100 THINGS I LEARNED ABOUT DESIGN | JUNE 22, 2020
100 THINGS I LEARNED ABOUT DESIGN
JUNE 22, 2020
UX isn't a single step and it's certainly more than opening up your laptop and knocking out wireframes. As I mentioned in my previous post on What is UX Design, UX Design is a process. It's a series of steps that you go through to create wildly successful products.
The process that follows is my own personal approach to UX Design. It's how I tackle every UX project I work on. It's the design process that I've refined over the last eight years. Enough hype though. Let's look at the process.
UX isn't a single step and it's certainly more than opening up your laptop and knocking out wireframes. As I mentioned in my previous post on What is UX Design, UX Design is a process. It's a series of steps that you go through to create wildly successful products.
The process that follows is my own personal approach to UX Design. It's how I tackle every UX project I work on. It's the design process that I've refined over the last eight years. Enough hype though. Let's look at the process.
My UX Design process is divided into 4 stages:
Research
Design
Test
Deliver
The research stage is where you set out to learn everything about:
a. the business you're creating the product for
b. the people who will use the product, aka the users
In other words, you're gathering Business Requirements and User Requirements. The techniques for gathering these requirements are the following.
On the Business side:
On the User side:
One my favorite stages in the process and perhaps the most fulfilling. The design stage is where the product comes to life. It's where you take all the insights and findings you gathered from Research and use them to create a tangible design. The output of the Design stage—sometimes referred to as deliverables—includes:
In the test stage, you validate your designs with users to determine:
a. what they like
b. where they struggle
For me, the test stage is the most important stage in the UX Design Process because it allows you to flag major issues BEFORE the product moves in to UI Design and Development. This is crucial because as the product approaches these later stages, it becomes more difficult (and more expensive) to make changes. Whereas, in wireframes making changes and solving issues is quick and painless. For this very reason, it's important to test early and test often.
What does the testing stage look like? I personally divide it into the following steps:
This is where you take ALL the the work you've done so far (Research, Design, Testing) and share it with the other teams involved on the project. These teams include UI Designers, Developers, Copywriters, and even your client.
The Deliver stage is key and often overlooked. It's where the important insights and design thinking get handed off to the other teams. Providing them with context and making the work they have to do easier and user-centered. Put simply, what you deliver will help UI Designers design better and Developers code better.
The techniques involved in the Deliver stage include:
And that covers it. That's how the proverbial sausage is made. Or tofu for my vegan people. If you're not familiar with the techniques detailed above, I'll be following this post with how-tos and some practical examples.
My UX Design process is divided into 4 stages:
Research
Design
Test
Deliver
The research stage is where you set out to learn everything about:
a. the business you're creating the product for
b. the people who will use the product, aka the users
In other words, you're gathering Business Requirements and User Requirements. The techniques for gathering these requirements are the following.
On the Business side:
On the User side:
One my favorite stages in the process and perhaps the most fulfilling. The design stage is where the product comes to life. It's where you take all the insights and findings you gathered from Research and use them to create a tangible design. The output of the Design stage—sometimes referred to as deliverables—includes:
In the test stage, you validate your designs with users to determine:
a. what they like
b. where they struggle
For me, the test stage is the most important stage in the UX Design Process because it allows you to flag major issues BEFORE the product moves in to UI Design and Development. This is crucial because as the product approaches these later stages, it becomes more difficult (and more expensive) to make changes. Whereas, in wireframes making changes and solving issues is quick and painless. For this very reason, it's important to test early and test often.
What does the testing stage look like? I personally divide it into the following steps:
This is where you take ALL the the work you've done so far (Research, Design, Testing) and share it with the other teams involved on the project. These teams include UI Designers, Developers, Copywriters, and even your client.
The Deliver stage is key and often overlooked. It's where the important insights and design thinking get handed off to the other teams. Providing them with context and making the work they have to do easier and user-centered. Put simply, what you deliver will help UI Designers design better and Developers code better.
The techniques involved in the Deliver stage include:
And that covers it. That's how the proverbial sausage is made. Or tofu for my vegan people. If you're not familiar with the techniques detailed above, I'll be following this post with how-tos and some practical examples.
Get started with our online UX course.
Get started with our online UX course.
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© 2021 BUTTER DIGITAL INC.
PRIVACY POLICY | ACCEPTABLE USE | TERMS & CONDITIONS
© 2021 BUTTER DIGITAL INC.
PRIVACY POLICY | AUP | TERMS & CONDITIONS