The Case of the Missing “D”
I loved Nancy Drew books as a kid. I loved all things mystery to be honest. I watched Colombo and Murder She Wrote when I was sick, I had stacks of Whodunnit books, and there was a period of time when everything in the kitchen was covered in Nesquik because I learned that it was perfect for dusting for fingerprints (and attracting ants). So it’s not a big mystery that one of my favorite parts of the UX Design process is Research.
When Rachel Luna asked me about my design process, I knew to start with that D — Discovery. And subsequently, we (she) came up with the 4D’s to a client-converting, money-making website: Discovery, Design, Diagnostics, and Delivery! I updated my IG bio, website copy, and celebrated at how round and perfect that felt: 4D’s.
Over the last year, I’ve gotten into a bit of a pickle with my 4D’s though. I thought the most challenging part would be convincing business owners that they needed research. But thanks to Angie Lee and the progression of organic marketing and understanding your ideal customer, research was a pretty understandable ask. What clients really struggled with was figuring out their vision for what they wanted their online business (and subsequently their website) to look like. At the beginning of the project they’d talk about 1:1 coaching and by week 3 they wanted 3 passive courses and hosted videos.
And just like that I had 2 conversations with my 2 clients about what they really actually truly deeply wanted from their businesses. And after a 90 minute call, we were both FIRED UP, ready to get to work, and had a clear vision for where we wanted to go and actionable steps for how to get there.
And then... I got a little nervous. Well this doesn’t fit with my 4D’s! What am I gonna do?!!
Add another D, dummy!
Isn’t it funny how the answers are that easy usually? The 4D’s were MADE UP. There are no rules here. Just change it!
So what’s the 5th D, you may ask? *drumroll* define!
In a classic UX sense, Definition comes after Discovery. However, in business I’ve found that Discovery and Definition go hand-in-hand and kind of play together back and forth for a little bit. Defining here, discovering more that we don’t know, defining that a little more, and so on.
And I’m offering 2 ways to get more definition in your business:
- By incorporating it into my UX Design & Strategy process for designing your website to scale, grow, and work for you, your business, and your clients.
- Through a 90 minute Strategy session to get you crystal clear on your goals and design a path toward sustainable success.
Ready to get started? Let's do it!
