The most common question people ask as a product designer is “where to start”. Because there are so many steps to do in order to design a product. So, people often got confused. I saw some people design the UI first, then start changing it. Horrible move. Doctors should not write the prescription without asking the patient their problems. Design UI first is the same thing. It will look good. But the think I saw the most that “we are not designers” so there is no need to design first.

The way that I find most effective for me is to divide the project into small sections.

the top 3 sections are:

1. Research
2. Ideation
3. Visualization

And before all that, you need to understand the project first. You have to understand the goal of the project. You also have to figure out the possible outcomes of the project. Only after then you should start your task, where the first thing comes is “Research”.

Speaking of research, there are tons of why to do it. But first you need to find what information you need in order to design a prefect product. And ones you find that out now figure out the process to collect those information’s. Survey and Q&A are the best method to collect user date. Also you need to find out the compotators and their SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats). It will help you to find you SWOT as well.

After having a proper research, you can start working on Ideation. This is a step that will gives you a structural view if the final product.

It can be achieved in many ways. Some of them are:

1. Sketching
2. Storyboard
3. Card Sorting
4. Wireframing
5. Prototyping

After Ideation you will get a clear representation of your final outcome. But you still need to work on the visualization in order to make the product attractive. Now you need to design the branding, style guide, icons and typography. Which together will make an awesome product.