Ideating Design Solutions

Course 2 – Start the UX Design Process: Empathize, Define, And Ideate

Week 4: Ideating Design Solutions

GOOGLE UX DESIGN PROFESSIONAL CERTIFICATE

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TABLE OF CONTENT

Ideating Design Solutions INTRODUCTION

In Ideating Design Solutions, the third module of Coursera’s Google UX Design Professional Certificate Program, you’ll be guided through the ideation process to generate design solutions. You will begin by conducting a competitive audit to research other existing designs and identify best practices. Then, you can use this information as inspiration for your own ideas. Additionally, you’ll complete design activities such as How Might We and Crazy Eights that are designed to help spark creativity and drive ideation.

Finally, once you have generated a list of potential design solutions, you’ll review them with your team to select the most promising ones that can be tested with users or prototypes.

Learning Objectives

  • Explain design ideation
  • Discuss benefits of ideation in UX design
  • Explain how to use competitive audits in UX design
  • Create a competitive audit
  • Describe the purpose and benefits of competitive audits in UX design
  • Analyze the limitations to competitive audits
  • Demonstrate how to ideate before choosing one approach
  • Determine when there’s enough data gathered to start designing

TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE ON COMPETITIVE AUDITS

1. A competitive audit would be useful in which of the following scenarios?

  • Team Z is trying to create a product that automatically dispenses facial tissue when a user sneezes. There may be one or two similar products trying to launch on the market.
  • Team X is in the process of developing an original mobile and computer app. The app helps people who are nonverbal or cannot speak and find willing speakers to help them navigate a situation that requires verbal interaction. There are no other apps like it.
  • Team Y is in the process of developing a real estate app. The app allows users to identify available properties on the housing market. There’s a long list of other real estate apps available on mobile and computer platforms. (CORRECT)

Correct: A competitive audit is an overview of a competitor’s strengths and weaknesses. Since there are many other real estate apps available, Team Y should determine how to improve the product to make it distinctive.

2. What are characteristics of a direct competitor? Select all that apply.

  • Extends different products to the same users and end users
  • Focuses on different audiences with similar products
  • Has users and end users that are similar (CORRECT)
  • Offers similar services, products, or features (CORRECT)

Correct: Direct competitors have similar users and end users, and offer similar products, services, or features. For example, if you’re offering a cloud-based storage system, companies that offer a similar product are considered direct competitors.

3. Identify the sequence of steps involved in the ideation process.

  • Brainstorming, documenting the best ideas, focusing on quality, gathering a team of other UX designers, questioning everything, then evaluating the ideas.
  • Keeping mental tabs on ideas, documenting all ideas, focusing on quality, not allowing evaluation, gathering a diverse team, questioning the obvious, then evaluating the ideas.
  • Brainstorming out loud, documenting all ideas, focusing on quantity without allowing evaluation, gathering a diverse team, questioning the obvious, then evaluating the ideas. (CORRECT)
  • Questioning the obvious, documenting all ideas, brainstorming out loud, allowing for critical evaluation, gathering a team of users, then focusing on quality.

Correct: Nice job! The process might vary a bit by team. The ideation process is important in gathering all the necessary information to begin the next step in the UX design process, which is prototyping!

4. What can you learn from a competitive audit?

  • What competitors think about your product
  • How users feel about your product
  • How to create a product everyone will love
  • What competitors do well and what they could improve (CORRECT)

Correct: A competitive audit can help you learn how to improve your product and outperform competitors.

5. Raymond is a parent to an energetic toddler. They want to find an eating ware set that helps avoid messy meal times and has a design that appeals to toddlers. Which of the following is a good example of a How Might We question?

  • How might we design an eating ware set?
  • How might we design an eating ware set for children and toddlers?
  • How might we design an eating ware set for children and toddlers that will keep meal time appealing, comfortable, and mess-free? (CORRECT)
  • How might we design an eating ware set that’s inspired by the latest popular cartoons, helps mitigate messy meals, and has a specially designed suctioning bottom to cling to flat surfaces?

Correct: This is a good example of a How Might We question. It provides the must-have features of a product that will guide a designer in the right direction. It’s not too general or too specific.

