Research and forecasts in IT

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Hi all! I bring to your attention a translation of the article by Dr. Philip Hodgson ( @bpusability on Twitter). He has a BSc, MA and PhD in Experimental Psychology. He has over 20 years of experience as a researcher, consultant and trainer in usability, user experience, human factors and experimental psychology. His work has influenced product and system design in the consumer, telecommunications, manufacturing, packaging, public safety, web, and healthcare domains for the North American, European, and Asian markets.

The concept of “power of evidence” plays an important role in all areas of scientific research, but is rarely discussed in the context of user experience research. We'll explore what this means in UX research and group research methods by the strength of the data they provide.

Someone once said, “There are no questions in usability.” I think it was me. I admit that this was not the best thing to say. It doesn't rank alongside words like “Never in the Field of Human Conflict” or “One Small Step for Man,” but it makes sense nonetheless and leads to a useful rule of thumb for UX researchers.

Let me explain.

Several years ago, while working for a large corporation and preparing a usability test, the project manager called me and asked me to send him a list of usability questions.

“There are no questions about usability,” I answered.

"What do you mean?" - he asked, “How can there not be questions? How do you plan to find out if people like our new design?

“And I’m not trying to understand whether they like him or not,” I grumbled. “I'm trying to figure out if they can use it. I have a list of tasks, not questions.”

Bad and good data

Requests to add explicit questions like “what do you think?” in UX research not only suggests that some stakeholders do not understand the purpose of usability testing, but also that they believe in the enormous value of each test participant's response. This shows that they are not aware of the concept good And bad data and, as a result, believe that everything the user says is useful.

But that's not true.

There are strong and weak data. This is true in all areas of scientific research, be it developing a new drug, discovering a new planet, solving a crime, or evaluating a new software interface.

UX research is about directly observing what people do. This is not a collection of their opinions. It's because Like data, opinions are useless. For every 10 people who like your design, there will be 10 others who will hate it, and another 10 who won't care at all. Opinions are not evidence.

Behavior, on the other hand, is evidence. This is why a detective would rather catch someone in the act of committing a crime than simply take someone's word for it. This is why the advice is often repeated: "Pay attention to what people do, not what they say". This advice has almost become a cliché in UX, but it can start a discussion about something important, e.g. strength of evidence. It is a good idea that some data are supported by strong evidence, some relatively strong, and some weak. No one wants their product development to be based on weak evidence.

Evidence from UX Research

Evidence is what we use to support our claims and arguments. This is what gives us authority when we make decisions about specific design parameters, product features, when to complete a design iteration, do/don't decisions, and the launch of a new product, service, or website. Evidence is what we provide to our development team and what we put on the table during disagreements and disputes. We back up our arguments with evidence based on good data. Data is part of the research. "Data! Data! Data!” shouted Sherlock Holmes. "I can't make bricks without clay."

UX research may seem like a method-first exercise (“we need a usability test,” “I want to do a contextual survey,” “let’s implement a card sort”), but a UX researcher focusing on primary Research Questions operates on a “data first” principle: “What type of data should I collect to provide valid and compelling evidence on this issue?” . And then comes the method.

What is strong evidence?

Strong evidence comes from data that is valid and reliable.

In usability testing, the hard data is things like completion rates and performance, not aesthetic appeal or personal preference.

Reliable data is data from a study that was conducted again using the same method as last time, but with the participation of different respondents.

Regardless of the method, research data must be valid and reliable. Otherwise, they are simply thrown away.

In UX research, strong data comes from completing tasks, observing the user (objectively and independently), and taking the user by the hand in an unbiased manner. The data grows strong with our level of confidence and reassures us that continuing the study is unlikely to change our level of confidence in our conclusions.

Below is a brief taxonomy of methods based on levels of evidence. Essentially, this is a taxonomy of the data types that methods provide. It is assumed that each method has been well thought out. This is not an exhaustive list, but it does include a list of the main methods that UX researchers typically use in the process of creating user-centered design.

