There are millions of companies out there, which means millions of business processes to be followed. What makes the initial research and concept phase so important? This sets the groundwork for the rest of the project.
“Concepting” is a word that is thrown around often in our space. There is even debate on whether or not it should be a word. At RD2 we define concepting as coming up with ideas based on conjecture and fleshing them out to give the client an idea of what we’re envisioning. Concepting allows us to detail out a hypothesis. We come up with functionality that may be the best fit for our client’s customers and a sample user experience that may be the best way to achieve their goals.
Step 1. Inspiration
When coming up with this hypothesis, the first step is inspirational research. We look at other companies online (in and out of the industry), but that’s really only the beginning. In doing inspirational research, we don’t trust other websites to be the standard. The next step is to look at everything around us, find inspirational things from outside sources (not just the web).
Step 2. Ideas
This part of the process is the time where everyone at the company (across disciplines and across project teams) are free to express their ideas – bring anything to the table, no holds barred. It is critical to allow creative freedom at the beginning of the process. In these discussions we engage strategy team members and experts from our development and design departments to bounce concepts off of.
In some cases a business will require a specific platform, but if that platform is unknown this stage should be completely platform agnostic. We want to find the best user experience, the best concept to satisfy the goals of the project. Once that is found, we look for a platform that syncs up the most.
Step 3. Focus
As we begin to focus our hypothesis, it is essential to have the business goals for the project near at all times. We always ask ourselves “does this line up with their goals?” Though we’re not doing a full strategic dive at this point, we take all of the strategic information we know about a client and consider it when honing our ideas.
Step 4. Put Something on Paper
So what do concepts look like? Where do I start once I have all these ideas, screenshots, etc from my research?
Concepts can start anywhere. They can be sketched out on a napkin when the idea hits during dinner, or they can be scrawled out on paper. You should use whatever form you are most comfortable with and will provide the least amount of barrier between your brain and the medium in which you want to express it on.
At RD2, we generally use Illustrator to fine tune and tweak our concepts, going through several internal revisions to be sure that we build them in a way that tells a story. When we walk the company through the concept and experience, we want to be sure that we are communicating our vision so that they “get it” and can get fired up around the project.
Step 5. What Now?
So you have some great concepts, ideas, and inspiration. What now? Now you have the opportunity to prove your hypothesis by digging into the strategy, design, and development phases. All that work should not be thrown away or set aside. To get the most benefit from your documents after the presentation, use what you learned and discussed in the conceptitng process to help you execute on your great ideas. They may change or be modified based on strategic learning, but the goals, ideas, and inspiration are still applicable throughout all your work with the client.