How to Design the Perfect Product

Think of a product you use regularly that’s perfect - or as close as you can get to perfect. It does exactly what you expect it will. The way you interface with it is designed in such a way that you don’t even notice it.

How did they design that product? How do I design something that perfect? That’s what I hope you’re asking yourself.

Last weekend I got to take part in an hour and a half session put on by the Stanford Design School (commonly called the d.school). In the session each pair of participants designed the ideal wallet for the person sitting across from them. After a series of interviews where we learned more about our partner’s values, lifestyle, habits, etc., we began to prototype and redesign the wallet that was sitting in their back pocket or in their purse.

Our goal was to translate stories and feedback into a functional prototype for the other person, to gather more information and eventually construct the perfect product.

This cheat sheet will give you an overview on how to build the perfect product, as tought by the Stanford Design School. While our design seminar focused on wallets, there’s no reason that these tips don’t apply to software design.

Interview your customer

  • Encourage them to tell stories
  • Don’t say “usually” or “normally” when interviewing someone about their habits
  • Limit questions to <10 words
  • No binary questions (yes/no)
  • Ask “Why?” a lot
  • Gain empathy from your interviewee
  • Look for inconsistencies in what they tell you
  • Explore non-verbal communication and body language
  • Don’t suggest answers
  • Use silence to your advantage; makes people uncomfortable

As you interview, think about the product you’re designing for the customer and how they would use it. Does it solve a problem in their life?

This is a multi-step process. Short interviews are beneficial, capture the data, make guesses, draw conclusions and interview again.

Reframe their problem

  • Define (using verbs) what they’re trying to do with the thing you’re designing
  • Draw insights from their feelings and from their non-verbal communication 
  • Figure out what they need, not what they want

Put their problem in words that they haven’t used to see if you can draw more information out of them. Align your thoughts and their response to see if your ideas are on the right path.

Create and define a Problem Statement

This will guide you in prototyping as you design the features of the product to fit the needs of the eventual user.

Example: {Name} is a {Descriptor(s) about the person}, who needs a way to {need} because {insight}.

Mine from last week: ”Max, a fast-moving New Yorker, needs a way to move faster because he feels rushed, embarrassed, like a packhorse.” (Max’s lifestyle was fast-paced and his bulky wallet often left him fumbling with money while other people gave him grief for moving slowly).

Generate alternatives

Choose new radical ways to solve the person’s problem and glean insights from their feedback. These new options should be outlandish, creative and possible unfeasible. Go crazy. Get feedback from these new options for the product. Be open.

Reflect

Think back to the beginning. Does the idea that you’ve generated from all of the insight still make sense? Does the user understand it and its use cases? 

Prototype it

Take some materials and make the thing. Put it in the user’s hands and get feedback. Iterate and repeat.

Nothing that you use, nothing that you love was generated without thoughtful feedback from its intended user base. Product design takes time; it takes iteration; it takes brutal attention to detail.

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