Examples of strong UX evidence

Strong UX evidence inevitably involves target users completing tasks or engaging in activities that are relevant to the concept being developed or the problem being explored. Here they are:

• Contextual research (ethnographic field research or other options where users' behavior is recorded as they perform their work or achieve their goals)
• Formative and summative usability tests, in which users perform tasks in the product interface
• Web/search analytics or any type of automatically collected product usage data
• A/B or multivariate testing
• Task Analysis
• Secondary behavioral research research based on meta-analyses and peer-reviewed articles, as well as previous UX reports that fully describe the method used

Examples of relatively strong UX evidence

To qualify for this category, data must come from studies that, at a minimum, involve task performance by either users or experts, or include self-reporting of actual behavior. These methods are often the predecessors of methods from the “strong” category. They fall into this category because the data they provide is usually less consistent and less accurate.

• Feedback from usability experts who performed real tasks
• An interview or any kind of report on one’s own behavior such as Jobs to be done
• Eye tracking
• Pop-up research of “guerrillas” in cafes, libraries, etc.

Examples of weak UX evidence

Decisions based on weak or faulty data can cost companies millions of dollars if those decisions result in poor design, poor marketing, or incorrect product claims.

The obvious question is: Why conduct a study that results in bad data?

Data from these methods is not needed in UX research. They are little better than simple guesses. If you can choose to spend the project budget on such methods or on charity, choose the latter.

• Any type of pseudo-usability testing, such as asking people which design they like best, or tests that rely heavily on interviews for primary data collection
• Unmoderated testing with out-loud commenting that allows users to think they are experts rather than respondents completing tasks
• Usability assessment, even by experts. This is the same as “kicking the tires.”
• Focus groups (don't get me started)
• Polls (you're free to disagree, but only if you were asleep during the 2016 US election)
• Intuition, appeal to authorities or personal experience
• Opinions from friends, colleagues, family, your boss, managers and company leaders

How to evaluate the strength of evidence in a study or report

Start asking these questions:

• Why should I believe this statement?
• How good is this evidence?
• Can I count on these findings?

There are no tricks to these questions: anyone presenting the research findings should be able to answer them.

As you explore, ask yourself:

• Do I watch people work (perform tasks in a prototype) or listen to what they say (share opinions about the design)?
• Are the people being interviewed thinking about what they might do in the future, or relying on events that happened to them in the past?

Some time ago I created . If you want to give your research a good shake up, you'll find a lot of interesting stuff there.

I started this article by promising a rule of thumb. Here it is. Use it as a mantra when evaluating the power of user research:

Behavior is strong data. Opinions are weak data.

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In the list below, you can familiarize yourself with the most common methods and techniques used by UX designers to create a wide variety of projects. Each item has an appendix where additional links will be provided for more detailed study.

So let's get started!

Value Proposition

It shows the key aspects of the product: what it is, who it is for, and how it will be used. A value proposition allows developers to create user perceptions about a product.

A thoughtful value proposition helps UX designers focus on what matters most. important points. Material provided by: UXMag

Product strategy

Product strategy is the foundation life cycle your product and the basis on which the plan for all further work is based. It allows UX designers to decide which audience to target, as well as focus on the characteristics of the consumer and the product itself.

How customer centricity strategy is used in UX design. Material provided by: UIE

Jared Spool talks about creating a win-win UX strategy using the Kano model

Competitive audit

A competitive audit is a comprehensive analysis of competitors' products, with which you can compare all the characteristics and advantages that they have. It allows you to identify what generates revenue for companies in your industry. Thanks to this, you will also be able to understand what will work specifically for you and can give you certain advantages over your competitors.

Results of the audit conducted for the website

Culture samples

Cultural sampling is a specific way to find inspiration during the design process. With its help you can learn about people's lives, their values ​​and views. With little intrusion into personal space, researchers can identify what users need, set specific goals, and discover new possibilities that can inspire new ideas and solutions in designers.

Cultural sampling uses a range of tools, artifacts and tasks that encourage users to look at the world around them in new ways and think

Interview with intermediaries

Intermediary interviews are conversations that UX designers have with key stakeholders: clients, bosses, employees, or friends, both inside and outside the organization. Interviews allow UX designers to step into their interviewees' shoes and see themselves through their eyes. In addition, they make it possible to highlight certain characteristics and determine key performance indicators (KPIs).

