Ambiguity in design isn’t a roadblock — it’s an opportunity. It’s the gray area where rules haven’t been written, and solutions are waiting to be discovered. 

So how do you turn “I have no idea where to start” into breakthrough ideas that actually work? At 8th Light, our approach is anchored in the three pillars of human-centered design: viability, feasibility, and desirability. These are the tools that transform chaos into clarity and make ambiguity your ally, not your enemy.

Viability: Define Your Destination Before Picking the Route

Here’s the thing: You don’t need to know the “how” right away. But you absolutely need to know the “why.” Viability ensures your team stays aligned with business objectives, reducing costly detours and keeping your efforts focused on delivering measurable value.

Picture this: You’re tasked with fixing a clunky customer onboarding process. The details are murky, but the goal is crystal clear — reduce the time it takes for new users to find value. That’s your anchor.

Once you’ve nailed the “why,” the rest becomes an experiment. Early missteps are just data points, guiding you toward smarter decisions. Viability keeps you aligned with business objectives, ensuring that every test and iteration serves a purpose.

Pro tip: Start every ambiguous project with these two questions:

• What are we trying to achieve?
• Why does this matter?

→ Takeaway: Start every project by defining clear business objectives and measurable outcomes. Use these as your north star to guide every decision.

Feasibility: Stop Guessing, Start Testing

With your goals in place, it’s time to embrace the unknown and start experimenting. Feasibility minimizes risk by validating ideas early, reducing the chance of expensive missteps, and accelerating your path to market-ready solutions. It answers the question: Can we actually build this?

Spoiler alert: You don’t need all the answers upfront. Instead, break the problem into bite-sized chunks and test your way forward.

Example: On one 8th Light project, the team needed to simplify a convoluted onboarding flow. Did they have the perfect solution from the start? Absolutely not. So, they tested. Small tweaks. Different user flows. Early failures. Each step revealed what worked — and what didn’t.

Here’s the genius of this approach: By failing fast, you learn fast

→ Takeaway: Break challenges into small experiments. Test, iterate, and refine quickly to learn what works before scaling up.

Desirability: Let Users Be Your Compass

Finally, desirability ensures your solutions resonate with users, driving satisfaction, retention, and long-term growth. It’s not enough for your solution to be viable and feasible; it has to be something users actually want.

This is where data comes into play. Those early experiments? They’re not just tests, they’re intel. What’s resonating with users? What’s falling flat? Dive into those results. 

Example: With the onboarding project, the team tested multiple flows and tracked engagement metrics. One flow stood out, boosting user satisfaction and retention. That insight didn’t come from guesswork — it came from listening to the data.

Collaboration is key too. Engage stakeholders, such as product managers, marketers, and developers, and synthesize their perspectives. Desirability thrives at the intersection of user needs and business objectives.

→ Takeaway: Engage users early and often. Track data, listen to feedback, and refine solutions to ensure they meet user needs and business goals.

From Ambiguity to Action

At 8th Light, we turn ambiguity into opportunity. Our expertise in human-centered design helps businesses align goals, experiment with confidence, and deliver impactful solutions that meet both user needs and business objectives.

Here’s how we can support your journey:

• Design Strategy: Collaborate with our multidisciplinary teams to align your product goals with user needs, ensuring your vision is both viable and desirable. Learn more about our design thinking approach.
• Prototyping & Testing: Quickly validate ideas through iterative experiments that reduce risk and deliver actionable insights. 
• Custom Software Development: Build scalable, user-centered solutions tailored to your business objectives. Explore our custom software development capabilities.
• Team Augmentation: Strengthen your internal teams with 8th Light’s expert designers, developers, and strategists. Find out how we can augment your team.

Ready to move from uncertainty to opportunity? Let’s start a conversation. Schedule a free consultation with our team to explore how we can help you design and build with confidence.