Skip to content
APDD
My library
ESEN
See my library

Process

Double Diamond

A four-phase process model (discover, define, develop and deliver) that alternates divergent and convergent thinking twice.

In Spanish
Doble diamante
Origin
Design Council (2003–2004), building on earlier divergence–convergence models such as Banathy’s (1996)

What it’s for

It helps you avoid jumping to the solution before you properly understand the problem.

Phases

  • Discover

    Research the challenge with the people affected.

  • Define

    Make sense of what you learned and pin down the problem.

  • Develop

    Generate and test several solutions.

  • Deliver

    Choose, refine and launch the one that works.

An example

Two ways to start a project.

Straight to the solutionproblemsolutionstraight to building
An idea is chosen at the first meeting and building starts. Fast, but blind.
Double Diamondproblemsolutiondiscoverdefinedevelopdeliver
First research opens up and the problem is defined; then solutions are opened up and tested. The right problem gets solved.

The first diamond looks for the right problem; the second, the right solution.

How it’s done

  1. Diverge: open up options without judging.

  2. Converge: choose and narrow down.

  3. Doing it twice separates understanding the problem from solving it.

Applications in design

  • When to use it

    When it isn’t clear what the problem is: the first diamond helps you understand it before looking for solutions.

  • Avoid

    Following it as a rigid waterfall: in practice you go back many times.

  • Don’t fall for it

    Set aside time for the first diamond and make the team’s current phase visible, so no one argues about solutions while still researching.

Connections

Builds on

Related to

Authors and works

  1. 2003–2004

    Design Council

    Its design and innovation team, led by Richard Eisermann, shaped the model in 2003 and began spreading it in 2004.

  2. 1996

    Béla H. Banathy

    One of the authors who earlier proposed alternating divergence and convergence, in the design of social systems.

Sources

Original sources

  • Design Council (n.d.). History of the Double Diamond. Design Council. View source: Design Council (n.d.)
  • Banathy, B. H. (1996). Designing social systems in a changing world. Plenum Press.

Last reviewed: