Skip to content

Erick Jones

What is UX Design

UX = User Experience

To know what means UX Design, first we need to know what is UX. User Experience is the study of the experience of an user. The term was coined by Dr. Donald Norman – Cognitive Science Researcher and Director of the Design Lab of the California University in San Diego – United States. He was also the first to describe the importance of the Design focused on the user – User centered Design.

Dr. Don Norman


Knowing that, we can say that UX Design is the Design of a product or system considering the experience of the consumer / user. The observation of the User Experience is fundamental for the development and evolution of any usable thing. The first step of the UX is to know exactly the user needs, and just after this knowledge apply functionality and Design. UX go beyond than giving the user what he wishes. Take care of the quality of your user’s experience and improve conversions and engagement.

10 Principles of UX by Google:

  1. Focus on people – their lives, their work, their dreams.
  2. Every millisecond counts.
  3. Simplicity is powerful.
  4. Engage beginners and attract experts.
  5. Dare to innovate.
  6. Design for the world.
  7. Plan for today’s and tomorrow’s business.
  8. Delight the eye without distracting the mind.
  9. Be worthy of people’s trust.
  10. Add a human touch.

Source: What makes a design “Googley”?

Why?

To Increase conversion, understand your public, retain users or decrease rejection rates. Reach you public or quantity of access and conversion you desire, analysing and verifying periodically your business to measure the quality of the your service. You may be interested in which page had more access, which links was more clicked, which element called more attention, which Design choices was more well-received by the user, what is really working and specially, why is working.

How?

Simplified superficial UX cycle


This cycle can be used in all the lifetime of your system. The researches provide constant feedback.

UX Design Services

  • Wireframes
  • Concept Design
  • Usability tests
  • Content Inventory
  • User surveys
  • A/B tests
  • User profiles / personas
  • Prototyping
  • Storytelling
  • Design Patterns
  • Storyboard
  • Style Guides

Conclusion

After many years on Design focused on aesthetics, with the evolution of web technologies and devices, a good user experience is fundamental for acceptance and fidelity of systems, websites and applications as well as its propagation to other users.

Further reading

Don Norman – Design for people: http://www.jnd.org/
Don Norman’s Twitter profile: @jnd1er
Smashing Magazine article: What Is User Experience Design? Overview, Tools And Resources
Nielsen and Norman Group article: The Definition of User Experience
Designerhire.com article: UI or UX Designers: What is The Difference & Which Do You Need To Hire?

If you or your company needs to review and research the User Experience, feel free to contact me.