User interviews

User interviews are a popular research method typically used to find information useful to the designer among users. This technique allows UX designers to better understand their target audience(emotions and points of view of users). Interviews are especially useful if the target audience is new or unknown to developers.

Typically, researchers meet with participants one-on-one to learn more about users' opinions and views on a particular issue.

Introductory meeting

During the introductory meeting, a thoughtful product plan is discussed, including the purpose of the product; people involved in product design and development; their interaction with each other while working on the product; deadlines that must be met; and expected results or indicators of success. The kick-off meeting sets the stage for the successful implementation of your project.

The kick-off meeting is the first meeting with the project team and the client. Material provided by: 1stwebdesigner

Heuristic evaluation

Heuristic evaluation is a detailed analysis of a product, during which the positive and negative aspects of the product are identified. It helps UX designers see the current state of a product in terms of usability, accessibility, and operational efficiency.

Radar map showing a website that has positive scores in all heuristic categories

Material provided by: Smashing Magazine

Brainstorm

This method is widely used by development teams to generate ideas and solve a variety of problems. It allows you to visualize all possible design solutions before settling on just one.

Brainstorming is the process of generating creative ideas and solutions through intensive discussions where everyone can express their own point of view

Job Analysis

To complete the task, you must study each step. Job analysis can be very useful when designers and developers are trying to understand the system they are working with and the subsequent flows of information. This allows you to correctly distribute tasks in the new system.

Job analysis is a simple and effective process for distributing jobs as the user sees them. Material provided by: Comcast

Product map

A product roadmap is a product development plan that includes priority features. It can be presented in the form of a table, chart, or even using regular sticky notes. UX designers share their strategy for working on a product with the development team and tell them in which direction they should move to achieve the desired result.

Diagram as an example of a product map

Focus groups

A focus group is a small discussion that usually involves 5-10 participants. Your task: to gather people to discuss pressing issues and problems regarding the user interface. Typically the discussion lasts about two hours. The group should also have a moderator who keeps it focused.

Groups of 5-10 people discuss a range of issues, expressing their opinions both orally and in writing during general discussion and various exercises. Material provided by: telecomitalia

Card sorting

This method is used in the process of designing or improving the information architecture of a product. UX designers ask users to group content and functionality into open or closed categories. As a result, designers gain insight into content hierarchy, organization, and flow.

Card sorting is a well-established research technique used to understand how people understand and categorize information.

Usability testing

It involves observing users trying the product in action. Testing can focus on a specific process, or it can have a broader range of tasks.

Concept check

UX researchers share rough product data with users that includes the key essence (Value Proposition) of the new idea. This helps determine whether the product meets the desires of the target audience. Concept testing can be done one-on-one with a user or with a group of people, in person or online.

A/B test

A/B testing offers different users alternative versions product and compares the results to determine which version is better. This technique is very useful for optimizing landing pages and conversions.

"Guerrilla" testing

Guerrilla testing is one of the simplest (and cheapest) forms of user testing. It usually involves going to a coffee shop or some other public place where you can ask people about your product or prototype. It can be held anywhere: in a cafe, in a library, at a train station, etc. The main thing is that you find the right audience for you.

"Field studies

“Field” research involves going out and observing users “in the wild.” In other words, researchers evaluate the behavior of people in the environment where the product will be used. This technique includes ethnographic research, interviews and observations, and inquiry.

Eye tracking

This is a technology that analyzes where the user's gaze is directed when he looks at UI markup (for example, on a web page). Eye tracking can provide information about what interests the user when they look at the screen, and also give developers insight into how design can increase their audience.

Tracking hot spots

SWOT Analysis

This technique involves assessing the strengths and weaknesses, opportunities, and potential threats that may affect users' experience with your product.

Public Availability Check

During this study, an assessment is made of whether it is convenient for all users to work with the site, including users with disabilities. The site must comply with W3C - then all users will be happy.

Material provided by: Sarah Horton

The main goal of both accessibility and usability is to understand how easy it is for people to use a product. Thus, based on user feedback, it will be easier for developers to navigate what adjustments and additions will need to be applied to the design in the future.

In an industry dedicated to the people who use our products or services, research is of the utmost importance. We ask questions and learn everything we need about the target audience. This helps us understand if we are doing our job correctly.

