My product design process - a walkthrough of the Double Diamond UX Design Process

✨ Join the waitlist for my course on Product Strategy for Designers - cohorts run multiple times a year and space is limited maven.com/femke/product-strat...
I get a lot of questions about my product design process - which honestly differs with each project! Even though there’s no perfect design process, I do use the Double Diamond UX design process as a baseline and toolkit to pull from. Here’s a walkthrough of the Double Diamond UX design process, with frameworks and methodologies you can use at each step in this process.
----------------------------------------------
My channel is powered by Superpeer: www.superpeer.com
//LINKS
Looking for 1:1 mentorship or feedback on your portfolio? Book a session with me on Superpeer: superpeer.com/femke
Looking for a new design job? Browse my job board of fresh product design roles: pallet.xyz/list/femkedesign-j...
//TIMESTAMPS
0:00 - The "perfect" design process
1:24 - The Double Diamond Design Process
3:46 - First diamond
4:24 - Discover (diverging)
5:09 - Define (converging)
6:31 - Second diamond
7:30 - Develop (diverging)
9:39 - Deliver (converging)
11:39 - How this applies in practice
// MORE
Join my community!: www.femke.design/community
Website: www.femke.design
Podcast: www.designlife.fm/
Twitter: / femkesvs
Instagram: / femkedotdesign
My logo animation is done by Austin Saylor: www.austinsaylor.com/
My brand is designed by Black & White studios: www.blackandwhitestudios.nz/
Videos are edited by Molen Audiovisual: / molen.audiovisual
Thumbnails are designed by Flo Wong: www.flowong.com/
//GET STARTED IN UX
Visit this link for a list of curated UX Design resources and tools: www.femke.design/resources

[@kittymancy]

I'm a Senior Product Designer but that doesn't stop me from needing refreshers :D Thank you so much for this! It's grounding and helps me take a step back.

[@femkedesign]

Always be learning!

[@SimplyK1210]

This makes so much sense especially when you use the terms "converging" vs "diverging". Put it into perspective which areas could use more exploration and broader ideas vs. narrowing those ideas down. Thank you for always making great content!

[@femkedesign]

Glad it was helpful!

[@lawrenceulat1243]

Such a great video! Not too long not too short. Covered important points! Thank you for inspiring me on this Saturday afternoon to do some design learnings!!

[@femkedesign]

You are so welcome!

[@mariceldizon9459]

I can’t wait for this! I am currently studying it.

[@kylahsmith3416]

Hi! Love this overview of the DD process; really helpful! As I am looking to streamline some process on my product team, it would be interesting to see how this process may overlap with the Checkpoint process you shared previously. Perhaps a future video? 🙂

[@alexthach2625]

Thanks so much for offering up a primer on this framework Femke! I'm taking on an end-to-end data analytics project as my next portfolio piece and your insights are helping me move along in the design process. It feels quite messy but it seems this is the way to spawn creativity and converge on a solution that will hopefully deliver impact :)

[@femkedesign]

Glad it was helpful! Good luck with your project :)

[@marensvare507]

This was so helpful! You explained everything really well. I’ve never heard of it before but it makes so much sense. Thanks!

[@femkedesign]

Glad it was helpful!

[@user-de7pf9jw1m]

Very simple and clear. Thank You!

[@dianan.4231]

you put this in such a clear and concise way. as the only ux designer for a small company, i always come back to your videos for guidance. thank you so much for sharing!

[@yuchichen6251]

This is how I've been thinking about my design process but never found a way to articulate it so clearly and structural. Very informative Femke, thanks.

[@mohdhisham2494]

Absolutely love this video. Thanks Fem

[@eusoumateusrocha]

This is incredible. Thanks for sharing!

[@verda4474]

Today was my first day in my first ever Product Designer role. This is so helpful and has already reduced my anxiety about doing well in my role.

[@femkedesign]

Congrats on your new role!!!!!

[@verda4474]

@@femkedesign Thank you 🤗 I'll be on your channel a lot for guidance!

[@vineetboyle]

Easily one of the best videos by you and even out there on KZbin explaining the Double Diamond Process. Thank you so much. Is it only me or the video production quality on video is up a notch? Awesome work.

