Don’t say this to a product designer.

What’s the worst thing to say to a fledgling product designer? When assigning a new design project, say, “don’t sketch yet.”

Why is this so terrible? Because it’s in our nature to jump ahead to solving the problem. Yes, even before knowing it’s the right problem.

Which is why my instructions were clear. On day-one while teaching a ten-week University of Oregon, Graduate Product Design class, I said, “no sketching until after the fourth week.” The groans were audible…

Why wait? To solve the user’s problem, we must uncover their deep needs. So we commit to a process of unbiased observation and user-centered research. Which always reveals surprising discoveries. It's worth the wait and makes the product easier to design.

This class was no different. The three-week research process revealed very unexpected user-problems. And it shattered many early biases and accelerated the sampling process. By week seven, with several rapid prototype rounds, users validated the design concepts. Some users adopted the prototypes for their daily use. They were that good. 

In the end, we agreed it's best to stay away from the pencils, until we understand the problem.