UX Design Process
Here's a brief overview of the process I follow (further details follow)
- Start with goals! Clarify the business goals and the experience goals.
- On to research. I learn what it's like to be in the shoes of the people we are designing for and glean insights that are used during design. Characterize the people we are designing for in user profiles or personas.
- Following the research, capture use case scenarios then model and sketch the flow, structure and architecture of the experience. Create a depiction of the mental model people have about how things work and their experience/journey.
- After reviewing the model and sketches with subject matter experts (SMEs), I build an interactive wireframe prototype (for any alternative approaches we choose to explore further) that is used to walk through scenarios with the people who will use the solution.
- After incorporating feedback into the wireframes, prepare a usability study using the prototype in order to observe people working through realistic use case scenarios.
- Refine the solution based on observations made during the study. Add acceptance criteria and design rationale to agile stories and review the design with developers and testers.
- Turn the prototype into a high-fidelity final design that captures key details for implementation.
Goals
Get clarity on how success will be measured and what success looks like. Work toward making both business and experience goals measurable. Typical measures might involve conversion, engagement, task completion, errors, learning curve, etc.
Research
Learn what it's like to be in the shoes of the people we are designing for. Observe how they interact with the systems they currently use in the context of their work, what matters to their management and what a good day (and a bad day) is like for them. The insights from this research will inform the design and the inevitable trade-offs made along the way.
Capture Use Case Scenarios
Describe and clarify the most frequent and important scenarios to facilitate agreement on priorities. Move ahead with the 'Happy Path' and work on the highest priority use cases; relegate edge cases to lower priority.
Model and Sketch
Model the information in a way that matches how people think about it. Create a mental model that reflects what we learned in our research.
Rough out the flow and sketch out major aspects of the design and architecture to work through navigation, layout, consistency and cohesion of the design. Review and refine with the team and the people that will use the solution.
Explore Alternatives
Explore different approaches to solving the problem, comparing viable options. Apply principles and different design patterns and present rationale for design desicions.
Wireframe Prototype
Build an interactive wireframe prototype that people can use to walk through use case scenarios and exercise the design. User interface elements (such as drop-downs, buttons, navigation menus, etc.) all work in this approach to focusing on functionality. Iterate, as necessary, based on feedback from real people that interact with the design and updates to the business needs.
Usability Study
Observe people completing real-world tasks. Understand people's perspective and pain points with common tasks; gather data based on actual observations of interactions with the prototype or system, in order to identify usability issues. Conduct usability sessions, which involve interview questions, observing interactions, tracking task success and a user satisfaction survey questionnaire.
Final Design
Create final design comps that front-end developers use, together with the style guide, to deliver a pixel-perfect app.
Interaction and Interface Design Principles
Apply design principles throughout the process. The basis for my design principles are Nielsen's original heuristics and they have expanded and been refined, over time, based on lessons learned and experience on the many projects I've worked on.