[@femkedesign]

Wow, thank you!

[@kathrynwerner7714]

Femke, this video reinvigorated me so much! I'm a month into the UX job search, and this reminded me why I am so excited about this career path. I appreciate you!

[@femkedesign]

Yay!!!

[@hannahfoxdesign]

Thank you Femke this video was so helpful! Especially having a visual process to follow

[@desertislanddivs]

Super solid walk through of double diamond, very nice! And great advice about it not being a lock step march through. Thank you Femke ^^ Diamonds are foreverrrrr ^^

[@manny1881]

Thank you so much, Femke! As a new sole designer for my org, this was super insightful and thoroughly explained. This helps immensely with establishing a baseline for our design process. I appreciate your amazing work!

[@DamaHuerta]

Excited for this! I have an interview next week and the company uses the double diamond process so this will help lots!!

[@SkoxLy]

Good luck! 🤞😄

[@cappuccinipaolo]

Nice! Very clear and informative!

[@KaidyCamille]

Thanks for this video! I'm new to this concept but you explained it so well that this will now be my go to approach when doing my UX research👏🏿👍🏿

[@femkedesign]

So glad to hear so!

[@yaowu8634]

This is really helpful! Thank you so much 😊

[@mansijainmds]

Beautifully quoted! Made things so much easy to understand! Thanks!

[@femkedesign]

Glad it was helpful!

[@erfanlotfi-digitalproductd3965]

Thank you so much for this!

[@pixeldada]

Understand, Research, Analyse, Design + Prototyping & User testing

[@rafallo]

That is really one of the best double diamonds explanations, thanks!

[@femkedesign]

Sweet so glad to hear it Rafal!

[@Pankhuri910]

This video is great and very helpful!

[@abiodunomonijo]

Thank you so much! I just came in touch with this methodology last Sunday.

[@femkedesign]

You're welcome!

[@kyleconrad2850]

You're awesome. Helped me so much in understanding how to have a process. And was very clear and practical. Thanks Femke!

[@femkedesign]

You’re welcome Kyle!

[@guilhermeacardozo]

The better overview of double diamond I hear so far.

[@TheRandomChinwe]

Thanks, we use DD at my firm and I am still trying to wrap my head around this.

[@katarzynasworek5583]

Your explanation was excellent! Now, the concept is more clear. Thank you for sharing your knowledge :).

[@femkedesign]

Glad it was helpful!

[@crystaldavenport1611]

Great video! I like the structure of the Double Diamond design process and that a designer can use it as it best serves to communicate important info and design status to the team, the stakeholders, and my manager. Also, I didn't understand previously the converging and diverging focus of the process. For me, I use competitive analysis a lot as a kind of shortcut. My design work is always in context and I can easily contrast the most important feature or design.

[@1believeicanfly]

Thank you for your explaining of complicated topics in simple and comprehensive manner.

[@femkedesign]

You are welcome!

[@lachocolatada]

I'm a newbie transitioning to UI from the illustration-art world, and I must say this opened my mind! I didn't know this toolset, I'm self-taught designer and loved all the insights and points to take into account when taking this approach. Thanks a lot, super clear and helpful. I already have a case study in mind for my portfolio and would totally apply some of these steps to explain it. :) Cheers from Spain!

[@laisramos2317]

Hey! This video was very important for me, because I'm starting to study ux design, I often feel lost in the midst of so much information and rules, where to go, how to do it, how to structure... It's so good to know that this process can - and should - be very free for creation and critical thinking. So I feel much more confident, thank you for showing this in a very didactic and practical way that is easy to understand

[@femkedesign]

You're welcome Lais! So glad to hear that. Good luck with your studies!

[@Farrahyousefi]

such a veryyyyy and highly professional and helpful video! you are the best femke!

[@femkedesign]

Thank you so much!!

[@janoca]

One of the best videos about the subject in all KZbin! *And the portuguese subtitles are perfect. Thank you for adding them.

[@femkedesign]

YAY i'm so glad to hear that!

[@davidbieschke9345]

Love this!

[@Arshad0310]

femke, you rock!

[@raemaz5794]

This is such a rich material! Thanks for it, i'm doing a workshop for interns and this helps A LOT!

[@femkedesign]

You're very welcome!

