We believe that design and research belong together. In fact, they are really different flavours of the same thing.
To say that basing design on real insights makes for better outcomes isn’t controversial, but many projects still fall back on instinct, copying competitors or just following the highest paid person's opinion.
This is because design and research are usually still thought of as separate phases within a project, often skipped or ignored when budgets or time get tight.
The EBD framework weaves research into the design process: an agile design framework for measurably better outcomes.
The principles
We call our method evidence-based design. EBD is a cycle, so works in both delivery and ‘blue sky’ scenarios.
Why evidence-based design?
Treating research and design as flavours of one discipline reduces silos. Teams are more aligned, have a better overall dynamic, yet maintain their expertise perspectives.
Plus, the cycle of EBD is flexible so you can start at any point.
How does it work?
Start with a problem, an idea or anywhere in between
EBD is a cycle, so works in both delivery and blue sky scenarios
The advantage of a cyclical framework is the flexibility to start at any stage, which means we can jump in no matter where you are with your project. You might want to take a questions-first approach, start with a blank slate and find some new user problems to solve.
Maybe you have an idea for a new product, app or feature and need help to make it real quickly. Or sometimes, you’ve just got to get that new app or website live to meet a deadline, and thats fine too.
Back up every decision with evidence
Use agile research methods to quickly build confidence and reduce risk
EBD combines team intuition and experience with the discipline and rigor of the scientific method: what evidence exists for our current position? How strong is it? What assumptions are we making to prop up the gaps in our knowledge?
We use a method called triangulation to combine evidence from multiple sources including user testing, interviews, analytics and direct observation. We like to show our working, so you can always see the thinking behind our recommendations.
Use the design process to generate evidence
The best kind of data is yours
YODA (Your Own DAta) is the most valuable form of evidence, as it relates specifically to your business, your users and your products.
We don’t like the word experiment. It sounds risky. Sure, throw hundreds of ideas at the wall and eventually one is bound to stick. It’s possible to get lucky once, but twice? Ten times?
Sometimes, this means exploring the problem space fully before discussing solutions – the ‘double-diamond’ approach.
Sometimes, it means acting quickly and inverting the double-diamond – now resembling a ‘sweet’ – to get a prototype, or even a pre-totype in front of users early, generating some YODA and iterating quickly.
Keep it simple
Find the shortest route to your objective through better decision making
EBD is about being outcomes driven, always doing the simplest useful thing to reach the objective. We prioritise and shape at every level according to an objective framework:
— Which Problems are the biggest?
— Which Goals carry the most value?
— Which Ideas carry the most confidence?
— Which Tests will provide the simplest answer?
In EBD we build roadmaps, not backlogs. Instead of Minimally Viable Products, we prefer to think about Simplest Useful Versions. This means thinking about core value first, and working outwards from there in priority order.
EXAMPLE
First Mile: Optimising the homepage for sales and user experience
We started with a full expert review of the current homepage and a deep dive into analytics and heatmaps. Taking to the streets and talking to real small businesses gave us valuable first-hand insight to their needs, pains and expectations.
User testing helped us refine and iterate new homepage concepts. Every design decision made could be traced back to this research.