6. Why do many designers sketch by hand during the ideation phase? Select all that apply.

  • To replace digital formats
  • To practice illustration
  • To record many ideas (CORRECT)
  • To move through ideas quickly (CORRECT)

Correct: Sketching by hand allows designers to record a variety of ideas in a shorter span of time. For those who sketch by hand, technology can sometimes be inefficient when a designer’s hands want to move faster than their brains.

Correct: Even though digital sketching is possible, sketching by hand allows designers to move through ideas quickly.

7. What tools does a designer need to successfully complete a Crazy Eights exercise? Select all that apply.

  • Hypothesis statement
  • Paper (CORRECT)
  • Problem statement (CORRECT)
  • Drawing or writing tools (CORRECT)
  • Timer (CORRECT)

Correct: In order to successfully complete the Crazy Eights exercise, a designer should have paper handy, such as printer paper.

Correct: In order to inspire sketch ideas that address a design problem, designers need to refer to a problem statement.

Correct: Drawing or writing tools such as a pen or pencil works well for the Crazy Eights exercise. However, Sharpies are a popular option among designers!

Correct: It’s called the Crazy Eights exercise for a reason! You have to create eight ideas in eight minutes.

8. During the ideation phase, blockers that weren’t considered before may come up. What can designers do to push through them?

  • Consider if there’s enough information to move forward (CORRECT)
  • Continue past the ideation phase without addressing the new blockers
  • Consider a new redesign

Correct: New blockers may come up during the ideation phase. If they do, designers should consider if further research and data collection is needed. In order to create a product that addresses user needs and wants, designers may need more information in order to resolve them.

9. Your UX design team has ideated and come up with a bunch of ideas for the app they will be creating. The team has taken a break and now has come back together to evaluate the ideas. How should the team evaluate the ideas? Select all that apply.

  • Identify if the ideas are interesting, including if they are likely to gain user attention and retention.
  • Identify if the ideas are feasible, including if they are technically feasible to build. (CORRECT)
  • Identify if the ideas are desirable, including if they solve the user problem. (CORRECT)
  • Identify if the ideas are viable, including if they are financially beneficial to the client. (CORRECT)

10. The UX design team has settled on a few ideas that they think are viable for the design. What is the best action the design team should take to decide on the best option for the design solution?

  • Have the client review the ideas and select the one that they like best.
  • Ask users to test the ideas to see which one seems to resonate the most. (CORRECT)
  • Create designs for each solution and identify which one meets the user needs and the scope of work requirements.
  • Have the design team vote to see what the majority likes.

11. As your UX design team is ideating and narrowing down the ideas to viable options, you remind them they need to partner with the client team. Which client teams will your UX design team likely be partnering with?

  • The human resources and ethics teams
  • The security and computer and information technology teams
  • The marketing and branding teams (CORRECT)
  • The leadership and accounting teams

12. Your client has asked you how the UX design team determined the users’ needs that they will address in the design. How should you respond?

  • The user testing results from the initial wireframes provide insight to the UX design team about what the users really want.
  • The business problem and the discussions with the client team inform the UX design team about the users’ needs to address in the design.
  • The empathy maps, personas, user stories, and user journey maps are all research that will help us define the needs that the design will address. (CORRECT)
  • The ideas from the brainstorming sessions provide the direction the UX designers will take to address the users’ needs.

13. Your UX design team is merging the insights from empathy interviews, personas, user stories, and user journey maps to determine a focus for the scope for the app the team will design. What will the team create to help focus the scope for the design?

  • A product map and overview
  • A product goal statement (CORRECT)
  • A product prototype for users to test
  • A product vision statement

14. Your UX design team is struggling to put their goal statement into a logical format. You suggest using a goal statement template. What does this template say?

  • Our product success is measured by predetermined metrics and is based on the actions the users perform, along with how they perceive the tasks to be completed.
  • Our product gives users the ability to perform actions in a certain order, resulting in completion of the given task.
  • Our product will let users perform specific actions which will affect a specific user by an action. We will measure effectiveness by its impact. (CORRECT)
  • Our product metrics are determined by how users are affected by the product, the actions they take within it, and the type of feedback they provide.

15. You have asked your team to conduct a competitive audit during their brainstorming and ideation. Why would they conduct a competitive audit at this stage?

