UX Fundamentals: The Concepts, Process and Proving the Value | by Lana Miller, Usabilla 1

Contents

Introduction 3
The Concepts 5
The Process 10
Proving the Value 14

UX Fundamentals: The Concepts, Process and Proving the Value | by Lana Miller, Usabilla 2
 Introduction

Theres no denying that companies are starting to pay much more attention
to UX and recognizing the impact it can have on long-term business
success (we all know that by now, right?)

If youve downloaded this ebook, chances are youre aware of UX but

maybe you just want to know a bit more; maybe you want to know why
and how to make a case for investing in UX or convince someone else in
your organization that they need to; maybe youre already a UX Designer
and you want to send this to your mom to explain what you do for a
living... or maybe you just want to brush up on the fundamentals yourself.

Whatever the reason, this ebook will give you an overview of the key
concepts within UX, the process for effective UX design and how to prove
the value of it.

Use it as a reference for your own work, pass it on to colleagues or simply

just read and enjoy!

UX Fundamentals: The Concepts, Process and Proving the Value | by Lana Miller, Usabilla 3
Lets begin
with a brief
explanation of
what UX is:
User Experience, defined in its simplest form, encompasses
all aspects of the end-users interaction with the company,
its services, and its products.

UX is the totality of end-users

perceptions as they interact
with a product or service. These
perceptions include effectiveness,
efficiency, emotional satisfaction,
and the quality of the relationship
with the entity that created the
product or service.
Kuniavsky, 2010

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 The Concepts
Even though UX is an increasingly expansive discipline, the key concepts
remain largely the same. These are the main things that contribute to
the User Experience of your site and what you need to think about when
implementing a UX strategy.

Interaction Information
Design Architecture

Content Visual
Strategy Design

User Interface Functionality

Typography Usability

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INTERACTION DESIGN USER INTERFACE
Interactions can be categorized UI and UX are often confused and
as every click, scroll and action (wrongly) used interchangeably.
taken by the user while on your The simplest way to distinguish
site and they form an integral part the two is to say that the User
of the User Experience; if a user Interface is what the user sees
cant interact successfully with and interacts with, while the User
your site then theyre not going Experience is (as mentioned)
to have a positive experience the all user-focussed aspects of
while doing so. Interaction Design any system but also importantly,
seeks to push the boundaries of related to how the user feels
mere functionality by creating when using that system.
delight with every interaction
and ultimately, a desirable and
engaging experience for your user.

To learn more about Interaction

Design, download our free ebook
all about it here.

GET IT NOW

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VISUAL DESIGN TYPOGRAPHY
As humans, we are driven by Choosing fonts and thinking
aesthetics and in the case of about how text is displayed may
UX, visual design contributes not seem like one of the more
substantially to building a vital parts of crafting a positive
positive experience. Your average user experience... but it is. If your
user probably wont see all the users have even the slightest
nuances of interaction design bit of difficulty deciphering the
or information architecture that information on your site, it will
youve painstakingly crafted but cause a negative impression and
you can be sure theyll notice the impact their overall experience.
visuals. By visual design, we mean Creating a consistent and
anything you see on the page; accessible visual language will
it incorporates everything from help the reader understand your
images and layout to typography content the way you want them to.
illustrations and even whitespace.
First impressions are 94% design
related and judgments on web
site credibility are 75% based
on a websites overall aesthetics,
so if your site isnt visually
pleasing for your users, theyre As designers, were essentially the
gonna be put off. tour guides of an experience, and
typography is the path our users
take. Thoughtful consideration of
type allows the audience to connect
with what theyre looking at.

- Sam Kapila, Designer and Director of

Instruction at The Iron Yard.

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USABILITY INFORMATION
Usability is the bare minimum of ARCHITECTURE
UX, if your audience cant use your Information architecture is an
product, they certainly wont want incredibly important part of UX.
to use it. When it comes down to Its the creation of a structure
it, a systems usability should be for your site; organizing the
effortless. The less attention the information in a way that helps
user has to pay to figure out how users understand where they are
to use the system, the easier it will as well as what they need to do
be for them to accomplish the task (or where they need to go) to
at hand. complete their task. Users need
clarity, and IA helps structure and
organize your site to achieve this.
Without this, your users would
Usability is be left confused, frustrated, and
essential a unlikely to return.
system must first
be usable before
you can work
on making it
desirable.

