How would you design delightful experiences for users? Many would start drilling their Figma boards with user flows and trying to find unnecessary screens to remove.

Let’s take a step back.

Remember when you were a small kid and your uncle or auntie secretly handed you sweets? Then you started doing non-stop small jumps, jumping in excitement. Do you remember how joyful you were?

The big question is: how do we replicate that joyful memory in designing experiences for product design? I invented a very simple technique. I called it “What is our cherry on top?” Let me break it down.

“Cherry on top” is a technique where you bring your Figma board into the spotlight, focusing on one screen at a time, or choosing only one screen within your user flows. Within your selected screen, brainstorm what would be the one thing you could add, change, or remove. The expected narrative when your users interact with what you have added, changed, or removed would be expressions like “Oh, this is nice!”, “It’s refreshing!”, or “I thought that was cool!”

Here are a few examples I could use to illustrate the technique. Back in 2011, in their early days, do you remember when Instagram allowed you to double-tap to like photos? Wasn’t that simple yet so efficient? I don’t know about you, but for me it was “Huh… easy and somehow making me want to keep double-tapping the next photo I see.” Second, remove any redundant copy in your copywriting. Look for things like exclamation marks. Some products overuse them hoping to gain more attention. Lastly, play with micro-interactions. Add that fade in-out effect when users press that beautiful cta button of yours.

The rules are simple. Firstly, do not create a separate meeting for discussing Cherry on top. It should be part of your design review agenda, else it would defeat the whole purpose. Secondly, discuss Cherry on top before you hand off the design to the Engineers. Thirdly, select one screen only from your user flows.

So how do you run the technique? In the meeting, prompt that question to everyone. For the first 5 minutes, do the silent brainstorm. Let everyone stare at the design screen. The next 10 minutes are for people to share their ideas. Then spend 5 minutes discussing technical feasibility. Flooded with ideas? Great—that’s a good problem to have. If you’re in that scenario, do a quick vote. Pick only one and move on. That’s it.

So, next time in the meeting remember to ask “What is our cherry on top?”

Good luck!