Starting a new product and unsure where to begin? The industrial design process is often mapped as four phases: discover, define, develop and deliver. Follow them in order, but expect to loop back.
New to the field? This guide builds on the basics of what is industrial design, so start there if the terms are unfamiliar.
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Phases in the framework | 4 phases (discover, define, develop, deliver) |
| Diamonds in the model | 2 diamonds |
| Divergent phases | 2 phases (discover, develop) |
| Convergent phases | 2 phases (define, deliver) |
| Popularized by the British Design Council | 2003 (Shopify) or 2005 (HubSpot) |
The figures come from guides by Shopify and HubSpot, and sources can disagree or change. Check the original pages before you rely on any of them.
Why does a design process need structure?
Without a map, a product project drifts toward the first idea that feels good. A shared process gives a team an agreed order for asking questions, generating ideas and making decisions.
The best-known map is the Double Diamond. Shopify’s guide says the British Design Council popularized it in 2003, while HubSpot’s guide says it originated in 2005, so treat the exact year with care. You can read the Shopify guide for its version of the story.
The logic behind it is simple: a solution built around a problem the designer did not fully understand is unlikely to be a good one. That is why the model spends its first half on the problem and only then moves to answers.
One caveat on scope. Both guides were written for digital and ecommerce teams, not for industrial designers specifically, so this article uses them for the shape of the process rather than for tooling or manufacturing detail. For the longer background of the profession, see the history of industrial design.
The four phases at a glance
The framework is drawn as two diamonds side by side. According to Shopify, the first diamond represents discovering and defining the problem, and the second represents developing and delivering a solution.
- Discover: understand the problem and gather insights.
- Define: make sense of those insights and state the problem concisely.
- Develop: explore several possible solutions.
- Deliver: narrow down and commit to a solution.
Each diamond opens and then closes. Divergent thinking expands the project as the team asks questions, researches and tries many ideas, while convergent thinking reduces the options to the ones with the most merit.
In this model, discover and develop are the divergent phases, and define and deliver are the convergent ones. A project therefore widens and then narrows inside each diamond.
That rhythm is useful when a meeting stalls. Ask whether the team is meant to be widening the options or narrowing them, and the next step usually becomes clearer.
Discover and define: understand before you sketch
Discover
Discovery is about the problem, not the product. Shopify’s guide lists typical activities for this phase:
- user interviews
- gathering user feedback
- focus groups
- reviewing past research from similar projects
For a product, this includes the needs of your target users and the gaps in the market. Shopify’s example is a parent who cannot find affordable, well-made STEM toys, who then talks to other parents and studies existing products and pricing.
The HubSpot guide adds that designers benefit from getting up close with users to see the friction first-hand. It also advises documenting everything, because you will need to refer back to it later.
Define
Definition is where findings become a decision. The goal, says Shopify, is to write a concise problem statement and choose the tools you plan to use to reach a solution.
Two optional tools appear in that guide. Some teams create user personas, which are archetypal profiles of target users, to refer back to as the product takes shape. Others set key performance indicators (KPIs), meaning outcomes that measure whether the solution solved the problem.
A good problem statement is narrow enough to test. If you cannot tell whether a concept solves it, the statement is still too vague.
Develop and deliver: from many ideas to one product
Develop
Development is the solution space, and it is divergent again. Shopify describes design teams throwing ideas at the wall to test potential answers to the defined problem.
For an app or website, the guide says this might include looking at different layouts and low-fidelity prototyping. The same reasoning suggests that for a physical product you would test rough versions cheaply before committing to a detailed one.
The goal of this phase is to come up with several possible solutions and ultimately land on one coherent iteration. When you test those rough versions, check how they work for real bodies and hands; the guide to ergonomics in product design explains why that matters.
Deliver
Delivery is convergent. Teams narrow their ideas down to the ones with the most merit and commit to a solution.
This is where the KPIs from the define phase earn their place. If you set outcomes earlier, you can now judge the result against them instead of against taste alone.
Why the process is never a straight line
It is tempting to read the diagram as a conveyor belt. HubSpot stresses that the model was not created to make the work linear, and that designers are wise to circle back to earlier stages.
Shopify makes a related point: the process is heuristic, and real creative or development work contains more detail and messiness than the neat diagram implies.
HubSpot also reports that the British Design Council studied household-name corporations, including Starbucks, LEGO and Microsoft. Each organization used a different name for its process, yet all completed the same kinds of steps to find a solution.
In practice, you can keep the loop healthy with a few habits:
- Write down findings and decisions as you go, so you can return to them.
- Revisit the problem statement whenever testing reveals something new.
- Delay choosing a favourite concept until the develop phase has produced real alternatives.
- Check the final candidate against the outcomes you defined earlier.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Double Diamond the only industrial design process?
Show answer
No. It is one framework that designers use to think through problems and solutions. The sources describe it as a heuristic, so real projects will add their own detail.
Do the phases have to happen in order?
Show answer
They give a sensible sequence, but you should expect to revisit them. HubSpot says the model was not created to make the process linear.
What is the difference between divergent and convergent thinking?
Show answer
Divergent thinking expands the scope through questions, research and many ideas. Convergent thinking narrows the options down to the strongest ones. Discover and develop are divergent; define and deliver are convergent.
What is the difference between discover and define?
Show answer
Discover gathers insights about the problem through interviews, feedback and past research. Define synthesizes those insights into a concise problem statement, sometimes with personas and KPIs.
