IDEATION PROCESS
I'm often asked about my ideation process, so I came up with the below wheel of steps I take to form my design decisions. I have found that this process applies to any big or small design build.
STRATEGY
Red stop, proceed with caution. This is the starting point and where you want to take your time and where you are asking a ton of questions and really getting a good grasp on the who, the what and the why. You need to understand the scope of the concept and how you are going to accomplish the design build to move to the next step in the wheel.
INSPIRATION
This is the phase where you understand the client or customer and are actively researching, starting to problem solve how you are going to achieve your end goal. This is also where you start to conceptualize and find inspiration pieces and are collecting all the information you can find to back up your inspiration ideas. Inspiration may also come from what the competition is not doing and a very good place to start. Sometimes even a list of search phrases and a google image search can also be helpful place to start.
CONCEPT
Concept is an important phase. Scope check! This is the end funnel point to your information and inspiration collection. You are actively defining what you are going to design in this phase. You might start to sketch a concept or test concepts at this point to see if it's something that you can accomplish well.
DESIGN
Green light go. At this point you should have all the information you need to accomplish a great design or two or three. This phase is where you are actively problem solving and are exploring creative options, achieving results and sharing them. There is always a level of communication here, as seldom a design is achieved by one person. Learning to collaborate well with other is a vital part of being a great designer along with awesome skills and esthetics.
BACK TO STRATEGY
Sometimes the design falls flat no matter how well we think we understand. Ever had your designs rejected? Of course, it's part of being a designer and is part of the process. The solution is the classic phrase "back to the drawing board" to revisit the Strategy phase and making sure once again, that you fully understand who the customer or client is and what they are needing. You will find more solutions or directions there. Then the process wheel continues until an agreement is achieved.