Open Design Kit

Process
Designing in the open means sharing with the right people at the right time – early and often. While this is a process, it’s more of a guiding framework because design is both nonlinear and iterative.

Discovery Phase: explore and define the right problem to solve for
 * Explore: The first half of discovery expands outward from the initial inspiration or problem, with research into stakeholder and user goals and needs, and any other relevant information for understanding the problem space, such as usage analytics. The output of the Explore mode is unstructured research findings.
 * Define: The second half of discovery makes sense of the unstructured research findings through diagrams and models to identify themes, challenges, and opportunities. The result is an accurately defined problem that enables stakeholders to converge on a strategy. The output of the Define mode is design synthesis and strategy.

Delivery Phase: make and validate the right solution


 * Make: The first half of delivery is creating multiple solutions of varying fidelity (whether sketches, wireframes, or prototypes) for testing. The output of the Make mode is testable prototypes.
 * Validate: The second half of delivery is testing and iterating on a narrowed-down solution and refining it through implementation. The output of the Validate mode is an implemented solution.