Do you remember the last time you used a product or service? Be it your hotel check-ins, public transportation, using a mobile app, or even browsing any website.
Now just think, were you able to accomplish the task? Was it easy or difficult? Every time you interact with a product or service you experience a series of emotions based on those questions. This is the user experience. In this article, we discuss the UI UX design process in depth.
The term user experience refers to all the aspects of the interaction you have with a product and plays an important role when it comes to designing a product, for example, an app or a website. It takes quite a lot of effort when it comes to designing an app or a website with a good user experience.
What is User Experience?
“User experience” encompasses all aspects of the end-user’s interaction with the company, its services, and its products. User experience is important as it tries to fulfill the user’s needs, aiming to provide a positive experience to the users in order to keep the user loyal to the product or brand.
A meaningful user experience defines the user’s journey with the product that is most conducive to the company. A seamless user experience can ultimately lure the customer to buy the product or avail of the service again from that company.
When it comes to the role of user experience while designing an app, it is very important that the UI UX designers make the product or the service usable, enjoyable, and at the same time valuable to the user.
The design of the app may vary from customer to customer as the needs of every customer may vary depending on the company and the product they own. But generally, the phase of designing tends to be the same.
Still thinking what is the role of UX design in a mobile app? Read our guide on why UX design matters to gain in-depth insights.
UI UX Design Process
Before going into the integrities of app designing it is very important for you to know the process followed before designing an app. This blog will guide you through the process of designing the app from the very beginning.
For a user experience to be good UI UX designers are responsible for the overall satisfaction of the customer with the product. For this, it is important for the UI UX designers to put themself in the shoes of the customer i.e. thinking from the customer’s point of view.
1. Sketching the Digital Product
The first thing in the UI UX design process that an expert needs is a rough sketch of the app, which can be referred to as a low-fidelity prototype. This is basically a roadmap to follow during the process of designing the app. Sketching of the app includes listing down the requirements of the clients according to their product.
The basic structuring in the initial stage is very important so as to have a clear idea in mind before bringing the design to life. This helps in guiding the designer in the process of designing the app. There are some ready-made design tools that can help a designer build a sketch.
2. Understanding the User and the Brand
Is it possible to work on anything before knowing about it? Absolutely not. It’s important for the designer to understand the user and the brand first and understand what the user exactly wants from the app and you as a designer.
It is equally important that the app must sync with the brand. The app must align with the goals of the brand. Therefore a thorough understanding of the app is equally important for the designer. They must try to think and solve the problem from the user’s perspective.
3. Conduct User Research
User research provides an essential foundation for design strategy. Conducting thorough research helps in creating an optimal product for the users. A UX designer needs to first understand the user’s needs, goals, behavior, pain points, and also the budgetary aspect of the client and then design the app accordingly.
New to this? Feel free to check out our article on the product discovery process for a better understanding.
4. Compiling Data
Now that you know about the user and the brand and have done thorough research, it’s time when the designer needs to build a user persona with everything he has researched and gathered in the research stage.
This involves listing down all the requirements and identifying the most important elements of the product and the services. This stage basically acts as a roadmap about what the user flow will look like.
5. Designing the App
This is the actual stage when the designer works on the design of the app. At this stage, the designer starts building out the design. Basically, teamwork is where the designer and the team get a better understanding of creating sitemaps, wireframes, or prototypes.
This is the stage where a user interface designer will add visual or interface elements. This includes the graphical element of the app that the user interacts with. It is important for UI/UX designers to create elements and a layout that is intuitive, accessible, and inclusive.
App design is a crucial process for which you have to be prepared. It can make or break the whole app experience. So if you have a good app idea, don’t let it go bad due to faulty designs.
New to the design world? As a leading UI UX design company in Singapore, let our experts help you turn your imagination into an engaging reality.
6. Conduct User Testing
If the user experience with the app design is not good then the efforts of the designers go all in vain. So the work of the designer does not end once he designs the app.
For testing, designers need QA experts to test the app for all the errors and try to resolve those accordingly. This includes validating the design by tracking how the real users interact with the product and the services.
This is called usability testing. The designer needs to identify the problems with the design and develop solutions to give the users a seamless user experience.
Final Words
UI/UX design process is not an easy and fast process. Designing an app may take several months based on the requirements of the company and may differ depending on the needs.
The ultimate goal is that the app must look aesthetically good and the user must have a good user experience. Good teamwork is equally important in the process of app development.
A great app design is all about making sure that you define and solve problems constantly. If designers are able to do that then they can create an app that people will love to use.
Want us to take care of idea validation, design and development? We are a top-rated digital product development company in Singapore with a team of 100+ skilled designers, developers and testers who are ready to take on the challenge and build a highly immersive mobile app for your business.
