Designer
The Designers Role
The Designer focuses on creating user-centric solutions that are functional, usable and visually appealing. Designers employ a variety of methods to design experiments to evaluate the effectiveness of the solutions they are building. But the role of a designer goes beyond just designing features; it involves active participation in the entire product lifecycle, from ideation through to delivery and iteration, based on user feedback and product performance.
Product Risk
The designer has a core responsibility for validating the Usability risk - can customers use this product to solve their problems? However, they are also accountable for, and provide input into, the other core risks: Desirability risk, Third-party incentive risks, `Feasibility risk, and Viability risk.
Key Responsibilities
Generating Solutions: Engaging in brainstorming sessions and workshops to generate a wide range of ideas and solutions that address identified user needs and product objectives.
Prioritising Solutions: Comparing and contrasting potential solutions to rank and select the most promising solutions for further development.
Identifying Assumptions: Listing out the underlying assumptions behind proposed solutions, based on the dimensions of desirability, usability, viability and feasibility.
Prioritising Assumptions: Determining which assumptions are most critical to the success of the solutions and should be tested first.
Designing Experiments: Developing structured tests and experiments to validate the key assumptions and learn more about the users' behaviours and needs.
Running Experiments: Assessing the outcomes of experiments and prototype tests to make informed decisions about which solutions to pursue or iterate upon.
Collaborating with Cross-Functional Teams: Working continuously with the other Stream Team members to ensure that user insights are integrated into the product development process.
Key Artifacts Produced
Unvalidated Solutions: A comprehensive list of potential solutions generated before validation, aimed at addressing the identified needs and objectives.
Assumptions: A detailed list of the assumptions underlying each proposed solution, which are critical to its success and need to be tested.
Experiment Plan: Documented strategies for testing the assumptions and viability of solutions, including methodologies, variables, and expected outcomes.
Prototypes: Interactive or static models of solutions created to explore, test, and validate ideas with users and stakeholders.
Validated Assumptions: Analyses and findings from conducted experiments, providing insights into the effectiveness and feasibility of the proposed solutions.
Invalidated Assumptions: Clarity on the solutions that were tested and did not meet the desired outcomes, helping to refine the design direction.
Why a dedicated designer?
A common misconception is that the designer's role is to make things look pretty. However, the designer's role is much more than that. The designer is responsible for ensuring that the solutions being developed are functional and usable. This involves a deep understanding of the underlying problems, the ability to create innovative solutions and the skills to create quick prototypes to test and validate the solutions. When effectiveness is a key goal a dedicated designer is a critical part of the team.