UI/UX DESIGN BLOG
Five Stages of UX Design Process
Design thinking is a non-linear and iterative process means the results of one stage may require you to return to the previous stages again.
It is a 5-step process that is applied for problem-solving. This method emphasizes user needs and behavior so that we can build products which can help and change the lives of people. We should have empathy towards the user during the overall process to understand the goals, needs, and pain points of the ideal user. Design Thinking is an iterative process involving redefining problems, empathizing users, ideating solutions. Design thinking process involves 5 phases —Empathise, Define, Ideate, Prototype, Test.
1. Empathise
Empathy means the ability to understand the feelings of others, their experiences, and motivations. This phase involves understanding the user deeply.
The typical activities performed during this phase are:-
1) Observation — You spend time with real users and observe their activities, engage with them. How do they interact with the existing product? What are the problems faced by them?
2) User-Interviews — You perform one on one or group interviews with the real users. This interview aims at collecting qualitative data related to users. How do they interact? How do they feel about using the product? What are the pain points with the current product?
3) User Surveys — User Surveys collect qualitative and quantitative data about the target audience. We mostly conducted these surveys online to capture their interactions and experiences with a digital product/service.
4) Empathy Mapping — This tool is mostly to gather all the important insights of user research in one place. Empathy maps include what people do, feel, say, hear in relation to a product.
2. Define
Collecting all the gatherings of empathizing phase, the next phase is defining the problem
This is the second step of design phase which gives opportunity to analyze all the observations, identify the similar patterns in the gathered findings, and start placing them together. This will lead you to find the Problem Statement. Problem Statement or POV (Point of View) Statement is a concise description of the major problem or issue to be solved.
We should not define the problem statement as per business goals. At the end of this phase, you will get a simple problem statement, which will be the basis for the next steps in the design thinking process. The activities performed during this phase are:-
1) Clustering -This task involves finding and grouping prominent and similar patterns in data. This phase involves brainstorming.
2) User Personas -A persona is an archetype that is used in empathizing with users’ needs and problems. This helps to define the problem statement in a human-centered way.
3. Ideate
After defining the problem, the next step is to ideate solutions or ideas for the problem.
In this phase, we try to brainstorm ideas as much as possible. This is a transition phase from identifying problems to exploring solutions. Then the collected ideas are evaluated by the entire team; Everyone has the full freedom to think up to a bigger picture and explore the ideas as much as possible. The team decides what they are going to prototype in the next phase. It is good to have many ideas at the beginning itself. You can pick ideation techniques to test your ideas at the end of this phase. The different Ideation techniques are:-
1) Brainstorming -This technique is a group activity performed by all the team members to find the conclusion or solution to a specific user problem.Some of the most useful strategies are "How Might We" and "Crazy Eights" All the team members generate ideas.
2) Worst Possible Idea-This technique is a fun activity in which the worst solution among ideated ideas.
4. Prototype
This is an experimental phase in which we turn ideas into something tangible to find solutions for specific problems and to test on real users.
Prototyping allows us to test our ideas quickly and update and text them on time. This phase involves building scaled-down versions of the entire product or some specific features of the product to test. A prototype allows us to know what features work and what does not. Prototyping can be a simple paper model or a digital interactive model. It can be low-fidelity or high-fidelity. You can start with written wireframe and then digital low-fidelity wireframe and prototyping, as it is easy to make changes. Prototyping is an iterative path, and they are updated and improved as per users’ feedback in the testing phase. We may share these prototypes with anybody inside or outside the design team. Prototypes are accepted, rejected, improved as per users’ feedback. Paper Prototyping is a major technique performed during this phase:- Paper Prototyping is a process involving the paper presentation of the ideated solution or a digital product. They are low-cost, flexible, and can be easily updated. Paper Prototyping helps in realizing design possibilities and concepts and test designs.This is followed by designing the Mockup and the final interative high fidelity prototype.
5. Test
During this stage you discover whether your idea(s) solves the user problem uncovered during the Empathise stage.
The last phase of Design Thinking process is the Testing phase. The designers evaluate the complete product during this phase. This phase is also known as Usability Testing. In usability testing, prototypes are evaluated and design flaws are determined during this phase. The prototypes build in the previous phase are tested by real users of the product. You will analyze users’ observations and interaction with prototypes — How do they feel using the product? How are they interacting with the prototype? Is the product fulfilling users’ goals? Then we make changes according to their feedback. However, testing is an iterative process and a non-linear process. Based on users’ feedback, the results are then used to redefine problems and you have to return to the previous four stages as per requirement.
Best courses to learn UI/UX design for beginners.
Foundations of User Experience (UX) Design by Google
Foundations of User Experience (UX) Design is the first of a series of seven courses that will equip you with the skills needed to apply to entry-level jobs in user experience design. UX designers focus on the interactions that people have with products like websites, mobile apps, and physical objects. UX designers make those everyday interactions usable, enjoyable, and accessible. The role of an entry-level UX designer might include empathizing with users, defining their pain points, coming up with ideas for design solutions, creating wireframes, prototypes, and mockups, and testing designs to get feedback. Current UX designers and researchers at Google will serve as your instructors, and you will complete hands-on activities that simulate real-world UX design scenarios. Learners who complete the seven courses in this certificate program should be equipped to apply for entry-level jobs as UX designers.