What is UX research?

UX research covers a variety of methods used to understand the design process. Practicing UX designers have borrowed many techniques from academics, scientists, and market researchers. However, there are also types of research that are quite unique to UX.

The main goal of project research is to collect the necessary information to develop a project that will be useful and interesting to the user. Research tells us who this person is, how they will use this product or service, and what they need from us.

The study consists of two parts: data collection and synthesis. At the beginning of a project, it is important to find out what stakeholders want to get from the project. Researchers will conduct surveys, observe prospects and current use of similar products, and review existing literature, data, and analytics.

We can divide UX research methods into two types: quantitative and qualitative.

• Quantitative research is any observation that can be measured numerically. This will help you understand what is happening on the site or application.
• Qualitative research is sometimes called “soft research”. They help us understand why people accept certain solutions. Most often, such research takes the form of an interview or conversation.

All researchers collect valuable information that allows us to create user-centered design.

General methodology

All major UX research methods rely on the same key techniques: observation, insight, and analysis.

Observation

Beginning researchers need to understand their users. The user's reaction always speaks larger than himself. Therefore, design researchers are trained to observe and notice details. This will give them the opportunity to find patterns based on interviewing different groups of people.

Understanding

Understanding, just like observation, concerns our daily life. We strive to understand our colleagues, family and friends. But for UX researchers, understanding means working with mental models. A mental model is the way a person thinks about a specific phrase or situation. For example, if a conversation partner owns an SUV, their mental model of “car” is likely different from the mental model of the owner of a smart car.

Analysis

Analysis helps to identify certain patterns in the study, after which it comes Possible Solution and recommendations. In order to use ideas, information must be analyzed and ultimately presented to the team.

Some analysis techniques include creating scenarios that describe mental models, providing graphs and charts that present statistics and characterize user behavior.

Daily tasks and practical results

Each UX project is different, as is the form of research that is best suited for it. The most common forms of research are: interviews, surveys and questionnaires, usability tests, tree tests and A/B tests.

Interview

The interview is a tried and true method of communication between the researcher and the user (stakeholder). There are three main types of interviews. Each type is used in a different context and for different purposes.

Directed interviews are the most common. These are typical interviews in which the researcher asks specific questions. This method is useful when communicating with big amount users.

Undirected interview - The best way obtain information from subjects by answering direct questions. During the conversation, the interviewer will mainly listen and only provide the user with Additional information or explain concepts.

An ethnographic interview involves observing people's actions and behavior in their “natural habitat.” The user shows how he performs certain tasks. It provides more practical information about the process of using the product. This helps scientists understand the gaps between what people actually do and what they say.

Reviews and polls

Questionnaires and surveys are an easy way to collect a large amount of information about users, while minimum costs time. It is an excellent choice for researching projects that have a large and diverse user group. A researcher can create a survey using tools like Wufoo or Google Docs and get hundreds of responses in minutes.

Usability tests

Usability testing involves asking potential or current users product to complete a set of tasks. During this, their behavior is observed in order to determine the suitability of the product. This can be done using a website or application, a prototype.

Tree tests

They are a great way to gather information before creating the site architecture. The goal is to determine whether the categories of information are constructed correctly and whether the nomenclature correctly reflects the sections of the site.

A/B tests

Testing A/ B is another way to find out how the user makes his decisions. Test A/ B usually chosen when trying to choose between two competing elements. A/B testing is especially valuable when making comparisons old version site and new.

Tools of the trade

User research has great potential. But management is often deterred by planning the research and the budget that needs to be spent on it. Today, there are tools that can help you conduct user research with minimal resources and time.

Ethnio has been one of the most popular software research tools. Ethnio finds users who are currently using a site or app and (with their permission) allows the interviewer to ask them certain questions. Ethnio has a fourteen-day free trial trial version, as well as four pricing options for use by businesses of all sizes.

Optimal Workshop

The Optimal Workshop Complete Kit is a set of four research tools available separately (at a very reasonable price). Treejack is great for remote testing of information architecture, nomenclature or hierarchy testing. Optimal sorting provides online maps, which are offered to the user for sorting.

