Product Design Articles
Why We Critique: How to Make Peace with Your Fear of Design Critique
Designers, no matter their practice, have gone through some form of design critique in the past. Someone had to critically point out how the work needed to improve during the educational years. University programs are specifically structured with formal critiques in their curriculum; these help students get critical feedback to expand their thinking and learn […]
Types of Design Research: 8 Ways to Get to Know Your Users
Research is a critical step in the product development process. It ensures we’re solving the right problems for users and finding the right, viable product opportunity for a business. Understanding the humans who will use the product and the business’s investing needs is critical to a successful product outcome. And it will come as no surprise […]
Design Configuration Management: The Awesome Best Practice You Didn’t Know You Needed
We’ve had a design practice at SEP for over a decade but didn’t have an official Design Configuration Management (DCM) process until recently. For most of that time, we’ve been a pretty small group of designers who typically had their hands full doing good work for our clients. Historically, designers on a project would hit […]
Systems Thinking: Chaos or Clarity? Improve Your Product Design
Exploring the Power of Systems Thinking in Product Design Ever notice how every new project feels like navigating uncharted territory? In many ways, it is. Product design means working within a web of relationships where every decision creates ripple effects, both visible and hidden. To make sense of that complexity, we rely on a powerful […]
UX Writing Best Practices: 8 Principles to Improve Your Product Design
User experience (UX) writing is an often overlooked, but extremely important aspect of any digital product or service. It involves the deliberate use of words and language to guide users through a User Interface (UI), helping them achieve their goals while also providing them with a frictionless and even an enjoyable experience. No matter what […]
Don’t Underestimate the Power of Good UX Writing in Product Design
As a Senior User Experience (UX) Designer, I’m often biased toward products that look good and function seamlessly. But the words that appear within those beautiful and functional designs are just as important in helping users navigate and interact with a product. This important component of my job is known as UX writing. Full disclosure: […]
How Interaction Design Changes Our World, One Interaction at a Time
I walk into the kitchen for coffee, and my Google Home says, “Good morning!” My schedule for the day pops up on the screen. The assistant tells me how long it will take to get to work now that I have started driving my son to school. In the car, the map and arrival estimates […]
Planning Features with Opportunity Solution Trees
New software projects often come with a long list of potential features. How do you evaluate these ideas before investing costly resources into development? At SEP, we’ve been mapping potential features with opportunity solution trees. They are a way to visualize the relationships between ideas and their desired outcomes, and to manage the gaps in […]
A Pandemic Isn’t a Reason to Stop Researching (but… It Might Be a Good Reason to Start)
When it comes to doing user research, I’m always going to recommend learning with someone in their own space. Seeing someone use your product in their environment will always add more context to your investigation. Generally, research falls into these categories: exploratory/generative research (looking to understand problems, needs, goals, etc.) evaluative research (benchmarking your understanding, […]
SEP Launches Podcast: BEHIND THE PRODUCT
Carmel, IN, July 15, 2020 — SEP, a software product design and development company has launched a new podcast. Behind the Product, a podcast that takes a behind the scenes look at how software products are made. “I wanted to start this podcast because I saw so much happening inside and outside our walls that […]
3 Tools to Develop Your Agile Product Strategy
I recently had the opportunity to attend a webinar on agile product strategy given by our Director of Innovation, Chris Shinkle. Here are three tools I took away from the presentation that you can use to develop an agile product strategy that works. The Problem Do any of these situations sound familiar? Your product strategy […]
What is a Design System?
Many of us working in the tech space have undoubtedly encountered challenges communicating with members of our product teams. More specifically, there seems to be a disconnect between designers and developers. However, effective communication within these spaces is crucial to building excellent quality products for clients. A design system can help with this pain and […]