The Essential UX Process: A Guide to Key Terminologies
User Experience (UX) design is a comprehensive process that merges research, creativity, and strategy to craft products that genuinely connect with us
1. Research and Discovery
Stakeholder
Stakeholders are individuals or groups with a vested interest in the success of a project. Engaging with stakeholders ensures alignment between business objectives and user needs.
Voice of the Customer (VoC)
This involves gathering customer feedback to gain insights into user expectations, preferences, and pain points, shaping the direction of the design process.
Contextual Inquiry
A research method where users are observed in their natural environment, enabling designers to identify unmet needs and contextual challenges.
UX Research
The backbone of the UX process, research employs methods like interviews, surveys, and data analysis to understand user behaviour, motivations, and goals.
Affinity Diagram
A visual tool for organising research findings into related groups, helping to uncover patterns and themes.
Mental Model
Understanding how users think and interact with systems ensures that designs align with their expectations, leading to intuitive solutions.
2. Define and Understand
Empathy Map
This visual framework captures what users say, think, feel, and do, providing a holistic view of their experiences and emotions.
Persona
Personas are fictional representations of key user groups, capturing their goals, behaviours, and pain points to inform design decisions.
Customer Journey Map
A visualisation of a user’s interactions with a product or service, identifying moments of delight or frustration along the journey.
3. Ideation and Strategy
Content Strategy
This involves planning, creating, and managing content to ensure it aligns with user needs and business goals.
Card Sorting
A method for understanding how users categorise information, helping to design intuitive navigation and structure.
Information Architecture
The process of organising and structuring content to enable users to find and interact with information seamlessly.
Design Thinking
A problem-solving approach that emphasises empathy, ideation, and prototyping to address complex challenges creatively.
4. Conceptualisation
Sitemap
A hierarchical diagram represents the structure of a website, ensuring logical navigation pathways.
Sketching
A quick, low-fidelity way to explore ideas visually, aiding initial concept development.
Storyboard
A visual narrative that outlines the user's journey, illustrating key moments and interactions.
Wireframe
A blueprint for a digital interface, focusing on layout and functionality without visual design details.
Flowchart
A diagram that maps out user pathways through a system, ensuring smooth and logical interactions.
User Flow
A more detailed sequence showing the steps a user takes to achieve a specific goal within a product or service.
5. Design
Interaction Design (IxD)
Focuses on creating intuitive and engaging interactions between users and a product.
Visual Design
The aesthetics of a product, encompassing colour, typography, and imagery to enhance usability and brand identity.
Gestalt Principles
Design principles that explain how people perceive and organise visual elements, ensuring clarity and coherence.
Micro-interaction
Small, focused moments of interaction, such as button hovers or animations, which enhance user delight.
Responsive Design
Creating designs that adapt seamlessly to different screen sizes and devices, ensuring consistent experiences.
Mockup
A high-fidelity representation of a design, showcasing the final look and feel.
Prototyping
Building an interactive model of the design to test functionality and gather feedback.
6. Testing and Evaluation
Usability Testing
A process of observing users as they interact with a product to identify issues and areas for improvement.
Heuristic Evaluation
An expert review of a product based on usability principles to uncover potential design flaws.
Heatmap
A visual representation of user interactions, showing areas of high engagement and areas that need optimisation.
7. Launch and Iteration
Workflow
A structured series of steps or actions taken to ensure a smooth development process.
Accessibility
Ensuring the product is usable by individuals with disabilities, adhering to inclusive design principles.
User-Centred Design (UCD)
A design approach that prioritises user needs at every stage of the process, resulting in more effective solutions.
By mastering these terminologies, designers can navigate the UX process with clarity and confidence, crafting products that are not only functional but also delightful for users.