Design without process, or the form factor trap

When problems are really tough, we need to get drawing. We draw to see what we think, in order to evaluate those ideas.

how we frame our discovery work to ensure alignment and to identify key risks.

When I’ve seen designers ask for sign-off for this type of work without something visual to support it, they always end up frustrated when the client changes their mind after seeing the ideas represented in a more tangible form.

I suggest you never present things like this as standalone design work—only present how they affect a person doing a thing

The very act of creating a prototype often exposes problems that cause you to change your mind.

And few of these tools are designed to help prototype conceptual forms, which often require more sketching and prototyping than data-driven ones.

Maeda, the teams at IDEO, and many others use visual design to organize and understand information—and to stimulate action. As with the old adage “out of sight, out of mind,” so we learn that right before our eyes, actions thrive.