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01Sense-making stage

Core

Understand the brief — clarify the problem before designing

Most design problems go wrong at the start, not the middle. This card slows you down so your decisions are purposeful rather than reactive.

Clarify · Define · Focus
  1. 01

    Clarify the brief

    You think you understand what's being asked. You probably don't.

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  2. 02

    Define the problem

    Describing what you'll make is not the same as understanding what's wrong.

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  3. 03

    Context and constraints

    Constraints aren't obstacles. They're the brief telling you where to look.

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  4. 04

    Audience

    'Everyone' is not an audience. The more specific you get, the more useful your design becomes.

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  5. 05

    Insight

    An observation tells you what. An insight tells you why. Only one of them is useful.

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  6. 06

    Define success

    If you don't know what success looks like before you start, you'll only recognise it by accident.

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