Define

The Define stage should be thought of as a filter where the review, selection and discarding of ideas takes place. This is where findings from the Discover stage are analysed, defined and refined as problems, and ideas for solutions are pitched and prototyped

During our in-depth study of the design process in eleven global brands, we found that Microsoft call this the Ideate phase, Starbucks have named it Downtown and Whirlpool refer to it as Synthesis.

During the initial Discover stage of the design process, the design team and its partners must keep a broad perspective and open mind in order to identify a problem - a user need or an opportunity that needs to be addressed and channelled into a design-led product or service development process.

At the Define stage, a combination of the ideas or directions identified during the Discover stage are analysed and synthesised into a brief with actionable tasks related to new and existing product or service development.

The Define stage ends with a clear definition of the problem(s) and a plan for how to address this through a design-led product or service. In practice, the Define stage ends in a project go-ahead through corporate level sign-off.

Key activities during the Define stage are:

• The generation of initial ideas and project development
• Ongoing project management
• Corporate objectives agreed and project sign-off.

At most of the companies we visited, the Define stage would end with final sign-off of the concept and approval of work to begin on design and development. In some companies, much of the actual designing has effectively been frozen until the match between the concept and the overall corporate objectives that it will be aligned to and measured against have been agreed. Here, strategic dialogue takes place up front, and potential bottle necks, opportunities and no-go areas are defined ahead of the concept approval. In this way, the development of the design project gets as far as possible without impacting negatively on finance, time and resources.

It is worth mentioning at this stage that the companies we visited as part of the study place particular emphasis on the Discover and Define stages of the design process, which no doubt contributes to the overall success of their design and design processes.