  • So they can offer feedback to the competitors
  • So they can provide industry information to the project stakeholders
  • So they can direct future users to the competitor’s product to determine which product the users enjoy more.
  • So they can learn from others about what has worked and not worked (CORRECT)

16. Your client asks you why the UX design team is spending time conducting a competitive audit. They want to know why it is important to gather that type of research. How should you respond to the client? 

  • Design ideas are more successful if the designers know what the competition has already done.
  • Design ideas are more successful when they can use the competitor’s ideas to work from and improve upon.
  • Design ideas are more successful when they are based on designs that are already proven to work.
  • Design ideas are more successful when there’s a deep understanding of business needs and market gaps. (CORRECT)

17. You are explaining competitive audits to a junior UX designer. They ask how often a competitive audit should be conducted. What should you tell them?

  • Once, at the beginning of the project
  • Once at the beginning of the project and once at the end of the project
  • Once at the end of the project
  • Throughout the project, on a regular basis (CORRECT)

18. The UX design team is ideating. You introduce the exercise, “How might we” to them and tell them it is an exercise that requires teamwork. What should you say to explain this? Select all that apply.

  • “How” suggests that the results from the competitive audit guide the design.
  • “We” suggests a collaborative effort. (CORRECT)
  • “Might” emphasizes that the ideas generated are possible solutions. (CORRECT)
  • “How” suggests that there are no answers yet. (CORRECT)

19. You are leading a UX design team that is tasked with designing a new app. Your team is a mix of experienced UX designers and a few novice UX designers. The team has finished the empathy phase of the design process. Now, it is time for ideation. One of the novice UX designers asks how the ideation process works. How should you respond? Select all that apply.

  • Every idea should be evaluated during ideation to vet the legitimacy of it.
  • The goal of ideation is the quantity of ideas versus the quality of ideas. (CORRECT)
  • All ideas are recorded. (CORRECT)
  • The UX design team will brainstorm ideas out loud. (CORRECT)

20. Your UX design team has narrowed down the ideas from the brainstorming session and has identified several that seem like viable design options. You remind the team to ensure that the ideas are equitable. What does this mean?

  • The ideas for design should be vetted with the client to ensure they meet their needs.
  • The ideas for design should reflect the majority of the UX design team’s preferences.
  • The ideas for design should include ideas for both visual and content design.
  • The ideas for design should work for everyone who will use the app. (CORRECT)

21. Your client has asked you to remind them about the work your UX design team did to get to know the potential users for the app they are designing. You remind them of the first phase in the design process: empathize. What did your team do during this phase to get to know potential users? Select all that apply.

  • They brainstormed with users and collected their ideas.
  • They created user personas. (CORRECT)
  • They constructed empathy maps. (CORRECT)
  • They produced user stories and user journey maps. (CORRECT)

22. During the ideation phase, you ask your team to identify potential competitors and identify their strengths and weaknesses. What is this called?

  • A comparative audit
  • A competitive audit (CORRECT)
  • A team audit
  • A partner audit

23. You are reviewing the next steps in the design process and ask your team to conduct a competitive audit. One of your team members asks you to remind them why they should spend time doing this. How should you respond? Select all that apply.

  • A competitive audit informs the team of the competitor’s backgrounds, their qualifications, and how they came up with the product designs.
  • A competitive audit helps solve usability problems. You can look at the competitor’s products and identify if it is difficult to use or where the problem areas might be, and you can then avoid those issues in your own design. (CORRECT)
  • A competitive audit helps inform your design process by showing you how competitors approached their design. (CORRECT)
  • A competitive audit can inform you of gaps in the market and help you identify needs that the competitors do not meet. (CORRECT)

24. Your UX design team is working on “How might we” phrases during their ideation for the app they are tasked with designing. They ask you for advice on how to phrase the questions. What advice should you give them?

  • The questions should be specific in describing the needs of the user, but broad enough to leave room for solutions. (CORRECT)
  • The questions should be very broad to gain a general understanding of the actions potential users want to take in the design.
  • The questions should be extremely specific and targeted towards actions and outcomes that the team has deemed necessary in the design.
  • The questions should be broad enough to capture ideas, but specific enough to identify which user suggested the action or solution.

25. As your UX design team is working through the ideation phase of the design process, you ask them to make sure they remember the business they are designing for. What considerations should they keep in mind?