[@aaronpaulgz]

Thanks for the great content, Femke!

[@femkedesign]

You're welcome!

[@leonyeap2615]

Thanks Femke, absorbed this on a deeper level after your video.

[@femkedesign]

Cheers Leon!

[@sprintwithcarlos]

This video is so awesome! You managed to explain the process in a concise yet complete way. I'm taking the UX Google Certificate and you are way better. Thank you very much🙏🙏🙏

[@femkedesign]

Aw thank you Carlos! Hope the certificate is going well!

[@kotreshdeshagati9026]

Your DD Process explanation made more easily understandable

[@JorgeGirao]

Cristal clear, great explanation.

[@femkedesign]

Glad it was helpful!

[@chrislynchdesign]

A really good summary. Thanks

[@femkedesign]

Very welcome!

[@rubbelbubble]

Hi! Thank you so much for making this video. The way you list down the methodology you use and give short explanation is really enjoyable for me 😆 I'll look for your other videos. And would you mind if you make a video about design documentation? I'll just learning about UX about couple months. Find your video like this and listen to you sounds very fun to learn hihiii. Have a nice day!✨

[@femkedesign]

Yeah! I have an oldie but a goodie here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/b6Gwpqiwe6hjfKc

[@matiascallegaro7271]

Thanks for sharing this content! It was so helpful

[@femkedesign]

Glad it was helpful!

[@des7638]

Amazing. Thank you

[@harshaljadhav3849]

You're awesome, Femke! Your explanations are so clear and easy to understand. I'm totally hooked on your channel and can't wait to dive into more videos for my UX design journey.

[@femkedesign]

Thanks so much!

[@king_m]

Thanks Femke!

[@khushbudas4736]

I thought that this topic will be very complicated but u made it so simple to understand thank you so much 😍❤

[@femkedesign]

You're welcome 😊

[@growwithdesign]

Good learnings shared. Thanks Femke!

[@femkedesign]

Glad it was helpful!

[@valentineosaji7740]

Thank you so much, this was really helpful.

[@femkedesign]

Glad it was helpful!

[@divyanshpandey9140]

Awesome awesome explanation femke 😍

[@femkedesign]

Thanks 🤗

[@emmapotter2333]

Great video, it is very helpful!

[@femkedesign]

Glad it was helpful!

[@MrMeLeGe]

I really like watching your content, Keep up!

[@femkedesign]

Glad you enjoy it!

[@greg7371]

I've done the (exctly) same mapping using the double diamond as an introduction to newcomers in our company, I so glad to see that we have the same vision of that process. (I've read a lot different way to interpret it.)

[@fahadsohail3778]

Very well explained.

[@femkedesign]

Thanks Fahad :)

[@tashamac29]

Thank you sooooo much! :)

[@teresmajor7956]

Thanks for this wonderful insight Femke. As a Senior Product Designer, my main frustration on following a complete design process is that, most of these steps are skipped because user stories are written between PMs, POs (or leadership team!) and my discovery phase mostly revolves around validating those stories instead of creating them. I am struggling to apply this process to existing projects / teams. That's why I can see how it can work with an MVP or a new Product, but I'm trying to find out how I can apply this process without discarding any previously done and agreed scope, story etc. Would that be something you'd discuss in mentorship sessions? Thanks!

[@anetalandova6135]

Awesome!!! Thank you for such a high quality content ❤️ im subscribing...

[@femkedesign]

Thanks for subbing!

[@yingyho4]

Hi Femke, I've been a follower of your KZbin channel from the very beginning, and I genuinely miss seeing your new content there. I understand that you're currently prioritizing community engagement, courses, guest talks etc. I even considered joining your community. However, I truly valued your unique approach to sharing practical and UX knowledge presented in a systematic manner. I hope you can find some time to update your KZbin channel. I believe many, including myself, would be willing to pay for the high-quality content, which might offer a different experience than what's available within the community.

[@eugenesamilyk6131]

Thank you. It's great.

[@femkedesign]

Thank you too!

[@vedsahu6420]

nicely done.

[@femkedesign]

Cheers :)

[@jeffreylee6878]

Thanks for the video

[@femkedesign]

No problem!

