Amit Inamdar

Design Consultant, UX Trainer and Mentor and a Social Entrepreneur

I am the founder of Zealous Design Solutions,

ThedesignYOgi and PlusONE internation al award winign initiative for profit

social entreprise

I have been in the industry since last 16 years

I have been conducting d Corporate trainings in Digital Product Design,

Medical and Social design sector for more than decade
THE FOUR KEY ELEMENTS OF THE UX DESIGN PROCESS

User experience is often referred to as “the science behind design.”

What is meant by “science” here is the in-depth research and the rigorous
methods that comprise the UX process that encompasses learning through
doing and provide the human insights and hard data to support and validate
product design decisions.

And design mean the User Interface that manifests this science through intuitive
visual information that adds value to the user’s experience

It’s important to know that the UX process can be used

for a project from start to finish for executing a specific task

or

As a toolkit where you select the set of tools you need depending on the specific
project goals and timeline.

1. Behavior

None of us can deny that People are complex creatures.

When designing for people, it’s important to understand how they think and what
behaviors they’re engaging in to satisfy their current needs or solve their existing
problem.

For example, before we had Google Maps that help us navigate from point A to point
B, …..wow …could people actually move around without Google Maps…..how did
they managed to do it ??

Yes, they did, quiet efficiently actually

so before google maps came into use for common people, how was wayfinding
done?

What did the people do?

Well before travelling anywhere, they would plan their way, marking milestone on a
physical map or they asked their friends or family who may have travelled to the
same destination before and to confirm they are on the right routine, they would ask
a passer-by or a local on their way and confirm if they have missed a turn or taken a
wrong exit.

UX designers work with people by learning about their habits and goals, identifying

needs and constraints, and aligning with existing behaviors to create solutions that
are easy to use (efficient) and solve a real problem (effective).

2. Strategy

User experience is a human-centered process, which means that designers

always prioritize people, their need and wants before over business goals

However, The best design solution should ultimately align both the business
and customer goals to create an effective and usable solution to a real problem
which is sustainable in long run

Strategy in UX is also about understanding where an existing product or

process can be improved and communicating this effectively to internal teams
and external users through responsive design.

Fundamentally, UX is about design empathy, which means translating user needs

into actionable solutions.

One of the first steps in UX design thinking is user research similar to one we saw in
the design thinking module.

In order to solve a problem, a designer or the design team first needs to observe and
understand what’s happening from the user’s perspective.

Asking the right questions is a great way to uncover a lot of information about user
needs and frustrations.

The findings when well mapped can lead us to key behavioural or emotional
insights

These user insights can then be translated into design solutions that solve the user’s
problem efficiently and effectively through rigorous and iterative ideation process

Some great questions to ask when strategizing:

Who is our user?

What is the user’s motivation or goal?

How does this make them feel?

Is the process clear?

What do they expect when they click a certain button or icon?

Are we assuming something about users? How could we test this assumption?

Are we thinking of the user’s wants and needs, or your own?

What do we want users to do? How are we helping them do it?

Strategy is then translated into interaction design through artifacts such as 

user flows (how a user moves through a system to achieve goal), 

wireframes (schematics that show how a digital interface will look and

function),

and high-fidelity prototypes (a working model of a design) that can be tested

with users.

3. Usability

Good design is ultimately determined by usability.

It is evident that, If a particular design element does not help the user solve a
problem, or makes solving a problem extremely challenging, it is not a good design.

Design is about functionality, usability is more important than aesthetics. While

designers talk a lot about designing for “delight,” the best designs are usable.
Designers can add delight by anticipating the user needs , this can be manifested
through sophisticated animations, friendly language, and unexpected surprises

However, if the design is not usable, all these delightful details don’t matter. This
may seem like a simple practice in theory, but that’s not always the case.

Usability is deeply connected with psychology and behavior. Digital product design
inherited a lot of its behaviors from things we used in our analog life, such as buttons
and sliders.
Thus, people come to expect things to behave a certain way, even if there aren’t the
same physical or technical constraints.

Usability is about creating products that anyone can use, especially if they have a
disability or impairment. Usability is also about accessibility, which means that
physical constraints or disabilities don’t prohibit or impede someone’s use of a
product or service.

Usability ensure that the designs are always created keeping the user at the centre.

4. Validation

Finally, validation is a critical piece of the UX process. Ideally products need to

be tested with ‘real users before they are deployed to the’common public.

Unfortunately, this is not always the case with companies that are eager to launch
their products out into the world. The UX process emphasizes testing with real users
early and often in order to ensure that the design solves the right problem.

Solving the right problem is the most important task that UX designers face.
However, testing often throughout the process through co-creation, also means that
you’ll catch mistakes sooner and be able to adjust without losing users.

When things don’t work or are difficult to use, most people give up. These feedbacks
can be incorporated in time and executed to improve the design in progress

Investing in UX design is one-way companies can stay competitive in the market
while making the most of their time and resources.

Validation is proof that you have successfully solved a problem for your user group
Another way to think about testing is as an experiment.

It validates or rejects the assumption made during the design phase regarding the
problem and the developed solution

It also ensures that the team is moving in the right direction is steps and confirmation
from the users

Though there are many ways to validate an idea or assumption, these ways need a
substantial amount of financial, time resource investment.
The important thing to remember with validation is that it removes the presumptions
and biases from the design process.

