Comprehensive introduction to user experience design(UX)

Things to know as a UI/UX designer

User experience: UX, is a term used to describe the overall experience a user has when interacting with a product or service in a given context. Anything that can be experienced can be designed.

1. User Experience Design (UED): is an element that shapes the user experience. It’s all about designing specifically for the needs of the user or customer, looking at things like ease of use, quality, and efficiency. UX designers look to bridge the gap between the product and the human user.

2. Good UX: A product with good UX will be: Useful, usable, desirable, findable, accessible, and credible.

   What does a UX designer do?

   1. User research: They understand users' needs, how they think, and how they behave. it helps me understand the problem am trying to solve. So how is user research tackled? Usually, a brief from the Head of Product is received asking me to conduct initial research for a new product feature. I then start with competitor research to see what’s out there, before moving on to interviews with actual prospective users. I also survey and interview any existing users, as well as product stakeholders, to identify their needs, pain points, and any opportunities for improvement.

1. User research analysis—Affinity mapping: This is a whiteboard and some post-it notes.

2. User personas & user flows a fictional but realistic representations of a set of target users based on their goals, needs, and behaviors. This helps the designer to build empathy with the user and to prioritize key features and design decisions based on real user data.

   1. Wireframes & prototypes: A wireframe is like a blueprint, demonstrating the layout of the design and how it will function. A prototype is essentially a scaled-down version of the final product that allows you to test your ideas and designs before you get them developed.

   2. User testing: The most common type of testing for UX designers is usability testing, which is a technique used to evaluate how intuitive and user-friendly a particular design is. Iteration is continuous testing and improvement.

The four (4) UX design quadrant models

The quadrant model offers a structured perspective on the specializations within UX design, dividing the field into four primary disciplines for easier understanding.

• Experience Strategy(EXS): this is all about devising a holistic business strategy, incorporating both the customer’s needs and those of the company.

• User Research(UR): conducting both qualitative and quantitative research, gathering in-depth insights into the target users.

• Information Architecture(IA): Information architecture is the science of organizing and structuring content in a logical, user-friendly way. It is more of a navigation.

• Interaction Design(IxD): this focuses on how a user interacts with specific elements of a digital product.

  3 Soft skills of a UX designer

  It is a combination of personal, Social and communication skills which are:

• Communication.

• Empathy.

• Organization.

  3 hard skills of a UX designer

  They are technical and functional skills required by a job which are:

  • User Research.

  • Information Architecture.

  • Wireframing and prototyping.

    Tips for having a great portfolio

  • A powerful introductory headline.

  • A detailed "About" section.

  • Thorough case studies that detail your process.

  • Images and real artifacts.

  • Contact information and links to any additional projects.

    Why do UX designers need a portfolio?

  • It provides tangible evidence.

  • It shows the execution of an entire UX design project from start to finish and how familiar with the industrial tools.

  • It also helps to convey its brand.