The ZURBlog is where we discuss interaction design and strategy.

During a recent post-project analysis on Notable, the ZURB team realized there are two pain points when it comes to improving existing product: The beginning and the end. Getting started on a new product release is tricky and wrapping up a release can be brutal.

The Beginning

At the beginning of the product development process, it can be hard to convince team members that something just built could be better - it feels counterintuitive and even flirts with demotivation. Sometimes teams might be tempted to gather analytics and research before making changes, but if we waited for data and confirmation of "right answers" all the time we'd never get anything done!

The End

The final stage of product improvement is also a minefield. You need to give critical, detailed, and specific feedback, despite the fact that's it's time consuming and emotionally taxing. It takes a lot of willpower to keep going forward, but it's important to get people out of their comfort zone so they'll reach their full potential. Sure, it's hard to demand continual changes until it's right. Team members will get frustrated, but their redemption comes in seeing that they have a successful outcome in the end.

Whether you're pushing your team to get started on a product improvement or trying to keep the momentum going to the finish line, you can't give in. You have to complete the vision.

We've written a bit before about what we think here at ZURB about critical thinking and design, but in most design companies critical thinking doesn't get the attention it deserves.

Critical thinking plays a big role in design. It helps define the pace of a project and keeps a team on a tight schedule. It also sets solid expectations and helps your team build confidence in its goals. Critical thinking often means repeating a task or revisiting a checklist, which brings efficiency to all parts of a project— and everyone loves efficiency, right?

We often hail design thinking as a savior for opening up problems. In a service organization, however, closing problems down is equally important for sustainability and profitability. A smart approach to critical thinking can expose and shut down a problem before it has a chance to become a big issue.

Designers often mistake creative freedom for controlled discovery, yet even in design thinking, constraints provide structure. Those constraints can provide a strong framework for goal-setting and having very focused goals helps balance the uncertainty of opening up lots of projects.

Don't assume reaching those goals means you have to do everything yourself, though. In fact, critical thinking is very much a collaborative process— as is design thinking. Designers need to understand that sometimes they're just a piece of a larger puzzle, or are there to apply their unique talents to a portion of the overall project.

At first glance, critical thinking may not seem important to the overall success of a design project. Yet it's a vital component that shouldn't be overlooked.

Would you enter a race if you didn't know where the finish line was? Of course not. You need a finish line to know when you're done running and when you can claim the prize. You might be the most amazing coder, solid worker, or incredible designer, but if you're going to get a win on your project, you need a clear idea of how to make that happen. If you don't figure it out ahead of time, those traits will quickly disappear and you'll have no cheering throngs to lift you up.

Effective design requires a finish line to promote motivation and fight mid-project fatigue. If you start a project, you need to know how long the race is— otherwise you'll just wander around aimlessly without ever getting the win.

Effective design isn't about Photoshop, software applications, email, project management, or even computers. It's about service.

Observe problems around your customers and use your insights to drive decision making. Make sure you listen. Repeat what you've heard and seen, then listen some more. The answers are already there, the questions are only rhetorical.

Don't get too distracted with your sketches, notes, and technology— remember to listen, observe, and think.

We've written before about the importance of having a mission statement. It's a dreadful, mistake-filled process that leads to a jumbled mess of corporate speak. So, instead of thinking about your mission, start thinking about your story. What's yours?

Think of a recent conversation you remember well. Why was it so great? Chances are, it's because it struck you on an emotional level. There's a lesson here for companies. Like people, companies need to appeal to emotion, not just from a "big brand" perspective, but from their day-to-day service to customers. Stop and think: what resonates with your customer? Why do they love what you do for them?

Answering this kind of question isn't about "positioning" yourself in a marketplace, it's about connecting with people on a personal level. It's about being memorable in your everyday actions and words. Companies that speak from the heart will connect with the right people. Do this and you'll give them a story to remember.