[@laszlokelemen]

thanks for the video! I'm curious on your take on 2 things actually: 1) Zendesk's Triple Diamond - What do you think about their approach? 2) Double Diamond in agile? What's your experience, how feasible is it? Thanks :)

[@femkedesign]

Never heard of the triple diamond so no opinions there :) My understand of agile is working in sprints, and the diamond can definitely be broken into sprints.

[@ilagautam1125]

DD is best because it comes from HCD, and to improve it even more, we can merge it with the Design Thinking process.

[@natalyastralenya269]

Thank youu♥

[@femkedesign]

You're welcome 😊

[@jonathanpan2708]

Hi! Love this topic. I have a question: how long does it take typically for this double diamond process from the beginning to the end?

[@femkedesign]

It can take as long as it needs to depending on the size and scope of your project and how much time you need.

[@bradankers]

Thank you

[@femkedesign]

You're welcome KB!

[@ThingaNguyen-du5fg]

HI Femke! always thank you for your great content and advices. I was wondering if you maybe have some advice for me as a solo-designer when it comes to documentation of design decisions without having a design system (yet!). Often, after handing over the designs to the engineer, they realise that some design components are not feasible/can not be done by them - how should I also proceed here? thx a lot in advance!!!

[@mohmdtaj]

Amazing...

[@femkedesign]

Thanks a lot 😊

[@mohmdtaj]

@@femkedesign Thanks for sharing! Please keep update us with your new challenges you face, what strategy you take to over come the challenge. Your Videos really helps!

[@chickpeadraws8193]

Hi! This was super helpful to me when interviewing and explaining my process so just wanted to say thank you for explaining this process in depth :) Second - what software are you using to draw/write on as you talk?

[@femkedesign]

So glad to hear it! I use an ipad Pro with Procreate

[@chickpeadraws8193]

@@femkedesign oh awesome!! Both of which I have so that works out 😊 I was wondering if you had any tips or ways to share procreate for remote whiteboarding challenges on a PC? If not, maybe some other ways to engage in remote whiteboarding?

[@nattelly]

Thank you so much for this detailed video, Femke - it was super helpful for a UXD beginner such as I

[@femkedesign]

I just screen record my ipad :)

[@nattelly]

@@femkedesign Thank you so much for your reply

[@user-qf8ny7pc7f]

Thank you for explaining the double diamond concept in a very clear and simple way. I just wanted to know can we perform usability testing in the delivery phase before hand off to developers and after making hi-fi? because sometimes there are certain functionalities which you want to test out to know how exactly that would perform in the end user's hands.

[@hptavakoli]

Could you please tell me which software you used on your iPad during this video? The UI is really nice and I would like to make use of it

[@femkedesign]

Hey! You don't see any of the UI in this video, but I was using procreate

[@renealbrechtsen9743]

I would have loved to see this with examples. Otherwise a great video about the topic. :)

[@ThePapadopalas]

Thank you for the video! Would be helpful to have some real life examples, as of now it’s quite theoretical, and you can get the same info from articles (that you showed at the beginning).

[@femkedesign]

Case studies(!) are real life examples of this in practice. Here's one for inspiration: joelcalifa.com/work/digitalocean-onboarding/

[@naynadave8796]

Hey Femke thank you for your video, this is really helpful, i am just wondering what is the difference between Double Diamond and Design Thinking, i got confused my self between this two.

[@femkedesign]

Hey! From my understanding the DD is a design process framework. Design thinking is less of a framework but more philosophy and can be applied to frameworks.

[@SkoxLy]

+1 to Femke! You can also say that DD is basically just one way to explain the idea of Design Thinking, in an understandable way. You've probably seen other images with google images - e.g. circles, 4 to 6 of them 😅 These also just explain the Design Thinking approach - the DD is just one of the most famous. Maybe also because it has this cool name 😬 So you acutally cannot compare these two things, they belong together

[@sehanhasan]

Which courses should I consider taking to get a solid foundation on UX (personas, usability testing, market research, etc) Please advise? Thanks!

[@femkedesign]

I haven't taken any so can't speak from personal experience! But I have heard good things about the Google UX Certificate.

[@printempo202]

Hi Femke, thanks for the video. It's very helpful. I've seen Design 101, as I'd like to take UX course of you, but I don't think there it is. Do you have it?

