Digital Product and Interaction Design
We’re a group of product designers who’ve been honing our ability to create meaningful experiences for two decades and, as the definition of product design has shifted to encompass both digital and physical (analog) interactions, we’ve evolved to stay at the forefront of design innovation.
At Shape, digital product design is where industrial and graphic design converges. It’s where user research blends with digital analytics tools. It’s where we can take our frameworks for designing for people and apply them to an entirely new set of challenges.
Our Process
Research and Ideation
The research and ideation phase is where we spend time getting to know the audience and developing early hypotheses. Similar to physical product design, our UI research usually comprises exploratory research, stakeholder interviews, client brainstorms, competitive analysis, and user studies.
User Journey Mapping
Once we have a baseline understanding of the target users we put ourselves in their shoes and walk through optimal interaction scenarios. This is typically the beginning of our wireframing and information architecture process and helps to uncover and eliminate potential pain points.
Prototyping and Hypothesis Testing
Whether it’s garage hydroponics or multivariate testing various elements on this webpage, we love experimentation. Consumer research is vital and heuristic analysis is often the backbone of our early design exploration but nothing offers insight as profound as observing a user interact with a design in the wild. Continually evolving digital tools allow us to quickly roll-out prototypes that can confirm or disprove our theories in a matter of days and help us deliver a better user experience.
Design and Iconography
Whether designing for web, app, or specialized interfaces, our graphic design team uses its understanding of visual cues to design enjoyable interactions that lead to positive product experiences. This is the CMF (color, material, finish) of digital product design.
Post-launch Iteration
As 2020 has reminded us, user preferences and sensitivities to different stimuli can change overnight. The most notable difference between the digital and physical design worlds is the ease at which post-launch iterations can be made. Whereas physical products require considerable investment and time to make changes, digital products can be continually adjusted on the fly.