JOIN COURSE
User Experience: The Beginner’s Guide
This course will give an introduction to the breadth of UX design and understand why it matters. You’ll also learn the roles and responsibilities of a UX designer, how to confidently talk about UX and practical methods that you can apply to your work immediately. You will learn to identify the overlaps and differences between different fields and adapt your existing skills to UX design. Once you understand the lay of the land, you’ll be able to chart your journey into a career in UX design. You’ll hear from practicing UX designers from within the IxDF community — people who come from diverse backgrounds, have taught themselves design, learned on the job, and are enjoying successful careers.
JOIN COURSE
UX Design Program
Content is thorough, it’s mostly reading, they do a good job of explaining each topic and setting the foundation through the fundamentals course (initial 4-week course to introduce the design process). Then diving into more detail and practical application during the immersion part of the course.
JOIN COURSEnews about UX career
-
What a UX Career Looks Like Today
.png)
UX has emerged as a field in many more countries around the world. In our most recent study, we received responses from 65 different countries, compared to 38 countries in our original study. We also had a larger representation of non-English speaking countries, which could be an indicator of how the UX field has grown outside of the Western world over the 6-year period between studies. Our new report also analyzes the difference between UX roles, particularly between researchers, designers, and generalists. Although specialization is not new to the field, we had not performed this analysis in 2013. Some highlights of the differences between researchers and designers are given below. The Designer Role in a Snapshot Those with a UX designer role often have a broad range of responsibilities: from designing prototypes to collaborating with subject-matter experts or carrying out qualitative usability tests. Designers tend to have a design-related education and have skills in using prototyping tools and performing visual design. Many have front-end–coding skills.
-
What's the Future of UX Design?
It’s no longer enough to have a useful product that solves the user’s problem. Now, and in the years to come, user’s are expecting more. The products they use should be just useful as well as easy to interact with, engaging, and visually appealing. Motion design is a great way to keep users hooked and make their experiences frictionless. Filling blank spaces with relevant animations and lively transitions are a great way to appeal to the user’s emotions, keep them engaged, and make their experiences feel smooth and seamless. Users are also relying on mobile devices on a more regular basis. They expect to be able to achieve everything they would be able to on a website on a smartphone or tablet. Smaller devices means less screen real estate. This is where utilizing gestures (like swiping, pinching, tapping, or tilting the screen) is key. Designing intuitive gestural interfaces allows more content to be stored within an app without overcrowding the screen and overwhelming the user.
Inspiring Books for UX designers
Bill Gates
Reading is still the main way that I both learn new things and test my understanding.
List of Books
The Design of Everyday Things Book by Don Norman
The Design of Everyday Things Book by Don Norman
The Design of Everyday Things is a best-selling book by cognitive scientist and usability engineer Donald Norman about how design serves as the communication between object and user, and how to optimize that conduit of communication in order to make the experience of using the object pleasurable.
BEST BUY LINK
.png)
The Basics of User Experience Design: A UX Design Book by the Interaction Design Foundation
The Basics of User Experience Design: A UX Design Book by the Interaction Design Foundation
If you're looking to gain an introduction into the world of user experience (UX) design—or maybe even freshen up your knowledge of the field—then this UX design book is the ideal place to start.
You'll cover a wide range of topics over nine highly readable chapters, with each one acting as a mini crash course. By the end, you'll have been introduced to the key concepts, best practices, and guidelines in areas such as:
- User Experience (UX) Design
- Design Thinking
- Usability
- User Research
- Interaction Design
- Mobile Web Design
- Information Visualization
BEST BUY LINK
Design Your Thinking: The Mindsets, Toolsets and Skill Sets for Creative Problem-solving
Design Your Thinking: The Mindsets, Toolsets and Skill Sets for Creative Problem-solving
Design thinking is a unique and path-breaking approach to problem-solving. Written in an engaging and accessible style, this book will equip the reader with the right tools and skills to solve problems creatively.
'Time has come that design thinking be applied beyond products, beyond customers and beyond specific functions. We at Bigbasket try that every single day, and I wish you do the same. This book would serve as a definitive guide in your journey to embrace design thinking in totality' -- Hari Menon, co-founder & CEO, Bigbasket.com
'A fresh perspective on design thinking with important added elements, namely inspiration and scale. As new opportunities in a dramatically different world are explored, one will be able to draw on unique insights from the multitude of case studies peppered throughout the book. A thorough and sincere effort from Dr Pavan Soni!' -- Dr R.A. Mashelkar, FRS, National Research Professor
'Dr Soni has delivered a lucid treatise on the "How To" of design thinking. A must-read book' -- Vijay Govindarajan
BEST BUY LINK
Design Thinking For Dummies
Design Thinking For Dummies
Design thinking is not just the property of graphic designers. This approach to creating solutions by thinking from the customer perspective can lead to new and innovative ideas that old methods could not approach. Design thinking for Dummies provides a jump-start to get you and your organization on the path to new creativity. Written by a design thinking thought leader, this book helps you through the design thinking cycle and shows how it can help any industry.
BEST BUY LINK
