This blog will have the entire UX (User Experience) process summarised in small, easy to digest steps. There is a lot more involved in the UX part of any project but these steps will give you a simple overhead of the process.
Research
User experience design begins with user research, to better understand the needs of the people for whom the project is intended and the context in which they will use it. This research involves studying the problem, conducting interviews with stakeholders and potential users, and studying competitors.
The key to project success is involving all of the developers and product owners from the very beginning of the process. They must feel themselves being part of the process and that they are welcome to suggest their own ideas and solutions. Usually this team is the first one to test the design early in the overall process.
Analysis
Through analysis of what was found during the research stage, we start to create personas, drafted storyboards, translate our goals into our tasks, and tasks to the functions. From there you will need to grasp what the client is trying to achieve and, when combined with the analysis conducted earlier, this will give you a list of features which the end product will need to have and a better understanding of how the product will need to flow in order to get there.
Design
This stage can start with a simple pen and paper! Initially, draw different ideas onto paper, and once there’s been enough exploration, the process can move on to wireframes, mock-ups and test examples. If there is action the user needs to take, the wireframes may need to be animated or the prototype needs to be clickable.
User Testing
After a solid prototype is built, testing the product in a real environment is the next step. Observe customer interactions with the product, and use questionnaires and interviews with customers to identify difficulties or confusion. The main aim of this stage is to eliminate as many problems as possible without losing sight of the overall goals.
Finally, if there are changes to be made in light of the testing, we action those changes and revert to previous stages, creating an iterative process capable of creating a desired product.