Visual Examples of Design Processes

Below are some visual examples of design processes as defined by different disciplines and organizations.

It’s interesting to note how similar these are, even when the language around them varies. Also, you can see how different disciplines—from engineering to user-experience design—follow similar processes.

User-Centered Iterative Design

This diagram shows the iterative nature of the design process and some of the key terms.²⁰

Rapid Prototyping

Rapid prototyping is considered key to contemporary design practice.²¹

Engineering Design Process

Even in this diagram of an engineering process, you can see many of the key themes discussed above.²²

User-Experience Design

In this user-experience design diagram, process repeats itself as necessary.²³

User-Centered Design

Here is a user-centered design diagram with a lot more detail.²⁴

Playtesting

In this diagram, playtesting is given equal weight to prototyping and iterating.²⁵

Wireframing

Whether design process diagrams have three steps or ten, or use any number of languages, the principles are the same.²⁶

Design Steps

Here is an example of a five-phase design process different from IDEO’s.²⁷