As web developers, we marvel at technology. We enjoy the many tools that help with our work: multipurpose editors, frameworks, libraries, polyfills and shims, content management systems, preprocessors, build and deployment tools, development consoles, production monitors—the list goes on.

Welcome to the second installment of the “Discovery on a Budget” series, in which we explore how to conduct effective discovery research when there is no existing data to comb through, no stakeholders to interview, and no slush fund to draw upon. In part 1 of this series, we discussed how it is helpful to articulate what you know (and what you assume) in the form of a problem hypothesis. We also covered strategies for conducting one of the most affordable and effective research methods: user interviews.

In 2014, the clinic where I served as head of communications and digital strategy switched to a new online patient portal, a change that was mandated by the electronic health record (EHR) system we used. The company that provides the EHR system held several meetings for the COO and me to learn the new tool and provided materials to give to patients to help them register for and use the new portal.

If you want to improve your UI design skills, have you tried looking at chess? I know it sounds contrived, but hear me out. I’m going to take a concept from chess and use it to build a toolkit of UI design strategies. By the end, we’ll have covered color, typography, lighting and shadows, and more.

But it all starts with rooks and pawns.