My approach

Good human-centred design begins with the mindset that we don’t yet know the solution to a challenge. We need to listen, explore, think, experiment, and refine before arriving at the right outcome. Over the past few years, I’ve worked with a variety of design and research methodologies and have created an overview of my favourite approaches and best practices.

Every project is unique, so there is never a set-in-stone design process. The approach should adapt to the time available and focus on delivering the greatest value and insights.

Explore

Every project begins with a strong idea—whether it’s sparked by insights, data, trends, or simply by observing the world around us. Inspiration is everywhere. I use a range of methodologies to unlock meaningful ideas and to immerse myself in people’s mindsets.

Frame

I help focus and shape design challenges by balancing feasibility, viability, and desirability. Every decision is backed by research insights and aligned with business goals, ensuring we tackle the right problems and create meaningful solutions.

Concept

At this stage, design challenges are brought to life visually, making them tangible for team discussion and collaboration. It’s also the space to push boundaries, experiment, and explore bold, creative ways to solve the challenge.

Experiment

We refine the best sketches into low- or high-fidelity prototypes. These prototypes allow us to test and validate the concept with real users, while also providing developers with clear, ready-to-build designs once the concept is finalized.

My best practices

Explore

At the start of a design challenge, I dive into the world of the people I’m designing for. Empathy is at the heart of understanding their problems and uncovering solutions that truly resonate with them. I love immersing myself in different perspectives to spark creative ideas that wouldn’t surface by looking only at my own assumptions.

Some of my favourite methodologies for this exploration include:

  • Contextual inquiries

  • Expert interviews

  • Industry trend forecasting and research

  • Behavioural Analysis

  • Desk Research

  • Mindset analysis


Frame

At this stage, we define and frame our design challenges while identifying the target audience to focus on. The design challenge clarifies the problem we’re trying to solve and helps set a scope that is balanced—neither too narrow nor too broad.

Some of my favourite methodologies for this framing stage include:

  • How might we questions

  • Define the target audience

  • UX canvas and Business Model Canvas

  • 2x2 framework

  • Service Blueprint

  • Customer Journey Mapping

Concept

During concepting and ideation, we generate a variety of solutions for the design challenge. It’s the stage to think boldly and creatively, while staying aligned with the focus defined in the challenge.

Some of my favourite methodologies for sparking ideas and shaping concepts include:

  • The Game of Social Solutions

  • Method Cards

  • Crazy Eight Sketching

  • Rapid Prototyping

  • Storyboarding

Experiment

Human-centred design thrives on iteration. By constantly refining and experimenting, we unlock more ideas, spark creativity, and reach effective solutions faster. I always advocate getting a design or product out into the world as early as possible to gather real user feedback.

Some of my favourite methodologies for experimentation include:

  • Guerilla Testing

  • Clickable Prototypes made with Figma

  • Maze to setup remote test sessions

  • Miro to facilitate remote sessions and to document user data