Think before you design

If I had an hour to solve a problem, I'd spend 55 minutes thinking about the problem and 5 minutes thinking about solutions. ― Albert Einstein

As a product designer, it’s easy to get caught up in the buzz of our design tools. New features, techniques, and debates over layer names can be endless distractions.

It’s tempting to dive straight into these tools at the start of a project. I get it! I do it too. Open a new file, insert the latest component from the design system, use auto layout, and boom—job done.

But then comes the feedback, comments on files, Slack messages, Jira tasks. We iterate, detach components, create complex auto layouts, and soon enough, the file is a mess.

While sometimes jumping directly into your design tool is fine, consider starting from a different point:

Research

Do you know enough about the problem and who you’re solving for? Can you leverage recent research or need to speak directly with users? Observing users dealing with the problem can be invaluable. If it’s a part of the product you’re looking to improve, have you tried it yourself critically?

Living within the problem to fully understand it is crucial before starting to solve it. This isn’t easy—I know. Workloads are packed, timelines are tight, and scheduling user time takes, well, time.

Content

How will you communicate this to your users? If it’s a complicated flow that needs breaking down, start with a spreadsheet. If it’s a new product needing user onboarding, think about an email campaign.

Writing these things down in a document helps you consider which patterns and components to use.

Patterns

Do you have established patterns within your system? If not, look at how others are doing it. Once you’ve found best practices, introduce them into your system so others can use them, avoiding the creation of similar patterns.

Components

Read your design system docs thoroughly before importing components. These docs contain valuable information that can be lost when components are imported directly. Take the time to understand the system and stay updated with the latest changes.

Spend time considering the correct component to use. It’s not always as simple a decision as it might seem.

Sketch

Grab some paper and sketch it out. It’s the quickest way to validate ideas before diving deeper.

The devil's in the details

A lot of what we do is a remix of what’s been done before. There’s no point in reinventing the wheel. Users appreciate established patterns. What matters is how you communicate with your users, handle errors, ensure your design works across multiple screen sizes, and how efficiently users can complete their tasks.

Take a step back, zoom out, before diving headfirst into your design tool.