UX/UI designer is one of the most in-demand professions on the market today. In this article, we will take a closer look at who a UX/UI designer is and why UX/UI design is not just about graphics.
The acronym UX stands for user experience. In simple words, this is how the user interacts with the interface and how comfortable the site or application is for him. UX/UI-designers are in demand in the IT-sphere, because the interfaces, which are prepared by programmers, should not only be beautiful but also understandable.
UX includes site navigation, menu functionality and the result of interaction with pages. This is not only the “backbone” of the site – its structure – but also the communication: dialog boxes, button functionality, search and form settings. It’s the quality of UX that determines how quickly a user can get what he came to the site for.
Plan of product development on the principles of UX/UI design
The work on the project always begins with the UX. The first thought is given to what routes the user will use on the site, what kind of difficulties he might have in interaction, how to lead him to the target action.
Target action – this is the key user action on the site or in the application, for which the resource was created. For example, to make a purchase in an online store, fill out a registration form or order a callback.
In this case, working on the UX, the designer should think about the UI of the project – that is, to imagine how the site will be designed, what will be its design. Any defects in terms of UX or UI will spoil the user experience.
Work on a website or an application may be structured differently in different teams. However, it is possible to identify common stages of work on the project.
- Information gathering
At this step, it is necessary to get as much information as possible from the client – through a brief or an interview. - analytics
Next, you need to research the client’s competitors – the list of companies indicated by the client can then be expanded by doing a search yourself. - Structure of the site
This step defines the goals of the website and develops the Customer Journey Map (CJM) – all the scenarios of user interaction with the resource are written in it. Usually the site has one main goal – for example, a purchase. But in CJM, you have to include interaction with other pages. - Site prototype
A prototype is a “skeleton” of a site that shows its main blocks. In the prototype, you draw a schematic representation of what content and what elements will be on each screen, and think through the logic of interaction between the elements. - Working with content
You can outline the content you’ll need at the stage of structure creation: think about whether the site will have photos, videos, and infographics. But the prototype will allow you to evaluate the exact format of the materials – what size images and text paragraphs should be.