UX Process
Stage 1
Building empathy
- Learning about the audience
- Aligning with client and user values, mission and goals
- Defining questions/problems to research later
Stage 2
Research
Attitudinal (listening what users say), Behavioral (observing what users do), Primary (generating original data), Secondary (using existing data from external sources). Some common user research methods: 1:1 interview, focus group (3-5 target users), survey, usability testing.
Stage 3
Analysis
All the gathered data gets commonly distilled in Personas and User Journey Map: both documents serve as reference in the next stage, to take informed decisions about both visual design and user experience in every facet.
Stage 4
Design
Design can come in different deliverables as needed: wireframes, mockups, prototypes, design system, guidelines, user flows and more. Great design answers the right questions, it’s unambiguous, comfy and respects users cognitive load and use cases.
Design requires knowledge about: target audience, market, products, UI components, design systems, best practices, interaction and information design. UX design requires collaboration between stakeholders, iterations and testing.
Stage 5
Validation
Validating UX decisions is crucial to keep moving in the right direction, a common way to track progress is to define UX and business KPIs. User Experience Design is an iterative process and testing needs to be conducted before and after product launch. Testing methodologies can be categorized in: moderated, unmoderated, remote, in person, explorative, comparative.
Testing can be aimed to study usability, user behavior, or any needed topic. Popular methodologies include: guerrilla testing, card sorting, tree testing, A/B testing, 5-seconds test, screen recording, internal testing, eye/click tracking and many more.