Why My Design Process Likes to Dance with A Compass, Not a Map?

HUKHTA PATEL
Jul 15
4 min read

Updated: Jul 16

Remember that friend who plans every vacation down to the minute only to end up finding the best gelato spot by accident? That’s kind of how I see my design and business methodology.

Sure, I start with a plan: the good ol' human-centered design process — empathize, ideate, design, prototype, implement (shoutout to Stanford d.school for giving us the most shareable sticky-note framework ever).

But here’s the secret: I treat this process like a flexible playlist, not a fixed playlist at a wedding where you can't skip the awkward slow dance.

Empathy: The Heart of the Party

(But Sometimes We Leave Early)

Empathy is usually my VIP guest. In wellness and healthcare, it’s like that friend who listens to your 3 a.m. voice notes about life crises. You just can’t rush it.

For example, IDEO’s work designing a new patient experience for Kaiser Permanente focused heavily on empathy. They shadowed nurses and doctors, held deep listening sessions, and even designed quick prototypes of improved shift-change huddles to address communication breakdowns (IDEO, 2013).

Meanwhile, if you’re designing the next viral dating app? You might spend less time dissecting emotional pain and more time speed-testing what makes people swipe right (and keeps them coming back).

Ideation: Where We Embrace Bad Ideas (Because They Lead to Good Ones)

In the ideation phase, I encourage wild, sometimes hilariously bad ideas. Why? Because even the idea of a "toaster that tweets every time your bread is ready" can reveal unexpected user desires (like wanting to share small daily joys).

Netflix famously used an iterative ideation approach to experiment with features like "Skip Intro" — an idea that started as a simple user annoyance but turned into one of their most beloved features (Wired, 2017).

Design & Prototype: Because Sketches Are Cheaper Than Regrets

When I worked with business strategy or brand design, I often loop endlessly between design and ideation. It’s like taste-testing spaghetti before inviting the entire neighborhood over.

Apple is known for prototyping hundreds of iterations before a product hits the shelves. Their first iPhone reportedly went through countless design mockups and working prototypes — all in the name of nailing that intuitive, "it just works" experience ([Walter Isaacson, Steve Jobs, 2011]).

Implementation: Bringing Our Weird Ideas to Life

Finally, we build. But remember, even implementation isn’t final. We often continue tweaking, learning from real-world feedback. Instagram’s "Stories" started as a reaction to Snapchat, but by continuously adapting after launch, it became core to the app’s identity and engagement strategy (TechCrunch, 2017).

The Real Magic? Knowing When to Break the Rules

I like to think of my methodology as a compass rather than a GPS. GPS tells you exactly where to turn, but a compass lets you improvise when the road is closed (or when you spot an amazing taco truck off-route).

In fast-moving tech environments, I might jump to prototypes early to beat the market. In brand strategy, I swirl around ideation and storytelling until the brand feels as authentic as your best friend’s dog pics.

What If You Could Build Your Design Process Like a Pizza?

Enter: The Patel Process

Okay, hear me out. Imagine there was a magical tool, let’s call it The Patel Process™ that lets you build your design approach exactly like you build your dream pizza (or your go-to Starbucks order with way too many customizations).

First, you toss in all your essential toppings:

The spicy project brief 🌶️
The creamy industry insights 🧀
The crunchy user data 🥬
The unexpected brand personality 🍍 (yes, pineapple is allowed)

Then, The Patel Process™ whips up a completely custom strategy recipe:

👉 Need extra empathy? Pile it on like extra cheese.

👉 Tight deadline? Thin-crust prototype, coming right up.

👉 Extra spicy storytelling layer?

Done.

With The Patel Process™, no two projects ever taste the same. You’re not stuck forcing everything into some dusty old framework from a 2002 design workshop PDF.

Instead, your process is alive deliciously unpredictable, perfectly balanced, and tailored to each challenge like your favorite street-food vendor knowing exactly how much chutney you want.

Imagine pitching it to your team:

"Guys, I didn’t just copy-paste a generic flowchart. I cooked up a custom Patel Process that’s designed for us, this brief, and this wild timeline. It’s basically the design version of my grandmother’s secret curry recipe, flexible, fiery, and guaranteed to impress."

Meetings would instantly be more fun:

"Should we sprinkle in more prototyping?"
"Absolutely, and maybe caramelize that brand positioning a bit more too!"

Sure, The Patel Process™ doesn’t technically exist as software (yet — Silicon Valley, call me). But the point remains: the best processes aren’t one-size-fits-all. They’re home-cooked, remix-able, and full of heart.

Until we can download The Patel Process™ from the App Store, your intuition, curiosity, and a pinch of creative rebellion are your best tools in the kitchen.

Why It Works

Rigid frameworks are comforting but can be creatively stifling. The best solutions, the ones that make people say "How did I ever live without this?" usually come from letting the process adapt to the real world, not forcing the real world into the process.

Final Thought: Dance With Your Process

Designing and building for people means being human yourself, flexible, curious, and sometimes a bit silly. Next time you see a fancy five-step diagram, imagine it wearing roller skates instead of dress shoes. That’s my methodology: structured enough to guide, free enough to fly.

References

IDEO. (2013). Rethinking the patient experience with Kaiser Permanente. Retrieved from IDEO Case Study
Wired. (2017). The surprising origin of Netflix’s “Skip Intro” button. Retrieved from Wired
Isaacson, W. (2011). Steve Jobs. Simon & Schuster.
TechCrunch. (2017). Instagram Stories turns one and is bigger than Snapchat. Retrieved from TechCrunch