A Creative Design Process

7 areas of design activity

A fully flexible Design Process for Creativity, that broadly follows a circular process flow, but enables movement between specific stages/actions

Define - the identification of a Design Brief, setting out a creative opportunity or specification of outcome, including a customer need or commissioner profile.
Research - identifying all salient information needed to complete the design including customer/user/commissioner profiles, markets, purpose, need, previous similar products, stylistic influences, preferences and cost effectiveness, but also early investigation and media experimentation.
Imagine/Invent/Ideate – Ideas development generation (key to innovation/creative development). Returning to Research (investigation & experimentation) as needed.
Refine & Iterate - the development of the idea, through stages that clarify and improve the outcome, with more Research (investigation & experimentation) as needed.
Prototype/visualise - the modelling and creation/manufacture of versions to enable definitive testing or consideration against the brief/intention.
Implement - the selection and move to final creation/production, realisation or manufacture.
Evaluate - a Quality Assurance process that seeks to confirm the effectiveness of the outcome/s measured against the project brief/specification or success criteria.

Reclaiming the D-word in art and design, G. Gast, AD magazine, issue 3, p 2011, NSEAD