// description
The Double Diamond model describes a design process as two connected diamonds. The first diamond is about finding the right problem: Discover (broad research) narrows to Define (a specific problem statement). The second diamond is about finding the right solution: Develop (broad ideation) narrows to Deliver (a refined solution). The model makes visible the often-overlooked truth that divergent thinking is needed twice: once to understand the problem space and once to explore the solution space.
// history
The British Design Council introduced the Double Diamond in 2005 after studying the design processes of 11 global companies including LEGO, Microsoft, Sony, and Starbucks. The researchers observed that despite differences in terminology and industry, every effective design process followed the same pattern of divergent-convergent, divergent-convergent. The model was updated in 2019 to include enabling factors such as leadership, engagement, and design principles.
// example
A digital product creator notices declining sales on her Etsy affirmation print range and applies the Double Diamond. In Discover, she surveys lapsed buyers, checks competitors' listings, and reviews her own reviews broadly. In Define, she pinpoints the actual problem: buyers love the prints but they're not buying replacements because they don't know how to switch up their gallery walls — the problem is display confidence, not print quality. In Develop, she brainstorms broadly: styling guides, mix-and-match sets, themed gallery wall kits, size variety. In Deliver, she creates a "gallery wall kit" bundle with a free styling guide — a simple product change that increases average order value and addresses the actual customer barrier.
// katharyne's take
The Double Diamond is the framework that taught me to stay in discovery mode longer before jumping to solutions. The first diamond — finding the right problem — is where most of your value lives. The most common mistake I see creators make is skipping straight to "what should I build?" when they haven't yet answered "what problem am I actually solving?" Spending an extra week in the first diamond consistently produces better products than spending an extra month in the second one.
// creative uses
- When a KDP title underperforms, apply the first diamond before changing anything: Discover (read your reviews, read competitor reviews, search the keyword in Amazon and read the "customers also bought" patterns) then Define (name the single actual problem). Most creators skip straight to a cover redesign when the problem is actually keyword strategy or subtitle clarity.
- Use the Double Diamond for new course development: spend the first diamond understanding what your students actually struggle with (survey existing students, read their email replies, watch their behavior in your community). Only enter the second diamond — building the curriculum — when you have a specific, validated problem statement.
- Apply it to your Etsy shop as a whole when revenue plateaus: Discover broadly (traffic sources, conversion by section, customer message themes, review language), Define narrowly (the one bottleneck — is it traffic, is it conversion, is it repeat purchase?), then build solutions only for that defined problem.
// quick actions
- For your next product idea, resist opening Canva for one full week. Spend that week only in Diamond 1: read 50 Amazon reviews in your niche (Discover), then write one sentence summarising the specific unmet need you found (Define). That sentence is more valuable than 10 hours of design work done in the wrong direction.
- Review your current product lineup and identify any item you built by going straight to Diamond 2 without Diamond 1. Read its reviews now with fresh eyes. Is the problem customers are naming the same problem you set out to solve? The gap between those two answers is your redesign brief.
- Before your next Midjourney style exploration session, do 20 minutes of Discover research: look at what's currently selling in your Etsy niche on Marmalead or Erank, check Pinterest trends for your category, and read what people are pinning and saving. Define the visual gap in the market before you generate a single image.
// prompt ideas
Walk me through the Double Diamond for this product or business challenge: [describe the situation — e.g. declining Etsy sales / a course with low completion rates / a new KDP niche I'm considering]. Start with the Discover phase — what research should I be doing before I define the problem — then help me write a specific Define statement that will guide the solution phase.
I want to build [new product idea]. Before I start designing anything, help me spend one week in Diamond 1. Give me a research plan: 5 specific things to observe or read (Amazon reviews, Reddit threads, competitor listings, etc.) and 3 questions to ask real potential buyers. At the end, I should be able to write a one-sentence problem definition.
Here are my research findings from studying my target buyer for [product type]: [paste your notes, quotes, or review excerpts]. Help me converge from Discover to Define — synthesise these findings into the single most important problem I should be solving, and explain why the other problems I noticed are secondary or derivative.