SurveyMonkey

Using SurveyMonkey, you can create an online survey and get a reporting tool. This tool allows people to customize their own research and then submit it via social media. It is available as a free basic version. You can also purchase such a program from additional functions for a monthly fee.

UserZoom

UserZoom is a program that offers different types of user testing: usability testing, remote testing for mobile and desktop versions of the site, benchmarking, maps, tree testing, reviews and ratings. Negative side - high price. However, for a business that has a good budget, using UserZoom is an effective choice that provides maximum results.

When it comes to UX (user experience), we most often mean its development. Many may even think that UX and UX design are the same thing. Actually this is not true. Today we would like to draw your attention to the “backstory” of user experience design—user experience research.

Let's try to answer two main questions:

1. How do they fit into the development process?

Before we dive into the topic, let's make sure we have the same understanding of the basic terms. Speaking about user experience, I would like to quote Jacob Nelson and Don Norman, the founders of UX as a discipline. According to their definition:

“User experience includes all aspects of a user's final interaction with a company, service or product.”

That is, when we talk about the user’s experience of using a product, we mean the quality of interaction not only directly with the product, but also with everything else. This includes product advertising design, appearance and the feelings on the website dedicated to it, the features and functionality of the product itself, its convenience, the post-purchase experience, and even the appearance of the button in your letter.

Of course, creating a satisfying user experience is not an easy task, but it is doable if you understand user needs and have the skills to design UX.

Simply put, user experience research gives you knowledge, and design skills help you design a product based on that knowledge.

Here's how Dan Willis presents solving UX problems in his illustration:

(HOW UX SOLVES PROBLEMS: Visual design; Information architecture; Interaction Design; Convenience; Consumer needs research; Content strategy)

According to Willis, UX includes all of the above components. This once again reinforces the idea that user experience is a combination of many components, and if you want to create a truly cool product, these components must work together in perfect harmony.

With that in mind, let's try to answer the first question:

What is the value of UX research?

User experience research, consumer needs research, or simply user research—whatever name you might see—is the bridge between the businessman and the end consumer.

This does not mean that businessmen do not care about users, because many successful business projects solve problems. But how well are these problems solved? How satisfying are these solutions to the user?

UX research strives to place the end user at the center of the product development process.

If we try to define it, it will look something like this:

User experience research is the process of understanding a user's habits, needs, and attitudes. Various observation and data collection methods are used to achieve these goals. feedback.

Thus, real UX research is based on objective feedback data. These studies cannot be influenced by anyone's individual opinions or authority. This is only what users' thoughts and actions say.

And this is the first and main argument in favor of the importance of UX research.

How does research fit into the development process?

User experience research provides important data, but how can this process be integrated into the overall design framework? Should they be done before or after the design is created? Or maybe during the development process?

There is no universal answer to this question. It all depends on the type of product and its life cycle. But if you look at research as a dynamic, ongoing process that continues after the product launches, there are two roles for UX research:

• Initial user experience research
• Ongoing targeted research

Initial UX research is conducted early in product development. They help the development team understand the product's target audience, when and how users will use it, and what tasks or problems can be solved with its help.

Typically, during such research, a user persona, a user behavior map, and a product usage scenario are compiled.

This information is critical for design and decision making.

Focused UX research can be done at any point during development when a specific question or problem arises that needs to be addressed.

For example, you noticed that the percentage of completed purchase transactions in your online store is very low. You want to find out why. One way would be to conduct research using a focus group to test the buying process to identify key challenges and challenges.

The purpose of the study is to identify these problems using real reviews users. Such monitoring is especially useful in the middle of the development process, when you have many design options from which you need to choose one.

Depending on the type of problem, targeted UX research may use the following methods: Card sorting - for example, if you need to optimize information architecture; heuristic evaluation - if you are trying to identify serious usability problems; usability testing, which involves the use of various techniques.

UX research works best when conducted at all stages of product development. This way we can test, validate and try different solutions based on feedback.

conclusions

Interface and interaction design play an important role in creating user experience, but they will not be effective without data from real users. After all, how can you create a design that works without knowing exactly what your users want? UX research solves this problem and creates a connection between attractive design and product usability. If you know how and when to apply user experience research, you can make smart, data-driven design decisions.

