User (UX) Research

UX research for design attempts to understand the motivations, values, attitudes, hopes, dreams, fears, belief systems, behaviors, cultural issues and social dynamics of its research participants.

User Interviews

In interviews, interviewees provide answers to a line of questions. Although this is the most direct way to get responses, visual and tactile activities may also be used to elicit responses.

Qualitative Research

Qualitative research looks at how people think or feel through open-ended questions & narratives. The resulting qualitative data is then sorted into themes followed by extensive analysis.

Generative Ethnography

Anthropologists developed ethnography to study local cultures in context through immersion. Ethnographic researchers follow, observe, and interviews their subject in the field (ie. contextual environments).

Research Insights

Insights from research attempt to uncover deeper layers of understanding derived from users’ pain points. These insights from their pain points provide opportunities for design solutions.

User Experience Journey Mapping

Journey mapping attempts to understand every step of a user’s process: their actions, environment, and touchpoints. Maps may also include feelings/emotions, thoughts, and sensory experience.

Consumer Research & Analysis

Based on how quickly consumers adopt a product, this behavior can be plotted along the adoption curve: innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority, and laggards. These are then turned into personas.

Market Analysis & Landscape Audit

Market Research attempts to identify demand in the market, market size, and competitors to stay ahead of the market. Frameworks include market segmentation, trend research, and competitive research.

Competitive Research & Analysis

To uncover competitors’ strategy, SWOT analysis looks at the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of competitors. 2x2 positioning matrices help to uncover areas of opportunities in the market.

Trend Research & Analysis

Trends explore prospective opportunities for innovation. Once specific trend analysis framework is STEEPX. SteepX looks at social, technological, economic, environmental, political, and market trends.

User Personas

Personas are fictional profiles of a specific type of user. They include demographics, interests, goals, user needs, and wants. Personas are used by teams to align on the user they’re designing for.

User Scenarios

In user scenarios, a persona is placed in an example situation in order to demonstrate how to achieve a specific goal. The persona will address the the series of steps required to complete that goal.

Flowcharts (Task & User Flows)

Flowcharts, also maybe referred to as “user flows” or “task flows”, breaks down specific tasks into steps a user must complete. The flow will show the beginning, end, decisions, documents, data, inputs, and outputs.

Customer Journey/Experience Maps

Once an ideal experience has been identified, a journey or experience map plots step-by-step the entire experience users experience.

Storyboarding

Storyboards visualize a sequence of events for the audience to help illustrate a process.

Content Outline & Info Architecture

A content outline lists information and attempts to give it a hierarchy based on level of importance to a user. Information architecture further organizes the information to show relationships between the content.

User Stories

Design strives to keep the user’s need at its center. User stories help align all stakeholders on what users need to achieve. They are usually written in this format: “As a (type of user), I want to (task), so that (goal or benefit).”

Site Mapping

A site map visually lays out all the separate pages of a web or mobile application. Lines show connections and relationships between the pages.

Sketching

Sketching is a quick and simple way to visually communicate. It may be used for drawing ideas, screens, and prototypes.

Wireframes

Wireframes visually show the arrangement and content of the screens in a website or application. The fidelity of wireframes increase as the level of detail increases. Wireframes are often used to get feedback from users.

Prototyping

Prototyping is the physical or digital simulation of the designed experience. Along with testing, this is done as soon and as often as possible.

Interactive Prototypes

Interactive prototypes usually refer to a clickable digital experience of a website or mobile application. The ‘clickability’ allows a realistic stimulation as it instantaneously reacts to the user’s direct input.

A/B Testing

A/B testing is when multiple versions of an experience is shown to users to get their feedback. The purpose of A/B testing is to see which version is the most effective in getting users to complete a task or goal.

Accessibility & Usability

Universal design aims to make design as inclusive as possible to people of different ages and abilities. Accessibility specifically refers to designing for disabled individuals and is a subset of usability in which design is as easy to use as possible.

User Interface (UI) Design

An interface is a way for people to interact with a non-human object and can range from a remote control, to screen, to objects in virtual spaces. Currently, UI design most often refers to the design of screens and the interactions associated but also includes voice- and gesture-based interactions.

Responsive Design

As the majority of web interaction occur through mobile devices, many companies are taking a mobile-first approach. Responsive design refers to the design of mobile and web experiences so that the content fits on screens of different sizes.

Design Systems

Design systems offer a comprehensive system of visual components and design assets. It is often accompanied by guidelines noting usage. Design systems include UI kits and sticker sheets that are scalable and easy to implement.

Redlines

Redlining is the practice of calling out number of pixels between elements and components on a page. Although this has been a manual process, many applications and plugins now offer automatic redlines. This is only helpful assuming that the design is ‘pixel-perfect.’

Specifications

Specifications note interactions and calls attention outstanding items from designers for developers.