ZeroBlockers vs Double Diamond
Delivery should be able to change the solution.
What it is
A clear map for finding the problem and the solution
The Double Diamond has four stages: Discover, Define, Develop and Deliver. Teams explore a problem, pick one to solve, try several solutions, and keep the one that works. The Design Council also includes small tests in the framework which allows for going back to earlier stages.
Where it breaks
Delivery cannot change the signed-off solution
The Design Council expects teams to go back to earlier stages, but it does not say who funds or approves that, or who builds the result. So organizations use the project process they already have.
The chosen solution is signed off at the end of the second diamond and handed to a delivery team with a budget for that design. When building and releasing show a better answer, changing it needs a change request. The model also maps one challenge at a time, and leaves open how other teams and the rest of the business work with the result.
You will often see
- The second diamond ends in a sign-off.
- Changing the design needs a change request.
- The researchers have moved on by launch.
How ZeroBlockers fixes it
The same diamonds, with delivery in the same team
Who carries the work from idea to satisfied customer
| Strategy and funding | Discover the problem | Test solutions | Build | Release | Run and measure | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Double Diamond | Left to the organization | Design team | Left to the organization | |||
| ZeroBlockers | Product Team | Stream Team | ||||
Double Diamond
- Strategy and fundingLeft to the organization
- Discover the problem to Test solutionsDesign team
- Build to Run and measureLeft to the organization
ZeroBlockers
- Strategy and fundingProduct Team
- Discover the problem to Run and measureStream Team
ZeroBlockers keeps the Double Diamond’s way of exploring and narrowing, and gives the work to one team that also builds and releases it. The team owns a part of the customer journey, such as helping travelers find a place to stay.
No design is signed off and handed over, so the team can go back to the problem whenever building or live use says it should.
The usual reply
“A delivery team will not explore widely enough.”
Designers will say that the first diamond needs room to diverge. A team that also owns delivery feels pressure to ship, so it narrows to a problem too quickly and explores only what it already knows. A dedicated discovery phase protects that time.
The risk is real. ZeroBlockers answers it with research that sits in every week of the team’s schedule, limits on work in progress so delivery cannot crowd research out, and Enabling Teams that coach the team on wider exploration. Where a problem is so new that no team owns it yet, a separate piece of exploration can make sense. Once a team owns the area, going back to the problem is part of its job.
01 / Side by side
How the approaches differ
- ProcessHow work moves from idea to live use
Double Diamond
Discover, define, develop, and deliver: explore a problem, narrow it, try solutions, and keep what works. The model ends once a solution is agreed.
ZeroBlockers
Keeps the same exploring and narrowing, and carries on through build, release, and live use. Anything learned along the way can send the team back to the problem.
- StructureWho is on the team
Double Diamond
Does not say who does the work, so the agreed design is often handed to a separate delivery team.
ZeroBlockers
One Stream Team designs, builds, and releases, so the people who did the research stay with the solution.
- GovernanceHow success is judged and who decides
Double Diamond
Who approves a change of direction after the solution is agreed is left open, so it often needs a formal change request.
ZeroBlockers
Leaders review evidence and decisions every week. The team changes direction itself when the findings call for it, and only high-risk decisions go up for approval.
- FundingWhether the scope gets locked
Double Diamond
The agreed solution is often signed off and funded as a project with a fixed scope.
ZeroBlockers
Funds a part of the customer journey, so going back to the problem needs no new budget.
- AlignmentHow many teams stay aligned
Double Diamond
Maps one design challenge. How many teams stay aligned is left to the organization.
ZeroBlockers
The Product Team sets the strategy and agrees outcome targets with each team, and teams choose solutions within them.
- ScalingSkills and the rest of the business
Double Diamond
Asks leaders to create the conditions for exploration, and leaves open how the rest of the business works with the team.
ZeroBlockers
Internal Product Teams turn common requests to Legal, Security, and the platform into self-service, so the team does not wait in another group’s queue.
02 / Why it differs
The differences explained
Signing off the solution freezes it before delivery starts
The Design Council’s Framework for Innovation handles going back well while a team is still looking for a solution. Small tests can send the team back to an earlier stage, and solutions that do not work get thrown out. The framework ends once a solution is agreed, so it does not cover building and releasing it, or who funds that work and approves a change of direction.
So organizations use the project process they already have. The agreed solution is signed off at the end of the second diamond, becomes an approved scope with a budget, and goes to a delivery team funded to build it. Yet building and releasing are where a team learns most about how a solution works for customers. Going back now means a formal change request against a finished stage, and the funding rules punish every step backward.
ZeroBlockers removes the solution sign-off. Money goes to a part of the customer journey, and the Product Team, the leadership group for the product, reviews evidence and decisions every week. A team goes back to its assumptions when the findings call for it and tells leaders what it decided. Only high-risk decisions and commitments outside the team’s scope go up for approval.
Going back to discovery needs a team that still exists
When discovery is run as a project, it ends when the design is signed off and handed over. If building or a live test then shows the design misses, the people who did the research have already moved on. Someone has to find a new budget and staff a new team to look again.
ZeroBlockers funds a persistent Stream Team, a small team that owns one part of the customer journey. The same people research, build, run the service, and check the results. When the solution needs a second look, they are still there to take it.
The Product Team reviews the investment each quarter and can redirect or stop it when the opportunity no longer holds up.
Exploration needs a decision at the end
A team that keeps exploring forever wastes as much time as one that picks the wrong answer too early. ZeroBlockers limits work in progress. Each test should answer one question, and the team says up front which decision the answer will settle.
The Product Team pushes back on research that never changes a decision, just as it pushes back on features that never change a customer result. The Weekly Product Review covers the decisions the team made, without walking through every research activity.
Sources and comparison scope
Reviewed September 2026. This page compares ZeroBlockers with Double Diamond as documented, with attributed practitioner accounts where available. Descriptions of Double Diamond follow its published guidance. Claims about common practice are attributed where they come from a named source. Other statements about what organizations typically do are our analysis. The worked example is our analysis and reports no measured results.