At Dropsolid, we apply the Design Thinking methodology in four steps:
1. Empathise & define
To offer a user-friendly solution, you first need to get to know and understand your target group, for whom the website or application is primarily intended. Questions such as “Who are they?”, “What do they do?” and “What drives them?” help here. In this first phase, we put ourselves in the shoes of our end user, as it were.
In the first phase, we go through steps such as these:
- Based on a few personas from your target groups, we draw up tailored customer journeys.
- We determine the needs and expectations of the different target groups and stakeholders.
- We draw up a solid value proposition that matches your brand.
- After a thorough analysis, we set the business objectives.
- Based on this, we define clear and realistic KPIs.
2. Ideate
Once the target group and pain points are mapped, the brainstorming process starts. We involve as many team members as possible and come up with a whole range of out-of-the-box solutions. If a later test phase shows that solution A does not deliver the desired user experience, you can easily pick up at this step and work out solution B instead. So together we come up with concrete solutions, in different phases. We draw up a model of your information architecture, alongside wireframes. A professional view on your SEO should not be missing either.
3. Prototype
Our designers create a prototype with the accompanying user interface or UI. The prototype is interactive, focuses on the experience of your users and is in line with your house style.
We then translate the user flows into concrete ‘wireframes’, the blueprint of your website. Here we define things like navigation, the layout of the different pages, components and calls to action. In this step too, the end user is central. The layout of the website is systematically determined by the thinking and needs patterns of your end user.
Once the wireframes are approved, the web design or user interface design starts. This is more than just a ‘lick of paint on top of the wireframes’. The decision whether or not to colour a button red can have big consequences for the conversion on your website. Are your calls to action not clear enough? Then your user gets stuck and is likely to drop off.
To complete this phase, we create an interactive prototype of certain predefined user flows, so they can be tested in the next phase.
4. User testing & iteration
To measure is to know. The best way to find out how your prototype is experienced by the target groups is to actually test it. This is done with structured methods among your target groups, and we keep refining until we've got the most out of it, in terms of both usability and conversion.
- User testing with about five people from the target group.
- Carrying out defined assignments and tasks on the interactive prototype of your website.
- A/B testing, in which different options are tested side by side.
- Heatmaps that show how the user uses the prototype.
- ...
All feedback from the tests helps determine whether specific steps in the process need to be revisited, whether the solution offered is adequate, and whether the needs and expectations of the end user are met.
Evolving with your users is key
It is important to keep evolving with your user. Analyse your visitors on an ongoing basis, explore new developments and adjust your process where needed. An iterative process is therefore key to keep guaranteeing the optimal user experience.
Would you also like to better align your digital experiences with your different visitors and their intent? We'll help you get started.
