The stages of a typical design process and the level of effort generally experienced in each step is illustrated in the following graph. Other designers may break these up a bit differently or may apply different titles to the stages. Regardless of those slight differences, there is a general consensus regarding the common flow and methodology of the UX design process.

Of course, the actual level of effort will depend on each specific project and the team we are working with. However, this should give us a general idea of the effort required to produce the deliverables listed out after each stage in this chapter.

Let's begin by getting into some of the details and examining each step of the design process. I will explain the goal of each phase, give some helpful tips, bring to your attention some commonly used techniques, and describe how to determine when it's time to move to the next stage in the process.