Translation – Duty room

UX design - what is it? Nowadays, the UI industry is growing at a fast pace, but UX design is still a completely new world for most executives and managers. This area aims to increase user satisfaction with the product, improve usability, accessibility and interaction. Combines traditional human-computer interaction design and considers all aspects of user interaction with a product or service.

UX designers play a leading role in improving the basic needs of the end user and try to create a product that makes the audience happy. This in turn results in healthy investment returns and helps support a growing business or organization.

What does a UX Designer do?

UX designers study and evaluate how users feel about a system, looking at things like ease of use, perceived value of the system, usefulness, and efficiency in completing tasks.

UX designers also consider subsystems and processes within a system. For example, they can study the checkout process of an e-commerce website to see how easy and accessible it is to complete the process of purchasing products from the site. They can delve deeper into the subsystem's components, such as seeing how efficient and enjoyable the experience is for users filling out input fields on a web form.

UX design - what is it? Technology concept

An important concept in UX design is the process by which users create experiences. When a consumer first encounters a product, an immediate impression is formed that changes over time. In this process, perception, action, motivation and cognition come together to form the user experience. This process produces emotional reactions that largely determine whether the experience will be positive or negative.

UX designers strive to create process influences intentionally. To do this, a UX designer considers three categories of questions: what, why, and how.

Why- implies the motivation of users to accept the product and desire to own it.

What— deals with what people can do with the product and its functionality.

How- refers to the design of functionality in an accessible and aesthetically pleasing way.

UX design starts with the “why,” then defines the “what,” and finally the “how,” to create products that give users meaningful experiences.

Historical retrospective

Compared to many other disciplines, especially web systems, UX design is relatively new. The term “user experience” was coined by Dr. Donald Norman, a cognitive science researcher who also first described the importance of user-centered design—the concept that design decisions should be based on consumer needs. The history of UX design began with the publication of this concept.

Whether working for a startup or a large corporation, a UX designer is directly involved in making a product useful and enjoyable to use for the company's target market. The product creation process contains several important steps:

consumer research;

product design;

testing;

implementation.

Let's look at each of them in more detail.

Consumer research: where to start for a new designer?

Analyzing the consumer audience and identifying needs involves communicating with real users in the target market. If the subject of research exists only hypothetically and has not yet been created, the subject of discussion becomes similar products of competing companies, their advantages and disadvantages. If the product already exists, consumers are asked questions about how people feel when navigating the site with the current design, whether it is easy to find the required information, how structured the pages are. The quality of written and graphic content and the overall visual impression of the site are assessed separately. The following methods can be used for this part of the process:

questionnaires;

focus group discussions;

online surveys;

task analysis.

It is important to note that if a product is a product of design thought and has no connection in its development and implementation with user experience and feedback, it is not the result of UX design.

Design

Developing a design hypothesis involves imagining how a new product or service can adapt to how the customer already behaves (as revealed by user research). Product design focuses on functionality and usability rather than how it looks. At this stage the following are used:

information architecture;

• prototyping.

Testing

Testing involves verifying that changes made during the design phase work properly and are fit for purpose. This is a great way to get rid of user problems or difficulties that were not visible during the design phase, before starting work during the implementation phase. There are various:

a/b testing;

usability;

remote testing of users.

Implementation

Implementation involves close collaboration with web developers to achieve the final goal. Web development specialists work to turn design ideas into a real website. It is important that developers work as a team throughout the entire process to make this final stage more efficient and optimal.



What is user experience?

Websites and applications are becoming more complex as technology advances. What was once a one-way, static environment has now become a richly interactive experience.

But no matter how much the production process has changed, the success of a website still depends on one thing: how users perceive it. “Does this site give me value? Is it easy to use? Is it pleasant to be here? are the questions that users ask themselves when they interact with a company's products, and it is based on this experience that, as a rule, they make a purchasing decision.

User interface (abbreviated UX) in design is how a person feels when interacting with a system. The system can be a website, web application or desktop software. In modern contexts, this is often referred to as human-computer interaction.

The concept of User experience covers all aspects of the end consumer's interaction with the company, its services and products. It is important to distinguish the overall design of a project from the user interface, although User Experience is an extremely important part of the design.

