Designers miss this crucial step when starting their project. Don’t make the same mistake.

You’ve just been given a brand new design project.

What’s the first thing you do?

Research? Sketching? Creating a project plan? Checking competitors?

Wrong.

There’s a crucial step before all of those that will determine the success of your project:

✨ Gathering the correct information

Your ability to deliver a strong design project relies on how deeply you understand:

• the context of your project

• the project challenges

• the broader business objectives at play

This step is often missed, yet it separates reactive designers from strategic designers.

I’ll tell you what information you should gather, but before that, let me explain why gathering this information is so important.

(P.S I've included a FigJam template at the end of this email to help you with this process).

Why Information Gathering Matters

Before we begin designing, we need to become experts on our project.

The more information we gather

↓

The more informed we will be

↓

And the more confident we will feel.

Think of a wedding cake baker. Before baking, they send a two-page questionnaire and hold an hour-long consultation. Why? They want to understand exactly what the bride and groom want so they can get their final product (the cake) correct.

We must do the same for our design projects.

Otherwise, we risk delivering a three-tier red velvet cake when the client wants a single-tier chocolate sponge 🎂

The Risk of Skipping This Step

Without proper information gathering, you risk:*

• Multiple revisions due to misalignment

• Missed deadlines due to unexpected rework

• Wasted effort on designing incorrect features

• A design solution that doesn’t actually solve the problem

*All based on personal experience 😭

The 5 key questions I ask when starting a project to get all relevant information:

1. What are the project timelines?

2. Why are we working on this now?

3. What does success and failure look like?

4. What data do we have access to?

5. What are the potential risks of this project?

Let me walk you through each of these 👇🏽

Question 1: What are the project timelines?

A few years ago, I worked on a project where I designed an amazing flow with multiple screens.

Excited to present it to the team, I walked them through my solution, only for the Product Manager to explain that the project had a two-week build time. They had expected a minor, lightweight feature, not a complex redesign. You can believe I never started a project again without getting clarity on the timelines.

Timings dictate everything.

While I’d love to work to timings based on my design solution, my deadlines are dictated by the roadmap set weeks in advance.

Knowing the deadline allows you to manage your time effectively across the different stages of your design project. The deadline enables you to decide how big or small your solution should be and whether to keep it simple or go more in-depth.

Question 2: Why are we working on this?

Understanding the motivation behind a project helps you understand what problem needs to be solved.

This understanding ensures you are aligned with the business goals, meaning your final output will be more valuable to the business. This prevents ‘aimless’ design work, which has no clear purpose and has no end value (you'd be surprised how many projects I've worked on without a clear purpose).

Questions you can ask to understand this:

• What triggered this project?

• How does this project help impact the business goals?

• Has user feedback highlighted this as a problem?

Example:

Redesigning an e-commerce checkout page could be driven by high drop-off rates. Knowing this context guides your decisions like simplifying the process or providing more information to the user.

Question 3: What does success and failure look like?

A clear understanding of the end result of your project helps guide your decision-making. It allows you to make informed design decisions that contribute directly to achieving the desired outcome.

What to ask to understand this:

• How will we measure the success of this project?

• What metrics or user behaviors indicate success?

• What would make this project a failure?

Example:

Success in a website redesign might mean lower bounce rates and higher engagement. In contrast, failure could mean no improvement in user behavior or increased complaints.

Question 4: What data do we have access to?

Leveraging existing data saves time and resources as you’re not duplicating research. Access to this data can help you validate your design decisions instead of making decisions based on assumptions.

This data can come from previous user research, survey data, data from similar projects, user behavioral data, market research, customer support feedback, etc.

What to ask:

• Do we have user research or past data on this topic?

• Have similar projects been attempted before? Results?

• What behavioral analytics or user feedback do we have?

Example:

If user feedback shows navigation issues and analytics indicate high bounce rates, this data directs your design to prioritize more straightforward navigation and improved user flow.

Question 5: Potential risks of this project

Proactively identifying all the risks allows you to be more prepared for potential problems or barriers that may occur.

This allows you to mitigate future problems and ensure smoother execution avoiding any last-minute negative surprises. Communicating these risks to stakeholders strengthens your position if issues do arise, as you’ve already discussed them in advance.

What to ask:

• Are there technical constraints or dependencies?

• Could this project negatively impact another part of the product?

• Do we have enough engineering resources?

Example:

A risk for a mobile app might be ensuring compatibility across devices, which requires extra resources. Identifying risks early helps adjust timelines or resources to avoid surprises.

Final thoughts

A builder can’t build a house without knowing whether it’s an apartment block or a five-bedroom mansion.

This is the same with your design project. You must understand the project requirements before starting to design.

Whether it’s a PRD, a design brief, or a project brief, gathering all the information upfront is essential. It ensures that your design will align with the goals and needs.

Don’t risk delivering a solution that misses the mark.

P.S.

I've created a FigJam template to help you gather all of this relevant information. It will:

→ Guide you through how to gather this information

→ Includes all question prompts

→ Includes additional questions

👉🏽 Grab a copy here