What are the best ways to align revisions with overall design goals?

1 Set clear goals

Before you start any design project, you need to have a clear understanding of what you want to achieve, who you are designing for, and what constraints you have. You can use tools like briefs, mood boards, personas, and user stories to define your design goals and communicate them to your client. Having clear goals will help you evaluate your design decisions and justify them to your client.

2 Solicit feedback

Feedback is essential to improve your design and ensure that it meets your client's needs and preferences. However, feedback can also be vague, subjective, or contradictory if it is not structured and focused. You can use techniques like the feedback sandwich, the five whys, and the SMART criteria to solicit feedback that is specific, measurable, actionable, relevant, and timely. You can also use tools like prototypes, mockups, and wireframes to show your design in different stages and levels of detail.

3 Prioritize revisions

Not all revisions are equally important or urgent. Some may be minor tweaks, while others may require major changes or rework. You need to prioritize your revisions based on their impact, effort, and deadline. You can use tools like the Eisenhower matrix, the MoSCoW method, and the RICE score to prioritize your revisions and decide what to do, delegate, defer, or drop. You should also communicate your priorities to your client and explain why some revisions are more critical than others.

5 Test revisions

Revisions are not final until they are tested and validated. You need to test your revisions and see how they affect your design's functionality, usability, and aesthetics. You can use tools like user testing, heuristic evaluation, and A/B testing to test your revisions and measure their performance, satisfaction, and conversion. You should also involve your client in the testing process and show them the results and insights.

6 Learn from revisions

Revisions are not only a way to improve your design, but also a way to improve your skills and knowledge. You need to learn from your revisions and reflect on what worked well, what didn't, and what you can do better next time. You can use tools like retrospectives, post-mortems, and portfolios to learn from your revisions and document your growth and achievements. You should also share your learnings with your client and thank them for their collaboration and feedback.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?