A Guide for UX & Product Designers

Process

"Everyone is a designer. Not everyone is a good designer. Everyone can become a better designer." - Jared Spool

Everyone has design potential and can contribute to better outcomes. Design is a collaborative journey, not confined to one individual’s talent, and feedback from any source enriches the work. The process itself is a tool meant to foster momentum and valuable experiences, navigating challenges to move forward to positive results.

Process includes holistic thinking, considering the user experience beyond ideal scenarios, and valuing progress over perfection. Effective design requires a balanced pace, planning adaptability, and a clear focus on solving the core problem rather than its symptoms. Ultimately, systems, not goals, guide us to our desired outcomes, emphasizing that each step should strengthen the larger framework rather than simply target completion.

• Everyone is a Designer - You can not NOT design
• Trust (Not Only) the Process - Process is a tool, not a rule
• The Obstacle is the Way - Adversity is the opportunity
• Design is a Team Sport - Design thrives on collective effort
• Design Edge In - Consider the whole picture
• Progress over Perfection - Perfect is the enemy of good
• Slow Down to Speed Up - Slow is smooth, smooth is fast
• Completeness of Thought - The last 10-20% can cost the most
• Begin at the End - Work backwards from shipping value
• Show What Can't Be Unseen - Make the invisible visible
• Plans are Useless - Planning is indispensable
• The best solution is found in the best definition of the problem
• Systems Govern, Not Goals - Systems shape the landscape

Strategy

"You have to have a strategy, and you also have to be able to visualize it - one doesn’t go without the other" - Erik Spiekermann

Effective strategy in design begins with embracing the unknown, transforming it from uncertainty into insight. By uncovering unknowns and turning them into knowns through research and collaboration, designers find clarity and opportunity. Equally vital is listening deeply to what isn’t immediately spoken, allowing designers to understand underlying problems. Designers who anticipate unspoken needs and avoid assumptions can make strategic decisions that resonate broadly across teams and stakeholders.

Clear communication is essential for aligning diverse teams. Using straightforward language that avoids loaded terms, fast-forwarding to a vision of the end goal, and planning backwards can create a shared sense of direction. Effective collaboration values feedback as a tool for alignment and embraces co-creation with other functions. Design strategy involves rendering intent at every level, from product screens to the larger organizational vision, and cultivating a shared understanding among collaborators to connect vision with impact.• Uncover Unknowns - Not all unknowns are "unknown"

• Hear What Isn't Being Said - A good designer is a good listener
• Use Language Without Baggage - Solve for people, not problems
• Fast Forward - Then chart the path to get there
• Fly Ahead - Anticipate and adapt
• Collaboration is Co-Creation - Design is a dialogue, not a monlogue
• Feedback is a Gift - Reviews = Alignment
• Flip the Script - Trailer before the movie
• Harness Mental Models - Use cognitive frameworks to reduce bias
• Design is the Rendering of Intent
• Build Shared Understanding - Help others see what you see
• No Strategy Without Envisioning - Strategy and vision are inseparable
• Think Like an Imagineer - Create possibilities

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An essential read with practical strategies to harness AI Assistants to plan and brainstorm user experience and product management activities. By mastering these prompts within the design thinking process, you'll unlock new ways to streamline workflows and generate innovative solutions.

Delivery

"A good designer is a good listener." - Luly Yang

Delivery is understanding, adaptability, and prioritization for effective product development. A deep knowledge of the product and competitor landscape enables teams to identify unique advantages while staying agile in a changing environment. Constraints like time, resources, and system limitations are recognized as helpful boundaries that refine focus, while maps and roadmaps serve as essential guides aligning the team’s efforts. Emphasizing action over motion ensures value delivery to users, and embracing change helps teams stay relevant and future-proof.

Key principles in product delivery include prioritizing clarity, cost awareness, and resilience. Stack-ranked priorities guide decision-making, ensuring features that provide the most impact are shipped, not compromised. Recognizing the exponential cost of each production phase encourages thoughtful planning. Teams are advised to anticipate failures through pre-mortems and use checklists to mitigate common mistakes. Strategic design frameworks foster long-term success, while Gall’s Law underscores the value of evolving effective, simple systems into complex ones, supporting both present-day operations and future vision.• Know the Product - Always be learning the product space

• Identify Constraints - Embracing limitations can focus efforts
• The Map Is the Territory - A map guides the way
• Don't Mistake Activity for Achievement - Value doesn't reach user until product ships
• Accept Change - Humans are bad predicting the future
• Design Isn't the Hard Part - There's more than meets the eye
• Clarity through Prioritization - Cut features, not corners
• Understand Cost Scale of Production - $1 to write / $10 to design / $100 to develop
• Assume It Will Fail - Determine risk vs reward: prevent errors or quickly fix them?
• Use a Checklist - Most errors are mistakes of forgetting
• Design the Framework - Not just one page at a time
• Can't Sacrifice Today or Tomorrow - Vital to function strategically, tactically and operationally
• Gall's Law Governs - All effective complex systems evolve from simpler ones that work

Principles

"UX is user experience NOT 'use your experience'" - Amir Khella

Design with the user’s empowerment and expectations in mind, acknowledging that usability supports user ability. Agile processes should support and streamline work, fostering flexibility rather than rigidity, and enabling design discovery. Mistakes are seen as valuable learning points if they are new, helping refine decision-making and capture lessons for future projects. Experts should remain open to collaboration and diverse perspectives, striving for a balanced approach that considers practical constraints without sacrificing vision.

Future-focused design involves stewardship, prioritizing the transformative 20% that brings the most impact. Simplicity and clarity are essential, as design should aim to clarify rather than overwhelm. Research validates assumptions, allowing for iterative testing and openness to change. Showing work early builds transparency and trust, while design doing reinforces that practical experience trumps theory. Finally, constraints are leveraged as frameworks for innovation, reminding designers that user experience is not about their own preferences but about the user's unique journey.

• Usability is User Ability - Empower the user
• Agile, Not Fragile - Processes should aid, not hinder
• Make New Mistakes - New learnings come from new mistakes, not the same ones
• Experts Open to Change - Walk the middle path
• Protect the Future, Not the Past - Stewardship over ownership
• Focus on the right 20% - Harness the power of the Pareto Principle
• Less is Usually More - Create less confusion and more clarity
• Research Validates Assumptions, Not Ideas - Design research is understanding over endorsement
• Design Is a Hypothesis - One possible answer invites many other questions
• Show Early and Often - Make the work transparent
• Design Doing - There is no substitute for doing something
• Design is Constraints - Turn limits into leverage
• UX is User Experience - Not "use your experience"

About UX Designer Guide

“Never mistake activity for achievement.” – John Wooden

Designers are often looking for more real-world application of craft, increased confidence in career growth and to reduce the frustration of practically applying learned knowledge.

Businesses want that too - in the form of efficient scaling, consistency in practices and knowledge sharing.

UX Designer Guide is practical UX and Product Designer insights for how to work, deliver and navigate the realities in the everyday craft of design.

Process is a set of tools, not rules.

UX Designer Guide is another UX How Tool from Method Toolkit LLC.

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UX How is a set of UX & Product Design “How To” sites with insights, resources, and blueprints for Design, UX and AI.

T. Parke is the Director of UX How with prior experience at ESPN, Disney, and Alaska Airlines. He has previously been a design leader on projects for Rolling Stone, Microsoft, Nickelodeon, and Marvel.

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