“What process do you follow while designing applications and websites?” is a question many designers get asked. UX Process is a fundamental component of UX Design, which is why it is a popular question many have heard.

Without a proper UX Design Process, you have less chance of creating a product with good UX.

This post will outline a comprehensive UX Design Process, the normal progression of the many UX phases, and the techniques to apply at each phase.

What does the UX Process entail?

The procedure will vary depending on the kind of product you’re designing. Different projects call for different strategies; for instance, a corporate website requires a different strategy than a dating app.

Design Thinking is a UX Methodology that most designers are familiar with. The five stages of this method are empathy, definition, ideation, prototyping, and testing.

The five major steps of UX Process

These are the five main steps of the UX Process if Design Thinking were to be applied to product design:

Product Definition

A product’s context of existence must be understood before it can be built, and the base for the finished product is laid during the product definition phase. In this stage, stakeholders and UX designers collaborate to discuss about the product and its concept. Typically, this phase covers the following:

• Interviewing important stakeholders to learn more about the objectives of the business.
• Value Proposition Mapping involves considering the essential characteristics and value propositions of the product, its nature, intended audience, and motivations for use.
• Concept Sketching is the process of developing a low-fidelity paper mockup of the design of a future product.
  

A project kick-off meeting usually concludes this phase. It provides a high-level overview of the product’s goal, team structure (who will design and build the product), collaboration mechanisms, and stakeholder expectations (such as KPIs and how to measure the product’s success).

Product Analysis

Experienced product designers view both market and user research as a wise investment because it helps them make better design choices and because researching upfront can help them save time and money later on. This stage may consist of the following:

• Individual In-Depth Interviews (IDI): A solid understanding of the users is the foundation of a fantastic product experience. Qualitative information on the target audience, such as their requirements, wants, fears, motivations, and behaviour are provided through in-depth interviews.
• Competitive Research: Research enables UX designers to comprehend industry norms and identify opportunities for the product within its specialised market.

Evaluation

The objective of the analysis phase is to deduce insights from the data gathered during the research phase, shifting the focus from “what” people desire, think they need, or need to know to “why” they want and think they need it. Designers verify that the team’s most crucial presumptions are true throughout this phase. Typically included in this stage of the UX process are:

• Building User Personas: The various user categories for your product are represented by personas, which are fictional people. These personas can be used as clear representations of your target market while you develop your product.
• User Story Creation: A user story creation is a method that can be used to comprehend better how users engage with a product or service. “As a user, I want to [goal to attain] so that [motivation]” is the typical definition.
• Storyboarding: User stories and user persona can be connected by designers using the process of storyboarding. As the name suggests, it is a story depicting a user’s interaction with your product.

Design

Product designers proceed to the design phase once they understand what users want, need, and expect from a product. Product teams engage in some tasks at this stage, including developing the Information Architecture (IA) and UI design. A successful design phase is iterative and highly collaborative. Typically, the design phase entails the following:

• Sketching: The quickest and easiest approach to visualising our ideas is through sketches. This can be achieved by hand-drawing on paper, a whiteboard, or a digital tool. It may let the team view a wide range of design ideas and opportunities before determining which one to use, which makes it incredibly helpful during brainstorming sessions.
• Creating Wireframes: A wireframe is a tool designers may use to see the important components of a page and how they will work together. Designers often use wireframes as the basis for mockups and prototypes since they serve as the product’s structural backbone.
• Developing Prototypes: Prototypes focus more on the actual interaction experience than wireframes, mainly concerned with visual hierarchy and structure. A prototype is “a model or sample version of the finished product, used by UX teams for testing prior to launch.”

Validation

Validation or Testing is a crucial stage in the design process since it enables teams to determine whether their design is effective for their target audience. Since testing with high-fidelity designs yields more insightful feedback from end users, the validation phase typically begins after the high-fidelity design is complete. During user testing sessions, the team validates the product with stakeholders and end users. Here are some activities that are done during the validation phase:

• Prototype Testing: It is essential to do user testing with participants who are representative of your target market. Tests can be done using various methods, such as focus groups, A/B testing, beta testing, and moderated/unmoderated usability testing.
• Surveys: Surveys are a great way to collect data from actual users, both quantitatively and qualitatively. To collect user feedback on specific features, UX designers can include open-ended questions like “What part of the product do you like or dislike?”.
• Analytics: To understand how people interact with your product, quantitative data from an analytics platform (clicks, search queries, navigational time etc.) can be quite useful.

How to make UX Design more effective

Now that you understand how each stage relates to the other, let’s look at some helpful info for improving the UX Design procedure.

• Accepting the fact that the design process is iterative: UX design is an iterative process rather than a linear one. As the UX designer gains more insight into the issue and the users, designers may rethink to reevaluate some design choices. It’s critical to recognise that no design will ever be perfect. As a result, spend some time considering the needs of your target market to improve your product.
• Concentrate on establishing excellent communication: An essential UX Design skill is communication. While creating excellent designs is one thing, effectively communicating great design is just as crucial. To achieve this, schedule frequent design review meetings and gather stakeholders to ensure everyone is informed of and aware of the product design decisions.