[@femkedesign]

Hey Daisy - i don't have a course but you can browse courses I recommend here: www.femke.design/resources

[@vincychen1114]

Hi one question I have is： how does this process fit into Agile? Any practical advice? Shall we implement this process into every user story? Look forward to hear from you soon thanks.

[@femkedesign]

I feel like it would be cumbersome to look at this from the lens of user story > double diamond. I think of double diamond as the overall arching process, and then within it there are user stories. Hope that helps!

[@andres-digitalmarketing5433]

Cool

[@jomoncj8129]

Is there any part where we have to choose perfect place/country to start a ux career? I'm a animator and I'm planning to take a graduate certificate on product design from canada. Could use some tips and guidelines.

[@femkedesign]

You can become a designer from anywhere! No perfect place, I'd encourage you to focus on what's best for you.

[@shirazigs]

You are amazing! How about making a tutorial or tutorials start to finish a few real projects in the real world?

[@femkedesign]

I would love to! Though can’t share my work publicly in that way. I do have a video walking through a case study, feel free to check that out!

[@swastikjainsj]

Just i switch 360px to 1080px and i saw urs eyes 👀 r brown 👌 and tq for that 💎💎

[@DaveRino]

"Delivery" is usually a term to describe the building phase.

[@femkedesign]

Usually ;)

[@FelipeRosasDesign]

To be honest, I didn't quite understand the double diamond until now. Thanks, Femke for the video!. I'm just starting with my youtube channel (but in Spanish) it will be awesome if you can take a look... why not a collaboration? haha let me know what do you think. Awesome content

[@femkedesign]

Congratulations on starting a KZbin channel! I'm sure the Spanish community will appreciate it :)

[@PatrikGustafsson]

Do you see any use for this if the ux designer is part of a product team that refine the goals together with other developers and designers? What would you change? As this seams like introucing developers pretty late. I am curious how it could be for a team that design and deliver together. Thanks for sharing

[@femkedesign]

Yes! Perhaps I wasn't clear enough that engineering is presenting throughout the entire end to end process. There's also a parallel engineering process that is overlaid on top of this, but I don't feel I have the expertise to teach.

[@crissyrichy]

Hi! What is the time frame to completing this process?

[@femkedesign]

Totally dependent on the project :)

[@benryan3655]

Hi, what monitor are you using?

[@femkedesign]

Samsung space monitor :)

[@user-vi7hh5px1g]

this is beautiful...love you sweetheart😘

[@bisiyahaya350]

How can I use DD for an existing product?

[@femkedesign]

Start introducing it in your next project :)

[@musfirahnadeem2105]

How do I get design reviews from team members when I am doing a solo project for experience? Should I skip that part? It's my first-ever UX project.

[@femkedesign]

Is there a way you could get feedback from peers in the design community?

[@juliavelikanova5863]

The first diamond is: Design the right thing, and the second one - Design the thing right. 😎

[@ali20132]

My lead told me about the same process. but asks for the first design drafts in two days. Is it normal?

[@SkoxLy]

Haha no, it is definitely not normal! Your lead doesn't seem to be a UX expert. You could work like in a Google Design Sprint, (which has the double diamond concept behind it), but even this would take 4-5 days

[@femkedesign]

+1 to Skox! I'd talk to your lead to try to understand better the deadlines and milestones of the project and work backwards from there about when certain things should be due for review.

[@ali20132]

@@femkedesign Its been a while since I commented this. I am working my way to make a design process atleast at my end. My team is mostly UI focused. I am gradually moving them to the UX process by showing them my results.

[@joestenning1585]

I know this is the most basic part of the double diamond design framework but I struggle to know if im exploring the right problem. Could anyone explain how you start the problem exploration step, like where do you start and how to do you find the right problems? I might be over complicating the step and making it hard for myself but I wondered if anyone could give a desciption of how to do this step that makes the most sence. If anyone can help that would be much appricated? I know a key component is talking to users, I dont have an issue with this section im talking more about the inital start of the project before we define the user to start asking questions? do you just choose an industry and then ask people about this area in their life to find problems to fix?

[@leonsampaio]

Thanks for the Portuguese subs