4. 1. Understand
Design solves a problem. To provide a solution, we first need to understand the problem.
“Before beginning the design work, let your Design team understand the requirements clearly.”
To analyze requirements, will follow the industry standard, user research methods, including contextual and individual interviews while
observing the users in the real environment. If there are no Clients, will include the stakeholders on the place to conduct brainstorming
sessions to get their feedback. Product Manager is the role in an organization that works directly with clients and gets requirements from
them. The design team can work closely with the Product Manager to understand users and their needs. This knowledge about user and his
environment helps you to provide a clear direction to your design.
“To be a great designer, you need to look a little deeper into how people think and act.”
Stakeholders
● Design Team
● Product Manager
Activities
● Meet, talk, observe and understand users in their environment
● Analyze requirements to understand and clarify them & Define user personas and use-cases
Outcomes
● User Personas, User Stories, Use Cases
● Flow Diagrams By GMK
5. 2. Research - Choosing the Style of the Interface
Research is the basic key step to design the user experience with the best output of UI.
The design team works with the User interface team and does their research work to explore how the outer world is working on such
features and functionalities.
The UX Competitive Analysis was in three parts 😀
1. Understand market competition
2. Learn about your domain and the system
3. Get inspirations and ideas from your competitors”
Keep an eye on the latest UI trends, design principles and your existing user experience guidelines.
While doing research, start thinking about possible layouts and options to provide the desired experience.
Stakeholders
● Design Team with the User Interface Team
Activities
● Study of competitors’ approaches
● Research on similar features in the world
● Analysis of latest UI/UX trends, design principles, and rules, complexities, Consistency
● Keep an eye on your own UI/UX guidelines
Outcomes
● A bunch of ideas and material on which you can build your actual design work
By GMK
6. 3. Brainstorming & Sketching
This stage involves the UI definition of the required feature. Draw paper sketches, whiteboard flows and wireframes to share your ideas with
stakeholders. This stage itself is an iterative process.
“Designing is not something that you just create and start using it. Draw and draft and redraw and redraft, thus
creating an unmatched experience.”
Testing and evaluation of wireframes is part of this stage. Design team builds initial Sketches and share with stakeholders to get their input.
Throughout the process, it is important to keep your goal in mind — make a usable design to achieve end-user satisfaction.
Stakeholders
● Design Team
● Product Managers
● Technical Experts
Activities
● Generate ideas and work on basic sketches
● Brainstorming sessions with User interface team to get their feedback on the technical perspective
● Re-draw sketches and re-test them with stakeholders
Outcomes & Tools
● Sketches
● Wireframes, Mockups
By GMK
7. 4. Design
Now we have finalized layout and flow of the required interface, the next step is to work on final graphics with the actual content.
Visual design is the “final coat of paint” on the product. Visual design can greatly affect the UX of a product, and therefore must be
approached very carefully. Hopefully, a lot of interaction designs and Usability heuristics were worked out during prior steps of the UX
design process so that the designers can focus on the visuals. It’s one last opportunity to take the product to the next level.
Visual design is the last step before handoff to the User Interface team and the phase where a style guide and final specs are crafted. It’s
not just about “making things pretty,” but an opportunity to define, or implement a brand colour-scheme and affect usability with the layout,
contrast, and visual hierarchy.
Turn the initial mockups and wireframes to great-looking images with theme and styles applied to them. Preparing and sharing of design
specifications (principles, guidelines, colours, typography, iconography) to User Interface and Development team is also part of this step
activity.
Stakeholders
● Design Team
● Product Managers
● Technical Experts
Activities
● Design UI images, Define the final theme, specs, and guidelines required for implementation
● Design icons to display on screens
● Sessions with stakeholders to get their feedback from a business and technical perspective
Outcomes
● Design images
● Detailed design specs like colours, theme, styles, guidelines
By GMK
8. 5. Implement
Since technical people participate in the early stages of the process, they can start implementation while the Design phase is in
progress.
The User interface team will start the UI artefacts and connect with the Development team to get the Back end functionalities.
It is better than the Design team involves in this step to help development phase. While implementing, it is possible to raise the
need for minor changes in design.
Stakeholders
● User Interface team (UI)
● Development team (Dev + Database)
● Design Team (UX)
Activities
● Implement back-end functionality and front end interface
Outcomes
● Developed UI with complete functionality and experience following the designed theme and style
By GMK
9. 6. Evaluate
When product features are implemented, the end product is evaluated based on a few factors:
● Did we fulfilled the expectation of the End-User
● Whether the system is usable?
● Is it easy to use for the end-user?
● Is it flexible and easy to change?
● Does it provide the desired solution to user’s problems?
● Does the product have the credibility that makes someone want to use it because of the experience it provides?
Stakeholders
● Testing Team
Activities
● Go through the flow and feel the experience
● Perform a comparison of implementation and a defined interface
Outcomes
● User feedback
● Product audit reports
● Areas marked where improvement is required
By GMK