UX Design Process

We looked at a design process back in Module 1. That process was very linear--providing 10 steps to move through before the process is complete.

While the process does allow for critique and feedback, it centres on the designer having the main influence over the outcome. 'Design Thinking' places stakeholders (all interested parties: owners, users, employees, customers, etc.) at the centre of the process.

A UX Design process, as you might have guessed, prioritises the user. It relies on a thorough understanding of their needs and requirements, backed by regular testing and iteration.

UX Design and User-Centred Design (UCD) are both Design Thinking methodologies that place the user at the centre and offer an approach to solving complex problems.

Empathise

This first stage is all about research and gaining an understanding of your users and the problems they do or may face.

During this stage, many techniques can be used to learn about the users, including:

• Interviews: Asking specific questions to gain qualitative and quantitative data--often through one-on-one conversations.
• Surveys: Great for quickly gathering user feedback about a product or idea.
• Observation: Watching users interact with a product.

Define

During this stage, we want to first define our users. To do this, we often create multiple personas that represent the different types of users, and the ways they interact with the problem.

A persona is a fictional representation of a person in your target audience. While a target audience may usually include an age range, types of employment, income range, etc., a persona is far more specific.

Personas will have a name and specific age, a photograph, a job, a series of goals, frustrations and values that are important to them. They often contain quotes of things heard said during the evidence-gathering. The creation of a persona must be supported by the evidence you have gathered. All of this helps us better understand the user.

We refer to the personas when creating our empathy maps and when we are ideating and designing. We ask, 'Will this work for my persona?' to keep the work focused on solving the right problems.

Empathy mapping

An empathy map is used to define what users say, think, do and feel in relation to the problem.

Watch the video below for an expansion on empathy maps.

Journey mapping

A journey map is often created to visualise how a user achieves their goal. It takes note of key points of interaction, how the user is feeling, and any pain point associated with the interaction.

 

The example above maps the journey for the personas Jim and Pam with an online booking service as they plan, book and share their vacation.

There are lots of different ways to present a journey map. Take a look at some examples here.

Creative Activity

Think about the last product you purchased or a product you are planning to purchase. Use Canva to create an infographic journey map for the experience. Your Journey map should include:

• key points of interaction
• how you felt about each interaction
• what was good
• what could have been better.

Ideate

Now we come up with some ideas! We should have a good understanding of our users and the problems they face. This stage is about figuring out ways to solve the problem by coming up with possible solutions.

You might do a brainstorm or use a method like:

• Crazy 8’s from Google's Design sprint kit
• SCAMPER method.

Whichever method you use, it is important to get all the ideas down. Some will be good; others will not be so good. Get everything down before you start eliminating them.

Design

It is at this stage that we begin to make our ideas into concepts we can test. We sketch and wireframe using both hand-rendered and digital techniques.

During this stage, it is important to only include the detail necessary to test the concept. As we iterate through the process, our wireframes and prototypes will increase in fidelity from low (greyscale and basic shapes) to high (colour and with finely rendered interface elements).

Test

Before we test, we need to make prototypes. A 'prototype' is a simulated version of the design. It is interactive but does not have to be created in a prototyping app. There are lots of ways to prototype.

Paper prototyping

Paper prototyping is a great way to test unique or novel ideas. They are easy to make and avoid the distraction associated with finely rendered artwork.

Using paper, pencils and sticky tape, each screen of an interaction can be mocked up and navigated by moving to the next card.

Iterate and Repeat

User Experience Design relies on iteration to get to the best solution. Your testing stage will likely uncover some ideas that went well and some ideas that were not successful.

You are also likely to have learnt more about your users and gained a better understanding of the problem.

Moving back to the earlier stages with this new information allows us to update our personas and empathy maps, generate new ideas and create more designs to test.