What is User Experience Design?

User Experience Design (UX) is an interdisciplinary field that encompasses a range of practices and techniques aimed at designing digital products that are easy to use, engaging, and meet the needs of their users. Here are the 6 main disciplines of UX:

1. User Research

This involves understanding the users and their needs through various methods such as surveys, interviews, and user testing. The data collected is used to inform the design process and ensure that the final product meets the users' needs and expectations.

What research methods should I use?

• As you'll see below, card sorts are great for determining information architecture, and task priority exercises are great for informing interaction design.

• Like a scientist must craft an experiment to test a hypothesis, so to must a UX Researcher choose relevant research methods to achieve the desired goal.

What are the deliverables?

• User personas

• A document or presentation of findings and recommendations

2. Information Architecture

This involves organizing and structuring the content and information of a product in a way that makes it easy to navigate and find what users are looking for. Information architecture also helps to ensure that the product's content is consistent and relevant to the user's needs, and that things are labeled appropriately.

What can inform the information architecture?

• Card Sorting

• ORCA Process ooux.com

What are the deliverables?

• Site Map

• Object Map

• Navigation Strategy Document

3. Interaction Design

This discipline focuses on creating the interactions between the user and the product. This includes designing the user interface, user flows, and interactions to ensure that the product is easy to use and intuitive. It's how the product behaves. What happens when the user clicks, taps, swipes, drags, types, shakes, or speaks are accounted for within interaction design.

What can inform the interaction design?

• Task Priority Exercise

• Competitive Analysis (what interactions are familiar to the target audience)

• Early usability testing

What are the deliverables?

• Task Flow Diagram

• Wireframes

• Low fidelity prototype

• Micro-interaction animations

4. Visual Design

This involves creating the visual elements of the product such as color schemes, typography, and graphic design. Visual design is important because it creates an emotional connection with the user and enhances the overall user experience.

What can inform visual design?

• Existing brand language and styles

• Accessible contrast ratios https://webaim.org/resources/contrastchecker/

• Graphic design principles

What are the deliverables?

• High fidelity mockups

• Design system

• Digital assets like images and icons

5. Usability Testing

This involves testing the product with real users to identify any usability issues and make improvements. It validates that the design works. Usability testing is an essential part of the design process because it helps to ensure that the product meets the users' needs and is easy to use.

What are the deliverables?

• Tasks and scenarios

• Testable prototype

• A summary of findings

6. Front End Development

This involves translating the design into computer code. While not technically not part of a UX Designer's skill set, knowing about the constraints of front end development, as well as being able to communicate your designs to developers helps ensure the design gets implemented correctly.

What are the deliverables?

• A functional prototype

• A pattern library of components

• Documentation

• The final product

In conclusion, UX design is a complex and multifaceted field that requires a range of skills and expertise. By incorporating these different disciplines, UX designers can create products that are not only functional but also provide an enjoyable and engaging user experience.