Here are some of the most common strategies used to validate ideas through user
research:

Ideas can be tested very early in the process by putting out a smokescreen test. A
smokescreen could be a landing page with a call to action (e.g., Sign up for my
newsletter!) to test whether users want your product.

If you’re already in the design stage, you can validate your design by A/B testing two
versions of the same page.

This would allow you to see if one way of solving a problem is more successful than
another.

Finally, you might want to create a clickable or coded prototype to see how users
would navigate the system as you get closer to launch.

What happens once a product goes live? UX designers are constantly iterating,

which is the process of continuously testing throughout a product’s life cycle. In fact,
the UX process of learning about user behavior through research, translating insights
into actionable strategies, and testing new products and features is designed to be
repeated as often as needed. Building accessible, usable, and beautiful products is
an ongoing evolution.
A heuristic evaluation is a way to test whether a website is user friendly. In
other words, it tests the site’s usability. Unlike user-testing, where the site
(or prototype) is evaluated by users, in a heuristic evaluation the site is
evaluated by usability experts. That’s why you’ll sometimes find it referred
to as an “expert review”.

Usability Heuristics

#1: Visibility of system status

The design should always keep users informed about what is going on, through
appropriate feedback within a reasonable amount of time.
When users know the current system status, they learn the outcome of their prior
interactions and determine next steps. Predictable interactions create trust in the
product as well as the brand.
Example of Usability Heuristic #1:
“You Are Here” indicators on mall maps have to show people where they currently
are, to help them understand where to go next.
Tips
Communicate clearly to users what the system’s state is — no action with
consequences to users should be taken without informing them.
Present feedback to the user as quickly as possible (ideally, immediately).
Build trust through open and continuous communication.

#2: Match between system and the real world

The design should speak the users' language.
Use words, phrases, and concepts familiar to the user, rather than internal jargon.

Follow real-world conventions, making information appear in a natural and

logical order.

The way you should design depends very much on your specific
users.
Terms, concepts, icons, and images that seem perfectly clear to you and your
colleagues may be unfamiliar or confusing to your users.
natural mapping),
it’s easier for users to learn and remember how the interface works. This helps to
build an experience that feels intuitive.
Tips
Ensure users can understand meaning without having to go look up a word’s
definition.
Never assume your understanding of words or concepts will match those of your
users.
User research will help you uncover your users' familiar terminology, as well as their
mental models around important concepts.

#3: User control and freedom

Users often perform actions by mistake. They need a clearly marked "emergency
exit" to leave the unwanted action without having to go through an extended process.
Tips
Support Undo and Redo.
Show a clear way to exit the current interaction, like a Cancel button.
Make sure the exit is clearly labelled and discoverable.

#4: Consistency and standards

Users should not have to wonder whether different words, situations, or actions
mean the same thing. Follow platform and industry conventions.
Tips
Improve learnability by maintaining both types of consistency: internal and external.
Maintain consistency within a single product or a family of products (internal
consistency).
Follow established industry conventions (external consistency).

#5: Error prevention

Tips
Prevent high-cost errors first, then little frustrations.
Avoid slips by providing helpful constraints and good defaults.
Prevent mistakes by removing memory burdens, supporting undo, and warning your
users.
#6: Recognition rather than recall
Minimize the user's memory load by making elements, actions, and options visible.
The user should not have to remember information from one part of the interface
to another.

Information required to use the design should be visible or

easily retrievable when needed.

Humans have limited short-term memories. Interfaces that promote

recognition reduce the amount of cognitive effort required from
users.
Tips
Let people recognize information in the interface, rather than having to remember
(“recall”) it.
Offer help in context, instead of giving users a long tutorial to memorize.
Reduce the information that users have to remember.

#7: Flexibility and efficiency of use

Shortcuts — hidden from novice users — may speed up the interaction for the expert
user such that the design can cater to both inexperienced and experienced users.
Allow users to tailor frequent actions.
Flexible processes can be carried out in different ways, so that people can pick
whichever method works for them.
Tips

Provide accelerators like keyboard shortcuts and touch gestures.

Provide personalization by tailoring content and functionality for
individual users.

Allow for customization, so users can make selections about how they want
the product to work.

#8: Aesthetic and minimalist design

Keep the content and visual design of UI focus on the essentials.
Don't let unnecessary elements distract users from the information they really need.
Prioritize the content and features to support primary goals.
#9: Help users recognize, diagnose, and recover from errors

Error messages should be expressed in plain language (no error

codes), precisely indicate the problem, and constructively suggest a solution.
Tips
Use traditional error message visuals, like bold, red text.
Tell users what went wrong in language they will understand — avoid technical
jargon.
Offer users a solution, like a shortcut that can solve the error immediately.

#10: Help and documentation

Ensure that the help documentation is easy to search.
Whenever possible, present the documentation in context right at the moment that
the user requires it.
List concrete steps to be carried out.

How can you determine whether something’s usable and accessible? There are a
ton of resources dedicated to creating accessible and inclusive designs from the
ground up. Some of the best include:

Nielsen Norman Group’s 10 Usability Heuristics

W3C Web Accessibility Guidelines

Microsoft’s Inclusive Design Toolkit

Uxdesign.cc’s Diversity and Design Series

Airbnb’s Another Lens Research Tool

https://www.nngroup.com/articles/ten-usability-heuristics/?platform=hootsuite