What is Parallel Design?
Parallel design in UX research is a method where multiple designers or teams independently create different design solutions for the same problem at the same time. Afterward, the various designs are evaluated, and the best ideas from each are combined into a final, improved design.
Why use Parallel Design?
Encourages diverse ideas - Different designers bring unique perspectives, leading to more innovative solutions.
Reduces bias - Avoids early fixation on a single idea, ensuring a more user-centered approach.
Speeds up iteration - Multiple options are explored simultaneously, accelerating the design process.
Efficiency & speed - While it may seem like more work upfront, parallel design actually reduces the number of iterations needed later. By comparing multiple solutions at once, teams can identify the most effective elements early on.
How does it work?
Define the problem - Clearly outline the user needs and goals.
Independent ideation - Each designer/team creates their own version of the solution without influence from others.
Review & combine - The different designs are evaluated, and the best elements from each are merged into a refined design.
Test & iterate - The combined design undergoes user testing, and further refinements are made.
Example
If you're redesigning a mobile banking app, three teams might work separately on different layouts for the dashboard. After testing with users, you might find that one design has the best navigation, another has the most intuitive icons, and the third has the most efficient workflow. These insights are then merged into a final design.
Please note:
Unlike with A/B or multivariate testing, the goal of testing with parallel design is not necessarily to identify "a winner" from the parallel designs. Instead, the goal is to create a single merged design that uses the best ideas from each of the parallel versions. Finally, proceed with iterative design (as above) to further refine the merged design.
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