4 Steps to Getting The Best UX Design

User experience, or UX, is the term used to describe how a product should be adapted so that it is enjoyable and simple to use. Every time you visit a website or open an app, you come across UX design concepts. They can be fun and intuitive or confusing and frustrating. 

As UX design covers the whole process of interacting with the product, it involves a wide range of elements. They include essential ones such as branding, design, and usability — and the ones that are slightly less important, for example, color, size, animations and micro-animations, and so on. UX design impacts the impression your business makes, so every little detail can make a difference.

Your clients (both current and prospective) can make hundreds of interactions with your product. The ultimate goal of any UX design is to make them all user-friendly. So if you can customize your design to suit their preferences, they will love and value your product much more.

The question is, how can you make a website or an app that is simple to use and enjoyable? And what steps can you take to optimize the process to your advantage?

Step 1: Who Are You Creating Your UX Design for?

Planning a perfect UX design is impossible without getting to know your target audience. Thorough user research will reveal what kind of user experience they seek, what icon design they prefer, what fonts and color combinations would work best, and much more. The more you focus on a certain audience, the better you'll be able to adapt to their specific preferences.

After understanding who they are, consider the reasons why your customers use your product. It implies you should understand what aspects are important to them and make the most of this information. The most significant features should be the most accessible and user-friendly.

Quick tip: put together a list of all the features your product offers and then rank them in order of importance while keeping your clients' expectations in mind.

People ignore design that ignores people.

Frank Chimero, Designer

Step 2: Detailed Planning of Your UX Design

Creating User Personas

Once you've gotten a basic understanding of your audience, it is time to focus on the nuances that will make your website or app more appealing. It is done by collecting candid feedback from the clients. One approach is to look at studies or data from similar firms. The other option is to interact directly with the users. Consider the questions you'll need to ask to develop user personas (made-up characters that represent your actual users). Using personas rather than raw data makes it easier to choose the optimal design strategy. Remember that you may conduct surveys and one-on-one interviews with representatives of your current and potential customers remotely.

Testing Site Architecture

Another issue that has to be considered at the early design stage is developing a user-friendly site architecture. Make sure that users can intuitively navigate around and locate anything they're looking for on your website.

After the early testing is over, you are ready to design a "blueprint" of your product. At this point, create a rough sketch of how you want your website or application to be before focusing on the details. Establish a final site map and the overall number of pages or screens.

Step 3: Wireframe, Mockup, and Prototype for Your UX Design

Wireframing

A wireframe is practically a road map for your website. Typically, it is quite plain and doesn't include any text, color, or design. Images and buttons that will be added later are simply replaced by empty boxes. A wireframe allows you to test and analyze the page layout to understand exactly how the new website will perform and identify any potential errors.

Both digital and paper-based wireframes can be used. Choose what works best for you and rearrange it until you discover the ideal combination.

Mockup

A mockup is a visual representation of a digital product or website that includes more stylistic and visual elements. That means color, typography, icons, graphic sizes and composition. Mockups provide a realistic representation of the finished page or application. 

Prototype

A prototype is an extended version of your wireframe with all the graphic elements included. It demonstrates how people engage with your product and highlights any issues you hadn't foreseen.

When it comes to UX design, you can’t go without a prototype since you'll want to collect as much feedback and user data as possible. This will help to resolve all issues before going public.

Step 4: Ready for the Launch of Your UX Design

If you completed the previous stages of the project carefully, the last steps of the UX design process should be the most simple. Even if your product has minor flaws, you may still release it as a beta version and work on fixing the remaining issues as you go. Remember that you may continue to test new ideas and improve your website or app even after it has been officially launched.Sounds like a lot to do? Leave it to professionals. Hire a freelancer at Insolvo.