UX Design, an obligation in 2019

UX (User Experience) Design is the act of taking the user into account in the design of a product, service or system, in order to a product that provides a meaningful user experience.

There’s also a certain amount and effort of iterative research involved in UX design. UX designer is required to have a comprehensive understanding of how users want to interact with their applications.

Most projects take UX into account at the end of their implementation. This is a mistake! First, you have to think UX, then think IU, then think concrete development of the project. We have this approach at Digital Unicorn all the time and that’s why we offer, in all our projects, a real UX/UI Design.

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UX Design can also be the starting point for an innovation. If you are a startup, this is a priority. We observe users in a given context, we observe frustrations, usage problems and we draw opportunities for innovation to launch a project.

In any case, UX Design is from the beginning of the realization of a project…  And it must be taken into account, even from the very beginning!

It is the user experience that creates the value of products or services and differentiates them in the marketplace. It is an additional investment, but above all an obligation for your product.

Indeed, there is a lack of knowledge of UX Design. This comes, in part, from its origin related to software ergonomics which had a lot to do with the interface, the position of the elements, etc.

The field of UX Design is actually much wider, and can be summarized in 5 phases. Here at Digital Unicorn we call it UX Inception.

First of all, ORGANIZATION is the problem definition phase.

What problem do we want to solve? Who will benefit from this? What are our resources and constraints? A key to success: simplification. Why provide several hundred features if the end user only uses 2 or 3. Focusing on these 2 or 3 features is therefore essential.

Then we have an INVESTIGATION phase, by which we will try to understand and analyze the user needs of your potential future customers: motivations, frustrations, etc. What do users do? What motivates them? What problems do they encounter? It is essentially a phase of meeting users through interviews. We advise you to participate in meetings such as “Test My App” in order to really confront your application with real users and not friends or family. Here, we are fans of it and our customers are always satisfied with it.

We will synthesize all this information in the form of customer journeys to serve as a basis for the next phase, which is CONCEPTUALIZATION.

Here we lead ideation and co-design workshops to generate ideas and prioritize them. With our team, we think about the different possibilities, the essential functionalities and then we take stock with our client to propose the solutions best adapted to his project.

The next step is PROTOTYPE. This is the moment when we will translate the desired experience into concrete elements. We can start on paper and compare these models directly with the users and then launch the first prototypes. We recommend the use of the web software “Ninja Mock”, which offers great flexibility in its implementation.

Finally, the last step is the VERIFICATION, the most well-known method of which (and which we use) is the user test during which the assumptions made are verified.

Of course, all this is done in constant contact with the customer, in order to obtain the perfect user experience.

I can understand that this is frustrating, because there is one thing that cannot be denied, and that is that aesthetics plays a role in the final experience, whether for the user or the customer. In these phases, the contractor must meet with target users and conduct tests. But they’re not his customers yet, so he doesn’t have to be embarrassed. It must be understood that this is a mock-up phase, i.e. a phase where a solid base is created in order to then use the content of this base. It is therefore essential to receive and accept criticism in order to better develop your project and, above all, to offer high maintainability. Your goal is the success of your project! It is therefore important to have an innovative and durable product in the long term; never define this step as a cost but rather as a long-term investment.

If you try it, you will see that the feedback obtained is so useful that it will overcome the initial frustration. Confrontation with users is the best way to boost a project. The entrepreneur must understand that he or she is no longer fighting only against technology or innovation but must rely on the user experience, because the difference can be made through it.

When you know that more than 96% of startups fail and that the mobile application or website is an essential factor for success, whether, through technical choice or design, it is important to call on real professionals in order to be among the 4% who succeed. At Digital Unicorn, we help you to be part of the 4% of companies that are successfully growing!

We develop quality and durable products over the long term and not just common applications or sites. As you can see, we have many implementation processes to bring you our experience for your project. The UX Design can be clearly defined in a project by quoting Elon Musk:

“I think that’s the best advice: constantly think about how you can do things better, and don’t hesitate to question yourself.”