Phase 2: Design & Blueprint Bringing Your Idea to App Prototype & Product Requirements
From Concept to App Blueprint with Visual Design and Written Requirements
After establishing the foundations of your app in the Initiate phase, we move on to Phase 2: Design & Blueprint. This stage is where your app begins to take shape visually, transitioning from abstract ideas into a structured app prototype that reflects your vision, goals, and user needs. By creating detailed app wireframes, defining user flows, documenting product requirements and establishing a comprehensive design system, we ensure a clear roadmap for development.
Phase 2: Design & Blueprint
The result of the Design & Blueprint phase is a comprehensive app blueprint that serves as the foundation for development. This document and its visual prototypes guide developers and ensure consistency across all phases of development.
Design Workshop: Defining the Creative Vision
Our process starts with an engaging design workshop. This collaborative session brings together your stakeholders and our design experts to define the creative vision, key user flows, and design objectives. The workshop provides alignment between teams, ensuring that we’re all on the same page and fully understand the goals of the project.
What We Achieve in the Design Workshop:
- Define Key User Flows: We map out essential user flows to understand how users will interact with the app.
- Set Design Objectives: Specific design objectives are set to ensure the app is visually appealing and functional.
- Align with Stakeholders: All key stakeholders share input, ensuring everyone’s needs are considered in the initial product design phase.
The design workshop is crucial for setting the direction and ensuring that each design element aligns with the overall app vision.
Developing the Design System and Library
A consistent and cohesive design is essential to any successful app. In this stage, we develop a design system that serves as the foundation for your app’s visual elements. A well-organised design library containing reusable components, style guides, and visual standards enhances efficiency and consistency throughout development.
Elements of Our Design System:
- UI Components: We create a library of consistent UI components, such as buttons, forms, and icons, to ensure a uniform experience.
- Style Guides: These guides cover typography, colours, and spacing, maintaining brand consistency.
- Visual Standards: Defined standards for layouts, images, and interactions give a polished and professional appearance.
Product Requirements Document: Detailed Blueprint of Functional Needs
The Product Requirements Document (PRD) is essential in any app development project. This document provides a detailed outline of functional and non-functional needs, ensuring clarity on what the app will accomplish.
What’s Included in the PRD:
- User Stories: Each user story represents a specific task or feature, helping our team understand the purpose behind each feature.
- Acceptance Criteria: Every feature has measurable acceptance criteria, outlining the conditions it must meet.
- Product Requirements: Clear product requirements ensure that every functional and non-functional aspect is planned out.
The PRD ensures that the entire team has a shared understanding of the project, providing structure to the app development roadmap and guiding future development phases.
Creating the App Blueprint and Information Architecture
The app blueprint gives a high-level overview of the app’s layout and structure, outlining information architecture to ensure an intuitive user experience. This blueprint maps the app's overall flow, helping to visualise how different sections and features interconnect.
Components of the App Blueprint:
- User Flow Mapping: We establish each user flow to illustrate how users will navigate through the app.
- Information Architecture: This involves categorising information logically, so users can intuitively find what they need.
- Initial Wireframes: Low-fidelity app wireframes help convey layout ideas, giving a preliminary look at the app’s interface.
Non-Functional Prototypes for User Testing and Early Feedback
Once we’ve established the design foundation, we create a non-functional prototype, a high-fidelity visual representation of your app. This app prototype helps stakeholders and users visualise the app’s design and flow, allowing us to gather early feedback and make improvements before full development begins.
Benefits of the App Prototype:
- Visual Design Demonstration: This is where your visual design comes to life, showing the colour schemes, typography, and overall style.
- User Flow Testing: We validate each user flow, ensuring that navigation is intuitive and user-friendly.
- Early Feedback Collection: With a high-fidelity prototype, stakeholders can provide feedback on design choices, allowing for adjustments before moving to development.
Creating a non-functional prototype helps to visualise how the app will look and feel, ensuring the design meets all user expectations.
App Interface Mockups: Preparing for Final Development
The next step in Phase 2 is developing app interface mockups. These mockups are refined, static images of what each screen will look like, showcasing the app’s visual and functional elements. Mockups are typically the last step before actual coding begins, as they provide an almost finished look at the app.
Key Components of App Interface Mockups:
- Screen-by-Screen Layouts: Each screen is designed in detail, allowing stakeholders to see how every page will appear.
- Detailed Visual Design: These mockups integrate all aspects of the design system, from typography to iconography.
- Interactive Elements: Although non-functional, these mockups show where interactive elements like buttons and forms will be located.
App interface mockups are the final visual check, confirming the layout and design details before moving to development.
The Design Blueprint: A Complete Guide for App Development
With a solid design blueprint, the development team has everything they need to build an app that meets your vision and delivers an excellent user experience.
By the end of Phase 2, you’ll have:
A Product Requirements Document (PRD) covering functional and non-functional needs.
A detailed design system and library to ensure a cohesive user experience.
High-fidelity app interface mockups showcasing each screen’s layout and design.
A clickable non-functional app prototype for early feedback and testing.
App Prototype & Product Requirements FAQs
What is the purpose of creating an app prototype in the Design & Blueprint phase?
An app prototype serves as a visual and interactive model of your app, allowing you to see how the design, user flow, and interface will work before development. It helps identify improvements, gather early feedback, and ensure all stakeholders are aligned on the design, minimising costly changes during development.
How does a design system improve the app development process?
A design system is a set of consistent UI components, style guides, and visual standards that keep the app’s look and feel cohesive. By establishing these guidelines early, we speed up the design process, reduce repetitive decisions, and ensure that each screen and feature reflects your brand.
What is included in a Product Requirements Document (PRD)?
The Product Requirements Document (PRD) outlines every functional and non-functional requirement for the app, including user stories, acceptance criteria, and detailed product requirements. This document provides developers and designers with clear guidelines, ensuring they understand the app’s goals and features.
How do wireframes differ from app prototypes?
Wireframes are basic layouts that map out the structure and placement of elements on each screen, showing the flow but not the final look. An app prototype, on the other hand, is a high-fidelity version that includes the visual design and gives a realistic sense of how the final app will function.
Why is a Design Workshop important in this phase?
A design workshop aligns stakeholders on the creative vision, user flows, and design objectives. It ensures that everyone involved has a shared understanding of the app’s purpose and direction, laying a solid foundation for an efficient and successful design and development process.
A well-crafted app prototype and comprehensive design blueprint are essential for a seamless development process. Our team’s expertise in transforming concepts into actionable designs ensures every detail is aligned with your vision. With the structure and strategy in place, your app is primed for successful development in the next stage.
