Every project goes through six stages, each with its own set of management issues, design activities, and tools.

• Envision: Align the agendas of all stakeholders with organizational strategy and the need for “extreme usability,” and develop a clear, shared product vision.
• Discovery: Study users to determine high-level user requirements.
• Design Foundation: Develop a conceptual design and create a key screen prototype. Usability test the design, revise, repeat.
• Design Detail: Flesh out the high-level design into a complete specification.
• Build: Support the production process through review and late-stage change management.
• Release: Develop a roll-out plan to support for users transition to the new product; document lessons learned.