User Experience requires solicitous care and a thoughtful design process. Attention and emotions of people are fragile. Designing for them forces us to use sophisticated techniques.
Let’s discuss today architecture of our design processes. Are wireframes, paper prototypes, cognitive walks through, qualitative studies, site maps, conceptual diagrams, etc. essential? Are you trying to sell as many of them as possible? Or are you rather trying to design the UX design process reaching for perfect architecture?
Agile UX process
If somebody asks me how my UX design process looks like I always say that it all depends. Design process shouldn’t be constant. Design process should transform and change. There are many paths to the perfect user experience. Architecture of the UX design process is the question itself. Question that should be answered by the usage of proper design tools and research methods. Design process should be designed to hit the target at a minimal cost. It’s rational for our clients, organizations and… for us. This economic approach lets us actually fix more things and provide better overall User Experience.
Do only what’s necessary and skip the rest.
Does it ring any bell? In my opinion, architecture of User Experience Design should be designed. This is the paradox of UX designers perfectionism. We’re designing our processes, tools and methods to make ourselves better at making things better.
Are there any fixed points in my UX Design process? Absolutely.
User Experience Design should always start with vivid and well-defined problem. Concept work should be done quickly and collaboratively – I do it with analog tools (paper prototyping kits, whiteboards). Data should back up design decisions. Every design should be clearly documented.
The rest always depends on the project.
How do I choose methods? I always ask myself weather-specific technique would solve any problem. Do I really need to create personas? Why? How will it enrich my design process? Will it add value to overall User Experience? How will it help developers?
Asking questions is essential.
What’s your opinion? Are you designing design processes? How UX benefits from it?
