A Product Design Process for the Real World
May 6, 2025
In 2025, the design will not die, but become more critical.
What really dies out is the old way of thinking about design. In the past few years, the industry has been overly superstitious about processes, frameworks and tools, forgetting the essence of design - using technology to create meaningful products and experiences for people.
Today, AI pushes process standardization to the extreme, and automatically generates countless "perfect" flowcharts and design blueprints. But these flowcharts are not the design itself. They cannot solve the chaos, change and complexity of people in reality.
Product designers have never had so many tools and techniques at our disposal to help us do our job. Research, journey maps, Figma, code, Keynote, data analysis... the list is huge and keeps growing. With so many options, how do we know which ones to use for our projects and when?
We have all fallen into the trap of processes and tools.
And let’s be honest, how do we avoid doing this?
In 2025, many teams are still keen to summarize the product design process into a flowchart or a set of "diamond models". AI can even automatically generate these "perfect" design blueprints. It looks pleasing to the eye and is very convincing to post on blogs and PPT, but there are few opportunities to really refer to these flowcharts in real projects.
In SCAD, we have upgraded the classic "double diamond" process to "three diamonds", drawing on Zendesk's practice. But frankly speaking, the flowchart is just an appearance. The real challenge of design is to find the essence of the problem in chaos and change and solve it in the most appropriate way. Every project, every team and every goal is different. AI and new tools give us more choices, but they also make it more difficult to "choose what and when to use".
My experience is that process is not the answer. The judgment and adaptability of designers are the core competitiveness. You need to think like a product strategist, solve problems like an engineer, and insight into humanity like a brand person. Flowcharts can die, but designs can't.
Graphics like this look great in a blog post, but how often are they actually referenced?
That works most of the time. Though in reality, sometimes my process looks more like this:
The messy reality
So it goes 🙃
What do I say when someone asks me that dreaded question?
My design process is still the same as in the past. It is a set of "toolboxes", not assembly lines. Each step - whether it is finding problems, defining goals, prototype testing, or collaborating with engineering - should be selected flexibly according to the actual project. AI can help us analyze data faster, generate plans, and even automate some designs faster, but it cannot decide for us what is really important and worth investing in.
In 2025, the core competitiveness of top designers is three points:
Insight: Use data and intuition to quickly define real business problems, dare to question hypotheses, and dare to cut off ineffective actions.
Strategic: Do not be superstitious about any tool or process, and break down complex systems and business goals into executable design tasks.
Collaboration: Dance with AI, people, and uncertainty to promote the team's continuous learning and rapid iteration.
My suggestion is that you can learn from the process, but don't be superstitious. AI can be used, but it can't replace your judgment. The ultimate goal of design is always to create a meaningful and influential product experience - not only to serve users, but also to drive business growth.
2025, a real product designer is a person who can create order in chaos. The frame can die, but the design can't.
