My Process

Each project presents its own set of challenges, whether in terms of budget, time, or available resources. Because of this, the approach to UX must remain flexible yet thorough, adapting to these constraints while ensuring the product meets both business and user needs.

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The process I follow is one I've developed and refined over the past eight years. While every project is unique, this framework has consistently helped me guide each one from concept to completion.

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UX Design Process

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My UX Design process is divided into five stages:

1. Research
2. Formulate
3. Design
4. Test
5. Deliver

Let’s explore each stage, starting with Research.

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Research

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The research stage is where we dive into understanding both the business and the users. This is essential groundwork—without it, we can’t create a product that meets its objectives. Here, the goal is to gather Business Requirements and User Requirements.

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On the Business Side:

• Stakeholder Interviews: Meeting with clients or key stakeholders to identify business goals and constraints.
• Competitive Benchmarking: Learning from competitors and the industry to understand best practices.

On the User Side:

• User Interviews: Conversations with your target audience to understand their needs, pain points, and behaviors.
• Surveys: Distributing questionnaires to collect quantitative and qualitative user data.
• Personas: Creating fictional characters that represent key segments of your user base to guide design decisions.

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Formulate

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Once you’ve gathered all the research, the next step is Formulate, where we begin shaping the structure of the product. This is where the insights gained from research are used to map out how users will interact with the product and how the product’s information is organized.

Key deliverables in this stage include:

• Journey Mapping: Outlining the steps a user takes from start to finish in their interaction with the product, identifying key touchpoints.
• User Flows: Defining how users will navigate through the app or website, ensuring that their experience is logical and efficient.
• Information Architecture: Organizing the content in a way that makes it easy to find and navigate, establishing the backbone of the product.
• Project Outline: This step also involves creating a clear project outline, setting timelines, deliverables, and resource allocation to guide the rest of the design process.

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Design

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One of the most fulfilling stages of the process is Design. This is where the product starts coming to life. In this stage, all of the insights from Research and Formulate are synthesized into tangible designs.

Key outputs of the Design stage include:

• Wireframes: The skeleton or blueprint of the product, outlining content placement and functionality.
• Prototypes: Interactive demos that allow stakeholders and users to engage with the product before it’s fully developed.

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Test

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The Test stage is where we validate the designs with users. This is crucial because it reveals: a. What users like
b. Where they struggle

Testing early and often allows us to identify and fix any major usability issues before moving into UI design and development. This stage helps us save time and money by ensuring that any necessary changes can be made quickly and easily in the wireframes, rather than later in the development process.

The Test stage typically includes:

• Plan: Writing a detailed test plan to structure the testing process.
• Conduct: Running usability tests with users.
• Report: Analyzing results and documenting insights.
• Optimize: Iterating on the design based on test feedback.

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Deliver

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Finally, we arrive at the Deliver stage. This is where everything from Research, Formulate, Design, and Testing comes together to be shared with other teams involved in the project, such as UI Designers, Developers, Copywriters, and even the client.

This stage is critical and often overlooked. By ensuring that all the insights and design thinking are handed off properly, you make the work of the other teams easier and keep the focus on the users’ needs.

The Deliver stage typically involves:

• Documentation: Compiling all UX Design work so it can be shared with the rest of the team.
• Quality Assurance & Feedback: Ensuring the UX design is implemented correctly by other teams and meets the original vision.