UX ShowHow

My $40M+ (user-centred) product redesign method.

A simple step-by-step approach for product re-design success.

Over a decade ago I led the redesign of the UK’s leading health informatics product which was deeply embedded in hospitals nationwide.

It was a complex product, but the end result was a huge success.

The fundamental steps I took then are the same ones I would take today.

Why?

Because they work so reliably well.

Here are the steps I took:

1. Discovery

- Face-to-face customer interviews (10+)
- Online survey
- Competitor analysis
- Stakeholder, sales team, and account manager interviews
- Regional insights and suggestions from the sales team
- Insights Analysis

2. Collate Findings

- Present recommendations
- Prioritise actions

3. Initial Designs & Testing

- Design user journeys
- Collaborate with tech for a clickable prototype
- Test with customers
- Record usability issues and satisfaction scores

4. Prototype Refinement

- Adjust designs based on feedback
- Update prototype
- Test again, record findings

5. Drive Design Vision through Development

- Create annotated designs
- Guide development through sprints

6. Iterate Until Launch

- Keep refining until ready for launch
- Include occasional customer check-ins along the way

This process, adaptable to any online redesign, contributed significantly to a $40M company sale soon after the revitalised product was launched.

It baffles me when redesign projects overlook real user input.

Customer collaboration & co-creation is your reliable key to success.

Don't relaunch without it.

During my years in UX & product design, this has been an ongoing debate.

1. Should we invest in up-front research before we kick off a design/re-design initiative?

vs

2. Should we just dive in & adapt as we go (after all we already have a good idea of what our customers want)?

No. 1 aligns itself to a more user-centered approach whilst the 2nd approach leans towards a more agile development approach.

Often it boils down to which process is currently in vogue within a given organisation.

Whilst opinions vary, the process that reliably brings better results may not be so fickle.

And after leading the design effort for quite a few projects, I feel that there is no contest.

Whilst I agree that a healthy process factors in adaption & pivoting along the way.

(Warning, strong opinion coming up).

I’d go so far as to say that for a lot of projects, 'just getting started' without some form of discovery phase, can be a reckless move (even if budgets & timelines are tight).

Why do I say that?

Because if you don’t ‘do your homework’ as we say in the UK (i.e. if you don't find out the pertinent facts upfront) you are disadvantaged in the following ways:

1️⃣ Less clarity on what your audience actually needs (vs what we 'think' they need).

2️⃣ Less ability to prioritise features based on pain/opportunity.

3️⃣ Less understanding of how your target audience would prefer to consume your solution.

4️⃣ Less ability to plan a robust long-term roadmap.

5️⃣ Less/no prospective users that you can collaborate & co-create with through to successful launch.

6️⃣ Less ability to defend design choices & address stakeholder pushback.

7️⃣ Less ability to cement stakeholder support for the long term.

8️⃣ Less ability for your design lead to form a strong design vision based on high-impact insights.

9️⃣ Less clarity of what your competitors are offering & what your customers like about those solutions.

🔟 Much greater chance that you will either create the wrong solution or create the right solution in the wrong way.

This list could go on.

Ultimately, without some degree of upfront research, you set your product initiative on a course without a reliable map.

This increases the chances of straying into hostile waters, wasting precious time, & ending up with a less satisfactory result.

But what about the other side of the argument, just start building & adapting as you go?

My view is that this approach can be summarised well by one of Client Eastwood's most classic lines:

"..you've got to ask yourself one question: Do I feel lucky?"

If you do, just dive in without a map.

Good luck when you hit your first set of rocks.

If so, I'll be ready and waiting to throw you a life jacket.