The second phase of the product-development life cycle is designing.
- And it's in this phase that we aim to determine a feasible solution to the problem that we identified in step one.
- Here, product managers primarily work with the design team, but will also incorporate feedback and collaboration from engineering as well.
- Contrary to popular belief, design doesn't just mean what the solution looks like. It's not only about appearance. Design also involves aspects like information architecture, in what order are things presented to the user, wire frames, where should the information live on the screen, as well as pixels. How does it look?
Design also involves aspects like information architecture, in what order are things presented to the user
- It's uncommon to find a designer who's an expert on every one of these aspects, and as a product manager you'll be working with a design team typically rather than just one designer to figure out how the product should function and look.
- If possible, you'll want the design team to produce prototypes of the solution that can be tested with customers to validate the design.
- These prototypes could be print outs that you swap in front of a customer with clicks, they could be clickable mock-ups working with fake data, or other elements to give a representation of the solution without going through the cost and expense of actually building it.
- The design phase is complete when you've validated the prototype as a suitable solution, when engineering has agreed to the viability of the solution, and when you've defined the look and feel of the solution that all stakeholders have agreed to.
