UX
The saying goes; if you’re not doing research, then you’re not
doing UX. Basically, user research is a comprehensive and
multilayered activity, the aim of which is to collect information
about the potential target audience of the product. The user
researchers collect and then analyse the information obtained
from real users and this outcome usually enables the UX design
team to work on the optimal solutions, which will make the
product user-friendly, less problematic and more attractive.
The research can be carried out in many ways but offering user
surveys (quantitative), doing face-to-face interviews (qualitative),
creating personas and organising focus groups are the most
popular methods and will return the most useful data. Even
though research will weed out potential issues, it should also be
remembered that removing the mistakes in design, even if it’s
already high-fidelity level, is faster, cheaper and less painful for
users than fixing negative issues with an already launched and
operating product.DO THE RESEARCH
IN-DEPTHAbove: Creating user personas is a valuable way of ensuring everything is targeted
towards the actual customers, rather than what you like“Personas are not the
customers you want but the
customers that exist, whether
they’re ones you already have
or potential ones”
- DEFINE & RESEARCH
PRODUCT DISCOVERY
Define the problem(s) first! You need to understand
clearly what you’re trying to solve: ask your clients
if you are working in an agency and ask business
stakeholders or the product manager if you are in
a product team. UX design is a problem-solving
discipline and helps the end users to achieve their
goals with ease. So discovering if your product idea
will fulfil these needs is your first step.
USER SURVEYS
Surveys enable you to get a decent amount of data
from real users. By using clever questions, you can
discover more about who they are, where they are
and what their needs and goals are. You can use
many available tools to carry out surveys, such as
SurveyMonkey and Google Forms.
- ANALYSE & PLAN
COMPETITOR ANALYSIS
By looking at who your competitors are, you can get
a much better feel of how you can create something
more unusual. However, this shouldn’t be a long
process, as all you’re doing is seeing how viable your
product idea is and whether or not it has a place
within the market.
PERSONAS
With the data you have from the user surveys and
analysis of your competitors, you can now create
personas. Personas are not the customers you want
but the customers that actually exist, whether
they’re the ones you already have or potential
customers in the market. Even though these
personas are fictional, they should represent real
people’s behaviours, motivations, goals and needs.
Although the effectiveness of creating personas has
been hotly debated of late, it is a very good way to
remind yourself that you’re not the user.
USER FLOWS
With the information we now have within our
personas, we can begin to map out the flow our users
would take. This is a user flow – the path taken by
a prototypical user on a website or app to complete
a task. The user flow takes them from their entry
point, through a set of steps towards a successful
outcome and final action, such as purchasing a
product. In most cases, a user flow is a visual chart
that shows each screen a user will or could find
themselves at. Even though this is a great way for
designers to visualise and work with the site, it can
also help developers see and understand the typical
user journey.