The most important thing to consider when designing experiences is that no two scenarios should recieve exactly the same treatment and approach. With that understood, this "recipe" represents a typical four-phase process that if followed in spirit, will always yield measurable results. These four phases are a concise, elemental version of the essential benchmarks to hit. The one thing that is most important, before any of this can even start, is defining the problem to solve. Without this, there is nothing to measure against so it's most important to have the problem clearly defined in order to understand your desired target before you begin any design process.
PHASE 1
GENERATE MENTAL MODEL
Determine the "problem to solve"
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Brainstorm basic solutions with Product leadership
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Define rough features and business goals
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Create a low-fi “Mental Model” design
STEP 2
DEFINE PRODUCT VISION
Review Mental Model with Stakeholders
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Refine strategy by “asking questions” with Stakeholders
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Validate strategy by "answering question" with User research
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Complete product validation before proceeding with design
PHASE 3
DESIGN PRODUCT
Complete expanded design discovery
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Iterate wireframes and prototypes
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Test design solutions with Users
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Complete visual design and styleguides
PHASE 4
DEVELOP & DEPLOY PRODUCT
Handoff validated designs to Development
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Conduct QA on developed product
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Track deployed product data
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Optimize product with data and User testing