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Design is not a formula, it’s an odyssey: replacing the Double Diamond

Double-Diamond and Design Thinking are inaccurate. There’s a better way to think about process.

Ryan Ford
UX Collective

Much has been written about the practice of Design, largely in service to the idea that it’s a process.

Many books have been written about the subject, for example, each spending multiple chapters elucidating to the reader via tales of well-planned structures that help Design run like clockwork. “This is the way the Design process was meant to work,” they’ll say.

Meanwhile, Medium itself is a haven for “Design Process” articles, listicles, and opinion pieces. Any person who’s been in the industry of Design for a few years will no doubt have been asked to adhere to some Process that’s been informed by a viral Medium post shared by Kevin Rose. “This is the way the Design process was meant to work,” they’ll say.

Here’s the truth of the matter, from somebody who has been doing Design for well over 25 years: Design is not a Process, it’s an Odyssey. It is not a rigid structure with steps to follow, but a path you discover along the way with dangers, villains, and wisdom to be gained, and you often wind up right back where you started.

Allow me to explain.

Double Diamond, Design Thinking, and the Illusion of Structure

Responses (66)

What are your thoughts?

Large resolution version of the Design Odyssey image available here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/12RDHrpqQePZ-GTbEPca6cL7NgLHSvSPN/view?usp=sharing

Hey Ryan, I really don't understand why your model is better and different than what you're criticzing...
First of all, you bring a wrong perspective on DT and DB, saying it's a linear process, and if you have a better look on both they don't say…

I’m not sure calling the double diamond and design thinking ‘nonsense’ is necessary? Almost everything we do as designers is a reinterpretation or an adaption of something or someone prior. We stand on the shoulders of giants as the saying goes…