It is also necessary to distinguish between UX and usability: according to the definition, the quality attribute of a user interface that covers ease of learning, efficiency of use, pleasantness, visual acceptability, and aesthetics of design.



Professional competencies

The UX designer is responsible for all the process steps described above and their execution. There are a number of professional competencies that receive great attention when training a designer:

leadership;

• project management;

  effective interaction with the team.

These professional characteristics are very important for successful work.

What is the difference between UX and UI design?

User interface (UI) designers focus on the layout and actual design of each element that the user interacts with, while User Experience (UX) designers focus on the user's interactions with that element, as well as the overall experience of the product. UI and UX designers often work together, as well as in teams with web developers, to create a product that is visually appealing and enjoyable to use.

What does a UX designer actually do?

UX designers perform different functions depending on the project and stage of development. In the early stages of a project, experts conduct preliminary user experience studies and then plan interactions through wireframing and prototyping their designs, which are then tested using various heuristic techniques.

During development, user interface testing and development continues to improve the product and consumer experience.

Once a project has started, a UX designer can analyze user metrics to track the results of their work, go back and continue to iterate to improve weak areas of the design solution.



Objectives and methods

UX designers perform different tasks at different points in the process. Below is the main list:

Evaluation of the current system. If a system already exists, a UX professional will take a holistic view of its current state. Problems are identified and corrections are suggested based on analysis of research data.

A/B TESTING. The practitioner may design a study to compare the effectiveness and quality of experience of different user interfaces. This is done by making a hypothesis (for example, “the green button is more attractive than the red button”). Then several versions of the design are proposed and the “best experience” is determined through testing (for example, “the green button is better because users clicked it more often.”).

Polls. The UX designer surveys current and potential users of the system to gain insight into what the most effective design decisions were. Since the experience of a single user is subjective, the best way to gain direct information is by studying and interacting with group opinion.

Wireframes and prototypes. Based on their findings, UX professionals can develop wireframes of different layouts and higher-fidelity prototypes.

User flows. Designing how users should navigate a system is another popular tool.

Design Patterns

Patterns provide consistency and a way to find the most effective “tool” for the job. For example, when designing UI templates, selecting the right elements (e.g. module tabs, slideshows) for certain tasks, based on their effectiveness, leads to the best solution. UX developers not only offer design patterns that are used on other websites, but also develop their own patterns for the current project.

Programs

There are several popular and easy available programs for UX design for work and learning. The tools are not just for UX designers. Programmers and webmasters also use them.

UX design courses use prototyping tools—which can initially be done with pen and paper. This inexpensive and accessible hands-on training tool for designers allows you to quickly create a prototype and move on to design.

Some software to create wireframes and prototypes:




When teaching the basics of UX design, A/B testing, also known as split or multivariate testing, is used. This tool compares different versions pages. Testing can be performed using any of several programs.

Mostly software for A/B testing, it splits website traffic into two equal segments. One group sees version A and the other group sees version B. Statistics such as conversion rate and bounce rate are tracked for each version. Split testing determines which version is better and this decision based on statistical data. One of the most popular A/B testing apps is Google's Website Optimizer.

Content Management

When teaching UX design from scratch, there are many content inventory methods used. Usage server application on-site (for which you will need access to a web server) is best for production sites. By being closer to the source than third-party software, these applications are more accurate and efficient. A simple Excel tool for creating and managing content inventory, such as the GetUXIndex() template, can be used for this purpose.

Websites built with content management systems like WordPress and Drupal typically have built-in tools that show a map of the existing website.

Surveys and feedback

User surveys are another popular UX design task. The most effective and cost-effective way to do this is through a remote user survey and feedback application or testing.

General survey tools like PollDaddy are flexible solutions that can also be used for other tasks. There are usability feedback tools such as Usability and remote user testing services such as Usability Hub that administer the testing system.

Examples

UX design example - what is it? User experience design is the process of creating products that provide meaningful and experiential experiences. This implies careful design and ease of use of the product, aesthetic pleasure from use and extensive functionality.

Therefore, products that provide excellent user interface(for example, iPhone is best example UX design) are intended not only for consuming or using a product, but for the entire process of purchasing, owning, and even troubleshooting.