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

Week 4: Ideating Design Solutions

GOOGLE UX DESIGN PROFESSIONAL CERTIFICATE

Complete Coursera Answers & Study Guide

Click to Enroll in Coursera Google UX Design Professional Certificate

TABLE OF CONTENT

INTRODUCTION
TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE ON COMPETITIVE AUDITS

CONCLUSION

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.

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!

Previous Week 3

Next Course

Subscribe to our site

Get new content delivered directly to your inbox.

Quiztudy Top Courses

Popular in Coursera

Meta Marketing Analytics Professional Certificate.

Liking our content? Then, don’t forget to ad us to your BOOKMARKS so you can find us easily!