Five things a good user experience designer should do well (picture and text)
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This article is translated from the blog Usability Counts, translated by @C7210. The original author, Patrick Neeman, is a user experience designer and works as the user experience director at the social recruitment company Jobvite. In the article, the author proposed that "a true user experience designer knows how to continuously improve the three factors of "people", "business" and "technology". Through a full understanding of these three factors, they can be organically combined in the "product" to make the product gradually better." Anyone can draw a wireframe. When my friends talk about their product ideas, I encourage them to pick up paper and pen and communicate their ideas through sketches. They think this is a great way to put the ideas in their heads into practice. A true UX designer is not made by the ability to draw wireframes, more importantly, they know how to handle feedback, how to validate ideas, and they know how to do research and iteration. They know that sketches and wireframe prototypes are only a small part of the entire design process. They are the conclusions of research work and are information carriers used for communication. They may be put into presentation documents for communication among product, design, technical development and other related personnel, or they may be used for usability testing in the form of high-fidelity or paper prototypes. A true user experience designer knows how to make a product better over time through a continuous improvement process. This process, or method framework, is intertwined with the three factors of "people", "business" and "technology". Our job is to fully understand these factors and organically combine them into the "product" complex. Master more direct and efficient communication methods. I have seen many interaction designers rush to the wireframe prototype at the beginning of the project, save it as an image or PDF and send it to the demander, and then start complaining: "Why can't they understand it?" Wireframe prototypes are just one of the tools designers use to communicate; what is more important is the ability to describe solutions and related basis to the other party during actual communication with the demand side or developers. Compared to wireframe prototypes made with software tools, paper, pen, and whiteboard are often more effective tools. Especially in the early stages of product development and during the iteration process, these tools can help us clarify our thoughts and implement ideas more quickly, and communication and cooperation between multiple departments will become more direct and efficient. As designers, we should understand that the communication and cooperation process with users, product teams, technical development and other aspects is an important way to help us accumulate design practice experience.  Many designers, including ourselves, may be working on products that we ourselves will never have the opportunity or need to use. I am currently designing an applicant tracking management system for many client companies, which is something I will never use in my real life and work. This means I have to spend a lot of time communicating with the target users of the product. If we are not the target users of this product, then as designers, why should we work in isolation? There will always be time for user research, as tasks like prototyping should only be a small part of the overall design process. Even if it’s just a sketch, you can do it after discussing the actual needs with a small group of target users; the absence of any visual prototype is not a problem, you can get the information you want by observing users using competitors’ products. Only when we understand the user's needs and goals in real usage scenarios and use cases can we start product design work.  Verifying your assumptions is extremely important. "I want" are the two most dangerous words in the world. People don't pay us to design for themselves. Usability testing is not rocket science. Even under the most difficult conditions, you can show your product prototype to colleagues, family and friends, observe their use of it, and record their feelings. Most people like to do this kind of thing, they will feel that their opinions are valued. A designer recently told me that the easiest usability testing for his projects was done in coffee shops. Just show them a few people, give them a donut or two, show them a prototype, and ask a few questions. The feedback you get will often exceed your expectations.  User experience designers should have a thorough understanding of the product design and development process, and understand how to collaborate with upstream and downstream departments at each stage, including product managers, front-end and back-end developers, and even customer service departments, and what kind of support we can get from them. Some of the most typical steps in the product design and development process include: user research, role design, demand analysis, sketching, prototyping, usability testing, development and launch. Especially the last three steps, which usually need to be performed repeatedly during the product iteration process. Adequately planning and controlling such a process and working closely with relevant personnel at every stage should become a habit and instinct for user experience designers. Even the best writers don’t just sit down and start writing. They start by coming up with the outline of the story; the same is true for us. Continuous Improvement Do you think that once a product is released, everything is fine? Do you have the desire and opportunity to continuously improve the product? A designer once asked me, “When do you think a product is truly finished?” I personally think the answer should be “the product is never truly finished”. The word "Kaizen" in Japanese means "continuous improvement". The improvements mentioned here also include improvements to the iterative process of "continuously improving products" and related methods. This will not only promote faster and better optimization of existing products, but also benefit future product design and development work. Review the projects you have done and the workflows behind them to see what worked well or was lacking, and consider what can be improved or verified in the next project. Try to try something new in every link of each iteration cycle, implement and verify, then review and summarize, make adjustments in the next cycle, and keep trying.  |
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