  • The business’s space in their field, including where they fit, their competitors, and how they are viewed
  • The business’s internal team, including their project manager, product manager, and designers
  • The business’s size, demographics, and location
  • The business’s voice, tone, and budget (CORRECT)

26. You are recapping the user research you did for your client. They asked about empathy maps and their purpose. What should you tell them?

  • Empathy maps are a series of experiences a user has as they interact with the product.
  • Empathy maps are fictional user profiles that the design team created to represent the goals and characteristics of the potential users.
  • Empathy maps are fictional one-sentence stories told from a fictional user’s point of view to inspire and inform design decisions
  • Empathy maps give insight into the users’ minds and hearts to help us understand their thoughts and feelings in a given situation. (CORRECT)

27. Your UX design team has created the problem statement for the product they will design. The problem statement is based on the user research that was conducted during the empathy phase. What is the next statement they should create to move the process forward?

  • The goal statement (CORRECT)
  • The target statement
  • The intention statement
  • The objective statement

28. You have asked the junior UX designer on the team to do a competitive audit. They are not sure what the team will learn from this audit. What should you tell them? Select all that apply.

  • A competitive audit provides insight into the corporate structure and their design processes.
  • A competitive audit allows you to review the products your competitors offer. (CORRECT)
  • A competitive audit allows you to identify your key competitors. (CORRECT)
  • A competitive audit provides you with an understanding of how your competitors position themselves in the marketplace. (CORRECT)

29. You ask your team to do the “How might we” exercise during their ideation. They are struggling to come up with “How might we” phrases. What tips should you offer your team as they work to come up with “How might we” phrases?  Select all that apply.

  • Focus on the potential pitfalls.
  • Explore the opposite. (CORRECT)
  • Amp up the good. (CORRECT)
  • Break the point of view into pieces. (CORRECT)

30. You are leading a UX design team that is tasked with designing a new app. Your team is a mix of experienced UX designers and a few novice UX designers. The team has finished the empathy phase of the design process. Now, it is time for ideation. One of the novice UX designers asks how the ideation process works. How should you respond? Select all that apply.

  • Every idea should be evaluated during ideation to vet the legitimacy of it.
  • The goal of ideation is the quantity of ideas versus the quality of ideas. (CORRECT)
  • The UX design team will brainstorm ideas out loud. (CORRECT)
  • All ideas are recorded. (CORRECT)

31. You have advised your UX design team that the goal statement they are crafting should answer the questions: who, what, why, and how. The team asks you where they should get this information from. What would you tell them?

  • The user research that has already been conducted in the empathy phase (CORRECT)
  • The insights that came out of the ideation phase brainstorming sessions
  • The approved statement of work
  • The client interviews and due diligence that was done prior to the project starting

32. You are conducting a competitive audit and have decided to start with a direct competitor. Why would you focus on a competitive audit of a direct competitor?  Select all that apply.

  • They have the same audience as you, but your products are in different industries.
  • They have similar products to yours but focus on a different audience
  • They have similar products to yours and focus on the same audience. (CORRECT)
  • They are trying to solve the same problem as you. (CORRECT)

33. A junior UX designer is concerned that by conducting a competitive audit, the design team will simply copy what the competitor has done. What should you tell them to alleviate their concern?

  • The key is to understand what the competition is doing and use that as a starting point to push forward and innovate. (CORRECT)
  • The design team has done this before. They alter just enough content to make it look like an original idea, even though it is the competitor’s idea.
  • Innovation only happens when you can reuse ideas and make them better.
  • It is okay to do that. Imitation is a form of flattery.

34. Your UX design team has created a goal statement based on the insights and research they have gathered. What should their goal statement include? Select all that apply.

  • The delivery timeline and go-live dates for launch
  • The best practices for UX design and the team members who will ensure these are carried out in the design
  • One or two sentences that describe the product and its benefits for the users (CORRECT)
  • The ideal solution for the design (CORRECT)

Ideating Design Solutions conclusion

Now that you’ve completed the first two phases of the design process, research, and define, it’s time to move on to ideation. In this third phase, you’ll take everything you learned about your users in the previous two phases and brainstorm ideas for design solutions. To help with this process, you can conduct a competitive audit and complete some fun design activities like How Might We or Crazy Eights.

Once you have some potential solutions, it will be time to start prototyping in the fourth phase of the design process so that you can test your ideas with users. So what are you waiting for? Get started today by enrolling in Coursera!

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