Marnix Bras
Lecturer Design & Innovation / UX & Innovation Consultant
@ Christelijke hogeschool Ede (CHE) /
self-employed
Lightning presentation - English
The Double Diamond is dead, long live the Double Diamond - Shifting into reverse
Designers are often taught the Double Diamond as a clean journey from research to delivery. Real design work rarely starts on the left. In enterprise UX, designers often enter a project when someone has already decided to “build an app”, selected a feature or promised a solution.
So the Double Diamond as a linear process is dead. The model itself is still very useful.
In this lightning talk, Marnix Bras introduces Design Backtracking: using the Double Diamond as a map and shifting into reverse when necessary. Starting from a proposed solution, he shows how to trace assumptions backwards, reopen the relevant design space and decide how far back you actually need to go.
Takeaways:
Recognise where you really entered the design process.
Work backwards from solutions to questions and assumptions.
Use the Double Diamond more flexibly in real organisations.
Leave with a practical map for designing backwards. Make design joyful again!
About Marnix
Marnix Bras is a UX and innovation designer, educator and facilitator with 25 years of experience in digital design and change. He teaches Design and Innovation at Christelijke Hogeschool Ede across ICT and interdisciplinary programmes, and holds a Master in Crossover Creativity from HKU. His work focuses on helping designers and young professionals navigate the gap between how design processes are taught and how design work actually unfolds inside organisations.