How lean can a product design process be?

Lean product design is defined as an extreme focus on outcomes, collaboration, and iterative cycles. It is basically just a different method of designing, and in most circumstances, I think it is better than some traditional methods of designing products. It being called “Lean” Product Design also implies that it is somehow less than traditional methods. I would say it is more different, less in some areas but more in others.

This leads to the question, “What if you need to design a product with less? Less time, resources, personnel, or less of everything. Is it possible? Is it even Product design at that point? How can you get started? What should you leave out?

The answer to the questions; “Which method should I choose?” or “How do I start?”, the best answer is to move forward with what you know. Your current process that you are most comfortable with will likely create the best results. If you are familiar with Lean Product Design or Design Sprints that is a great start, but depending on your situation you still might have to adjust for the resources you have.

To figure out how to adjust your process to create optimal results, think about what you need to know to move on to the next step, not deliverables. Time-boxing your process into broad categories, then into finer tasks will help as well. Identify what is critical for you to succeed and allocate your time accordingly.

What are the risks?

Non-designers might like to think that “ultra lean” product design can do everything but in less time, in reality, there are tradeoffs and the biggest of these tradeoffs is risk. Here are a few types of risks associated with “ultra lean product design.”

• No product market fit.
• Assumptions made are wrong.
• Not enough time to define the problem.
• Research with the wrong target demographic.
• Prototype not well baked enough to get decent feedback.
• Not enough time for iterations and improvements.
• Not enough time to define interactions & animations for developers.
• Not enough time for developer hand off.
• Not enough time to make your design aesthetically pleasing.

There is a difference between lean product design implemented as a method and ultra lean product design as a necessity. Nobody would want to take on these risks unless they have to.

So when, where, and why does truly ultra lean product design happen? Here are a few reasons:

• You work at an agency and your clients do not want to pay for design.
• You are a part of a start up and either don’t have a designer or team members are required to wear multiple hats.
• You are freelancing and these are the type of projects that come your way.
• Your boss has unreal expectations.
• You are designing/developing your own product on the side.

Hours Breakdown (with examples)

• 15 hours a week (30 per sprint)
• 10 hours a week (20 per sprint)
• 160 hours total for an enterprise B2B product competing in a 44 billion dollar a year industry.
• 120 hours total
• 80 hours total
• 60 hours total
• 40 hours total for an enterprise content focused learning app.

Keep in mind that dev hours will be limited as well. Meaning that your solution needs to provide unique value and be build-able on a shoestring budget.

Designers do not always have the ability to set how much time it will take to get something done even if they inform decision makers. This can be the case anywhere, but is seen more so at agencies and start-ups. Make sure you communicate clearly and set expectations.

Make it as good as it can be with the time you have. Here are some things you can expect to cut out. Which ones are up to you!

Deep Up Front User Research

1. Discovery questions, competitive analysis, SME and stakeholder interviews are always needed, but extensive user research and testing usually does not happen.
2. Depending on how the stakeholder feels you may end up just taking their word that they know what they are talking about. Sometimes people just want you to build their solution.

Pretty Deliverables

1. Whether it is user personas, red routes, user journeys, user flows or information architecture diagrams, if you are strapped for time you will not have time to make these pretty. Save that time for things that are more important and use a spreadsheet or something quick and easy.

Team Exercises & Team Design Sessions

1. If one designer can do it then have one designer do it, if your process is clear everybody should know what they need to provide for other team members for them to succeed.
2. If you are a team with lead and junior designers, make sure team members have clear guidance and feedback provided is actionable.
3. Design Sprints are a wonderful tool, but if you are being forced to be ultra lean you will need to adjust. Some exercises are based on defining & finding the problem or iterating which takes more time.

Pixel perfect Prototypes

1. Depending on how confident the stakeholder is of the solution, you may not need to prototype & test but I would never suggest it.
2. A rough digital prototype tested with only 3 users is incredibly valuable compared to nothing at all.

Extensive Documentation & developer hand offs

1. Keep in mind that if your hours are short your developer’s hours are as well. Keep designs as simple as possible for them so they are not being asked later why they can’t finish developing what was designed.
2. There will be no need to define transition animations, your developer will implement the quickest solution.

A/B Testing & in depth User Metrics Focus

1. On larger projects you can design with a question in mind, seek to find the answer and know that you will iterate in the future. On a tiny project with limited resources you will most likely have to put all of your eggs into one basket. Do your best to make sure it is the right one!

UX QA

1. Chances are that once you hand designs off to devs, you will be done and off the project. Keep this in mind and try to save time for quick (15 minute) reviews with your developer and pm as features are built .

Conclusion

A lot of this does not sound too great, in fact it may sound pretty horrible, blasphemous, etc. Some designers might say that is not even product/UX design at this point.

I would say to try and keep an open mind there are a ton of entrepreneurs out there who have a dream and a small budget. I have had the thought multiple times, that if you are not able or willing to invest in good design then why bother? There is a reason such a high percent of startups fail, but I have never said this to anybody and I don’t think I ever would.

I try to advise people as best as I can, help them prioritize, know the risks involved and provide alternatives for how to move forward. Sometimes it works out for them, sometimes it does not, I think most entrepreneurs would regret not having tried.

What are your thoughts and how do you handle similar situations?