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CONTENT FUNCTIONALITY
Having clear, concise and This final concept is a simple one:
engaging content on your site is your product/service/website
one of the best ways to deliver must allow your users to complete
meaningful information to your their desired action. In other
users. Content can help to go words, it has to work, and it has
beyond creating something thats to work well. If it doesnt have the
just informative to building a desired outcome for your users,
long-term relationship with your they will abandon the process. In
users. Content can be anything fact, 88% of online consumers are
from product information, guides, less likely to return to a site after
blog posts, podcasts, video or a bad experience. Make sure you
social media. Its a great tool for have processes in place to keep
building thought leadership and track of bugs, errors or broken
showing your expertise; it will functionality.
also contribute to your users
impression of your brand and
in turn, the experience they
have while interacting with it.
Make sure you have a robust
content strategy in place that
will contribute positively to the
experience your users are
looking for.

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 The Process
The 6 Basic Steps for Effective UX Design

Now you know the key concepts that contribute to building a good User
Experience, how do you go about actually achieving it? UX processes may
vary depending on industry, team size and goals but the basic elements
below should be visible in all UX work.

Remember: User Experience is the link between business/product goals

and user needs; it facilitates the connection between what your users want
to do and what you want your users to do. Bear this in mind when moving
through the process.

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1. RESEARCH understanding of who your user
The first step of any UX design is. This will help you to design
process should be to get to know with a real person in mind rather
exactly who youre designing for. than for your users in general;
There are many methods you can its easier to empathize with and
use to find a bit more information understand a persona, and greater
about the users of your product/ empathy = greater UX.
service; you should always try to
use a combination of quantitative 2. DEFINE
and qualitative data from analytics The next step is to define exactly
and user feedback software. what it is you (or should we say
Putting your user at the center your users) are trying to achieve
of the design process is the only based on your research and
way to design successfully for insights. Map the journey that
them. By understanding the goals, you want your users to take and
needs and wants of your users highlight any potential barriers
you will be able to effectively along the way. Define as many
empathize with them and in turn, scenarios as possible and consider
design effectively for them. One the implications on the goals
of the best ways to do this is to of your product or service. Are
create personas that serve as a there any technical restrictions?
fictional representation of your Is what you plan to do in line
users. Who are they? What are with the product/service vision?
they trying to accomplish? What Define exactly what is needed and
are their pain points? What are corroborate with what is possible.
their motivations? Get as detailed
as you like to build a better

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 4. PROTOTYPE
Wireframing/prototyping is the
most effective way to give life
to what youve designed before
it reaches the development
stage. Draw out the interface on
paper with all of the intended
functionality, then ask as many
people as possible to role-play
the interactions. This process will
highlight any potential hurdles
or unexpected user behavior that
you may have overlooked.

3. IDEATE
Now comes the part where you
bring together all the information
so far to start brainstorming
solutions. This could be in
the form of storyboards or
moodboards to help give a visual
reference to the problem youre
trying to solve. This is also a great
way to show something tangible
to stakeholders or other teams
involved the decision-making
process before you actually
create anything.

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5. TEST
Testing is vital for UX design
because theres an element of the
process that relies on intuition and
perceived ideas of what the best
solution is. The only way to know
for sure is to test. It doesnt have
to be a long, laborious process;
according to the Nielsen Norman
Group, 85% of UX problems can
be solved by testing with only 5
users. So ask people within your
organization, do remote user
testing or even ask some clients
to try out the new functionalities
before they go live. Whatever the
method, just make sure you do it!
Test, test, test!

6. REPEAT
Depending on the results of your
testing, you may have to go back
to the ideate stage and come up
with some alternative solutions.
The UX design process should be
iterative. Having to repeat some
stages of the process shouldnt
be discouraging, because youll
ultimately achieve a better-
designed end product.

