Remember the time when one needed a website, all that was needed to be done was to design the visual aspect of it - the look and feel. Most of the time, the whole experience was from the website owner's point of view. Purchase a domain, hosting and create a basic setup of the website, and boom, the website is live.
However, in today’s world, it is not the same case as technology is evolving rapidly.
With this speedy change, technology is playing a crucial role in our day-to-day life. With this level of advancement, even the smallest glitch in this realm of technology affects the overall experience of the user. How does one make the experience increasingly user-friendly rather than owner-oriented?
This is where the experts in UX/UI design come into the picture.
What is UX?
Now, some of the readers must be wondering - what is UX? It sounds fancy, but what does it encompass? For those who are familiar with the term these kinds of questions may pop up - Is it connected to graphic design? Is Ui or 2UX the same thing?
As it is a relatively new term, most people are often are not very well acquainted with the term UX. Truth be told, there is knowledge about UX everywhere, and is often found in our daily life. However, it cannot be contained in a simple textbook definition. UX is a multi-faceted term that encompasses a vast area of understanding. Thus, one might even find that the definition is constantly evolving.
Nevertheless, as a UX designer and someone who has a good understanding of domain knowledge, I would start explaining this by saying that UX is very closely related to the experience of someone who uses a product or services of a business. The people whose experience we are referring to are known as Users.
This is one of the ways you can define user experience, like the definitions that keep on adding to the pile of UX definitions. However, this pile is always connected to the word ‘User’.
What does it take to be a better designer?
There is no defined answer for that but one can say that bragging rights are acquired once the differentiation between bad design and a good design becomes apparent.
For instance, one can read these articles with ease because someone has designed this website with good UX. Many times, good UX is not visible but bad UX design will definitely grab your attention.
For example, a distraction in the User Experience while reading this article is a flaw in the UX design, and it is up to the UX designer to figure it out and improve the same.
Here are 4 hacks to optimize the User Experience and in turn, level up as a UX designer:
Observation Of Technology Usage In Daily Life: What better way exists other than observing the technology you use in your daily life. You might be a good or great critic in doing that and somewhere, where you see or find these critical opinions not piling up then maybe you have stumbled upon a good UX.
Gain Clarity On The Differences Between Good And Bad UX Design: Make sure you obtain clarity between bad UX and good UX. Good UX can be derived only when you start identifying the bad UX. Most of it can only be obtained once the product has gone through the refining stage by having conducted multiple user interviews and solving those pain points.
Keep A Balance Between User Experience And The Client’s Needs: In UX, we always associate empathy with the user so that we can design better products. Likewise, we as UX designers should not only think only about users but also from a business point of view of how we can improve these products. How does it will help a business to scale its product? Even if you have created and solved the pain points of users, but neglected the business purpose then there is no way to keep the boat floating.
Focus On Delivering Value To The User And The Client: Every user has their own opinion on technology. Yet a UX designer will not be able to satisfy every user, but in spite of these constraints, a good UX designer can give the User the joy of using this technology with ease. User Experience is a never-ending process however, it should be implemented at the early stage before the product is launched. This will help in saving a lot of resources for the firm, as multiple renditions of the same project need not be made.
While brainstorming the different iterations of the design always try to involve the key people in these sessions. It will not only help you with what are their expectations from you but also help them to understand the empathy with users.
To sum up the above, most businesses and brands fail since they tell their story more and often ignore their users, however, it is the sole responsibility of a UX designer to educate the client and bring to light the usage and importance of UX. This entails the explanation of why good UX design matters. Holding the above hacks in mind will definitely elevate the designing game, so keep at it!
That’s all from my end and I looking forward to publishing more on UX! If you would like to reach out to me to debate the above, feel free to leave a comment below or drop a message below
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