You experience UX design firsthand anytime you use a website or an app on your phone. For example, some websites use search bars that provide suggestions based on what you’ve typed so far, which is particularly common with search engines. Some apps, such as Disney+, give you the option to autocomplete your email address to reduce errors. All of these small features can help you get a leg up on the competition.
UX and UI design are similar in many ways, and many UI design choices affect the user experience. When you’re creating a website or an app, UI and UX design are essential.
Key principles of UX design
If you are wondering, “what does UX UI stand for,” UX stands for user experience. To truly be a great UX designer, you need to understand the journey of your customer from start to finish.
How do they interact with your products and services? Then, UX design ensures that users can get the most out of your product with as little friction as possible.
One of the most important principles of UX design is to ensure that your users have a friendly, smooth interaction with your products. They should not need to fumble with your product to figure out how to use it, and they should have an easy time meeting their needs using your products.
While there are a lot of website navigation tips that can improve your UX, UX is not necessarily limited to websites. A key principle of UX design is that it should be applied to all aspects of your business. Your users should have a smooth experience with your customer service team, your shipping process, and your website.
How you buy a product, how you receive it, how you visualize it, and how you use it are all important parts of UX design.
User experience design process
You can customize your UX design process to meet your needs, but there are a number of moving parts involved. A typical UX design process might unfold as follows:
Develop a plan
Before you can start tinkering, you need to have a strong plan in place. You need to make sure everyone on the team is on the same page and that you have a common goal in mind. What does a strong UX design look like? If you have a common goal, you’ll have an easier time strategizing.
Research your users
There are a lot of people who believe that the UX design process is mostly visual. While that is one element, it is more conceptual.
You need to solve the problems of your users, and that means conducting research and collecting data on your users. What are the biggest problems that you need to solve?
Architecture and hierarchy
You need to think about your information architecture, which refers to how the information is laid out. This includes your website, social media page, app, and products.
As a part of the UX design process, you need to ensure your users can find the information they need quickly and easily.
Design the flow
Now, it is time to lay out the flow. What are the steps your users are going to take as they interact with your product? You need to focus on creating a smooth journey that does not leave your users wondering what to do next.
Build a wireframe
With the flow in place, you can build a wireframe. As it sounds, this is supposed to be like a skeleton. Once the skeleton is done, your product or website should work well on a functional level. You should be able to draw your wireframe on a piece of paper before you design it digitally.
Test it
Before you can move on to the UI phase, you need to test the product to make sure it works well. You should gather data from your test users and ensure all aspects work as expected. You may also use information from your testers to validate your assumptions about how users will interact with your product.
If everything works as expected, you can move your prototype on to the UI phase.
Role of UX designer
The role of a UX designer is to make sure the customer’s journey is understood. This means you need to talk to your customers, interview them, and understand your target audience. Some of the most important roles that a UX designer will fill include:
Research and strategy
It is the job of a UX designer to conduct research not only on potential products and flows but also on the users. A strong UX designer should know how a potential customer is going to interact with a product or service.
User testing
UX designers are also responsible for a tremendous amount of user testing. They might have a prototype interface, but they need to test it on users to know how people are going to interact with it.
A UX designer is also responsible for laying out the information in a way that makes sense to the user. The hierarchy of the information should guide users from step to step conspicuously.
A UX designer also has to have strong communication skills, as they will collaborate closely with the UI team.
What is UI design?
UI design, or user interface design, is a bit more straightforward than UX design. The UI is the interface users see when they use a website or app, which includes the layout and design of text, images, navigation links, and more.
When you design a product page to draw the attention of potential customers, you’re primarily focusing on UI design. UI design also includes designing things like buttons, fonts, color palettes, icons, sliders, and more.
While UI design focuses more on the appearance of your website than the actual functionality, it’s an essential part of building a website. You only get one chance to make a first impression on website visitors, and an eye-catching UI can help you make a good first impression.
This is especially true for companies like Apple, where UI design allows a company to showcase its brand and style and attract existing customers who recognize that signature style.