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 Proving the Value
If you have an understanding of UX and its importance to long-term
business success, thats great but what if your CEO or upper management
doesnt feel the same way? Before you can make a case for investing more
time, money or resources in UX, its important to first assess the level of
UX maturity that your company is currently at i.e. how willing are they to
adopt UX practices and make it an integral part of the business function?
The following model is commonly used for measuring UX maturity. Where
does your company fit?

To optimally integrate
experience design in
an organization, its
helpful to first map out
its maturity level.
- Juan Manuel Carraro, Customer Experience &
Experience Planning at IBM Interactive Experience.
Author, Speaker & Coach.

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 UX MATURITY MODEL

Where 1 - UNRECOGNIZED
does UX is viewed as unimportant and an unnecessary
effort within the business. You need to work hard to
your convince management that its worth their while.

company
fit? 2 - INTERESTED
Your organization is aware of what UX is and why its
important but there are other barriers like time, resources
& budget stopping full investment.

3 - INVESTED
UX is an important part of the business and user-centered
processes are formalized across teams; start making a case
for adopting UX company-wide.

4 - COMMITTED
UX is critical to the company and executives/upper
management are actively involved.

5 - ENGAGED
UX is one of the core components of your overall business strategy.

6 - EMBEDDED
UX is weaved into the fabric of everything the company does.
You live and breath UX!

If your company isnt on the level you think it should be or you simply want to progress
to the next one, it might just be a case of giving management more reason to invest in
UX. Read on for some information you can use to do just that.

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 Why Invest in UX?

BRAND LOYALTY

It doesnt matter whether you make SaaS tools or own an ecommerce site,
people are interacting with you to accomplish something.

Better usability will ensure that users can accomplish their tasks with ease
and minimal frustration. Better design that caters to your users and their
needs can help make a product both more effective and
more efficient.

If users are satisfied with the

experience they have with your product,
theyre more likely to continue using it
and recommend your business to
others; better UX builds brand advocates.

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INCREASED REVENUE AND CONVERSION

This next one is simple. Better UX = More $$$.

One of the best ways to get people to buy into your offering is to make
it as easy as possible for them to do so. UX is about facilitating the end
goal of your user, and if that goal coincides with purchasing something
from you then it simply makes financial sense to invest in a positive user
exerience. In the case of an ecommerce store, good UX translates to a
smooth browsing experience and a quicker checkout process for the
shopper. So better UX means more transactions and in turn, increased
revenue.

As Jakob Nielsen said:

It is not unusual that a

user-centered approach doubles
the conversion rate and
revenues

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 SAVING TIME, MONEY AND RESOURCES

Redesigning is expensive. Developers are hired to create and innovate

your digital products and websites; ideally they would spend much of their
time working on projects to continuously improve your company. However,
there is often an obstacle that takes resources away from development
teams, and that is correcting errors. If you create a product without the
user in mind, it will result in very low adoption rates. If your product lacks
usability, then your product will also have even lower retention rates. This
will mean you will need to do an overhaul of the product and spend much
more money on a redesign; whereas a user-centred approach can save
you time and money from the start. In fact, according to usability expert
Dr. David Tavis, changes can cost 60-100 times as much once the product
has become hard-coded.

Having a usable product that demonstrates good UX will also save you
money in support costs. If your product is intuitive to users, then there is
little need for having user documentation or instruction guides. This can
also save your support team some work as they can invest their time more
effectively in helping customers with other things.

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 Still not convinced? Check out these statistics

ESPN.com revenues jumped after listening

to their community and incorporating suggestions
into their homepage redesign.

Slow-loading websites cost

of users give up because they retailers in lost

think you dont care about them. sales each year.
(Source: Smashing Magazine)

of people cited a websites

of people will stop engaging design as the number one factor
with a website if the content/ in deciding the credibility of a
layout is unattractive. business.
(Source: Adobe)
(source: Iron Paper)

Developers spend
Every invested in UX can
of their time
have a return of up to
fixing avoidable issues.
(Source: SocialMediaToday) for your business.
(source: Ultralinx)

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 Improving UX
The best way to build and maintain a positive user experience
is to bring your users into the conversation. Let them tell you
whats working and more importantly, whats not, so you know
youre always delivering the best possible experience.

request a demo

The standard in user feedback

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