What did you learn this week about UX design? Discuss in detail the key components of the UX process, including research, user personas, and user flow, and explain how they can help create an effective design that addresses the user’s needs. How can the UX process enhance a design project? Assess whether implementing the UX process could enhance the work you’ve done for your client’s blog, and elaborate on this in full sentences.
This week was one of those weeks where it feels as though you’ve been learning and working on a project for weeks but in reality it has only been a couple days. The topic of UX design is fascinating as we get to explore how we intuitively interact with websites, and how that experience can be made better. The UX process consists of multiple essential steps that will lead to a solution in design. The 3 step process is to first understand the user, next you explore, and in the final step you materialize. Within the “Understanding” step the designer must empathize with the user and understand their reasonings so the design can then move on to “define” any possible issues. During the “Explore” step the designer must then move onto “ideate” solutions that may work to address any issues encountered by the user. Once an idea has been formed by the designer they must then move onto create a prototype that demonstrates how the user will benefit from the new design. In the third step of the UX process, “Materialize”, the designer must then move on to test the prototype and define whether the new design is an effective solution for the user. Once that has been decided the designer will then go on to “implement” and create and finalize the version of the design that will be available and used by all users. Among the tools used to “Understand, Explore, and Materialize”, are the use of “User Personas”, “User Research” and “Comparative and Competitive Analysis”. All three of these are used as supporting evidence based on factual information that the design can then use to support the creation of an interface that is user based. User centered design is not only important but essential when designing as design unlike art has an intended purpose, and that is effective communication. I thoroughly believe in using this in all that I create.