such as sketching, prototyping, and storyboards are all used throughout the design process to develop and demonstrate the potential of a product or service.
Several of the participating companies’ design processes included the practice of documenting design methods in a central resource. For some, this resource constituted the only formalised element of a design process, whereas for others it was just one key component.
A handful of the companies in the study used the central documentation and communication of design methods as an important part of the design process itself. Consequently, a need had been identified for design methods to be logged and communicated widely within the company.
Often this takes place through an intranet or a methods bank where methods are uploaded by users with descriptions, videos, sketches or flow-charts. Live discussions or blogs can take place around each individual method topic, and users are encouraged to contribute, discuss and exchange experiences.
A few examples of such methods tools include LEGO’s Design Practice and emerging methods bank, Microsoft’s User Experience best practice intranet, and the methods section of Starbucks’ online workflow management tool.
Given the proximity of design and brand in BT, their brand intranet could also be included as an example of a methods tool through which brand guidelines are communicated both internally and to external design agencies.
The capture and re-use of best practice design methods in ‘banks’ or programmes such as these are considered to encourage best practice in design, avoid re-work and improve robustness and efficiency of outputs.
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In some companies, other departments, functions and experts are given equal access to methods resources, and are encouraged to contribute as well. In these instances, the resource is populated by views from across the business and becomes less design-driven.
This makes it more widely relevant, intelligible and current to different functions of the business, such as programmers, developers or user researchers. At Microsoft, software developers, user researchers and designers alike would access and contribute to the internal User Excellence Handbook.
Given that companies such as Microsoft believe that employees across the board – and not just designers – can contribute with innovative ideas and reflections that are valuable to the company’s products and services, this open source mentality makes sense.
The practice of documenting design methods has some key benefits for the company:
- Design methods are fundamental tools for designers and help to illustrate the important ways in which a designer works. Documenting them in a formal tool shows the designer and the company that their work is valuable, appreciated and has tangible outputs.
- Knowledge management and transfer is another driver for documenting design methods, enabling both other designers and non-designers to access a bank of methods and best practice in design or user experience. This is often made possible on a global level, covering a multitude of teams and markets.
- Where methods banks or similar tools are made accessible to external users, the company can benefit from demonstrating its expertise in design and development and willingness to communicate with its users, building the company’s reputation for design.
Design methods help to define the project that will prove a product or service’s business potential and bring it through development and implementation phases. Having a resource that advises on this helps process planning and management.