UX Design Process

In scoping and managing projects, I leverage a light, moderate, or rigorous process - dependent on project requirements and time constraints.

 Research Methods

Below are brief summaries of the research methods I use in my UX design process. Gaining a clear understanding of users’ needs, wants, behaviors, and expectations is critical for designing impactful user experiences.

Each method has its own strengths and weaknesses and may or may not be applicable - depending on each project’s scope and needs. As a UX manager, I train my designers on each of these methods, ensuring they understand when and where to use them before integrating their findings into their designs.

 

Need-Finding Research

  • Exploratory quantitative data

  • Discover user needs and interests

  • Broad in scope

 

User Interviews

  • Organic interviews with target demographic

  • Designed to discover needs and goals of users

  • Qualitative info to complement quantitative data

 

Hierarchical Task Analysis

  • Visual diagram depicting tasks and subtasks

  • Map user processes

  • Pinpoint critical paths and problem areas

 

Heuristic Evaluation

  • Evaluate usability using list of best practices

  • Formal report

  • Valuable in setting and measuring benchmarks

 

Quantitative Analysis

  • Large datasets

  • Data gathered from various sources

    • Web analytics

    • In-house data

    • App usage APIs

    • etc.

  • SQL transforms for more complex calculations

  • Macro view of website traffic

  • Data organized into clear actionable reports

 

Personas

  • Fictional people who represent true data-backed traits of target users

  • Data gathered from user interviews, analytics data, surveys, etc.

  • Used to inform design decisions and drive user empathy

 

A/B Testing

  • Used to determine the design best optimized for conversion rates

  • Best suited for business needs and marketing goals

 

Other Research Methods

  • Cognitive task analysis

  • Comparative assessment

  • Stakeholder analysis

  • Event tree analysis

  • User sentiment surveys

  • etc.

 

Ideation Methods

Below are brief summaries of ideation methods I use in my UX design process.

 

Iterative Wireframing

  • Start simple

  • Determine the flow and layout

  • Fast edits

    • Design reviews

    • Rapid testing

 

Prototyping

  • Low to medium fidelity to make quick edits easy

  • Varying levels of interactivity

  • Used for initial usability testing

 

High-Fidelity Designs

  • High-fidelity design

  • Follows design system and brand guidelines

  • Includes all relevant information and metadata for dev hand-off and implementation

 

Testing and Refinement

Below are brief summaries of testing and refinement methods I use in my UX design process to continually improve designs once they are implemented.

 

Informal Usability Testing

  • Quick observational session with user

  • Participants can be anyone

    • Coworkers

    • Friends

    • Anyone who has not seen the design yet

  • 1-8 participants needed

  • Can be recorded

  • Test moderator takes notes they feel are relevant

 

Formal Usability Testing

  • Full test script with clear scenarios and tasks

  • Pre and post-test questionnairs

  • Minimum 6 participants

  • Recorded

  • Participants are recruited to match target demographics

  • Observations sheets prepared with expected paths

  • Test moderator takes detailed notes

 

Test Analysis

  • Summarize findings

    • Qualitative: sentiment, pain points, etc.

    • Quantitative: time to complete, success rates

  • Define list of recommendations

  • Adjust design

  • Repeate

 

Design Review

  • Review & discuss designs with the team

  • Anecdotal recommendations

  • Application of heuristic knowledge

  • Lean and practical