UX Design Process

Here's a brief overview of the process I followed for an enterprise solution, with details below:

• Start with research!  I learn what it's like to be in the shoes of the people we are designing for.  

• Following the research, create a depiction of the mental model people have about how things work and/or their experience/journey.

• Plenty of work on the whiteboard form the beginning of the structure and architecture of the experience.

• Rough sketches, together with use case scenarios, are next up.  After reviewing the model and the sketches with subject matter experts (SMEs), I build an interactive wireframe prototype (and any alternative approaches we choose to explore) 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.

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.

Model

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.

Sketch

Sketch out the major aspects of the design and architecture to work through navigation, layout, consistency and cohesion of the design.  Review and refine with the team.

Final Design

Create final design comps that front-end developers use, together with the style guide, to deliver a pixel-perfect app.