Ux Part 1

19 Jul 2018

While learning about ReactJS, I thought it would be good to understand more about User Experience to help me design better apps. I'm currently working through FutureLearn's free course on user experience.

FutureLearn : Digital Skills: User Experience

What is UX?

  • UX design is about designing any sort of product or real life service with the user in mind.
  • To do this well you need to understand who they are and what they need.
  • Also known as User centred design.

UI (User Interface) is how the user interacts with the screen. UX covers more, it includes every interaction your customer would have with your business online and offline.

UX begins with the start of the idea, all through the lifetime of the product of service.

  • Starts with high level concepts, understanding the problems and opportunities.
  • Researching your users, what are they're needs?
  • Get feedback so you can improve your design.

Why is is important?

  • Increase in profits and engagement to a business/service provider.
  • focus on UX saves time later, not having to redesign elements.
  • customers expectations have changed (want efficient, pleasing, intuitive)

Surprising statistics:

  • 79% of people, if they don't like what htye find on a site will go back and search for another one.
  • 90% of users have stopped using an app due to poor performance.
  • 86% of people have uninstalled/deleted an app based on its performance.

Foundations of UX design

User Centred Mindset

  • consider how product would impact user.
  • ask questions like why, what if?
  • consider all parts of UX (UI, physical store, delivery, customer phone service).

Key process stages

The five steps are:

  1. Discover (about users and other relevant products)
  2. Describe (define your concept, what are you trying to create?)
  3. Design (the customers experience of dealing with your product/service)
  4. Develop (details, visual branding, testing)
  5. Release (product/service available, continue to improve it with each iteration)

Good design principles

  1. Simple and easy to understand
  2. Feels intuitive
  3. Engaging - users feel good while using it
  4. Efficient
  5. Users feel supported
  6. Make it easy to recover from mistakes
  7. Consistency

Keys skills you need to develop in the job as a UX designer

  1. Creativity

    2. Ux design gives alot of opportunities to think outside the box.

  2. Listening

    3. Listen to users and researchers to ensure your solving the right problem

  3. prototyping and wireframing

    4. create early drafts of a product

  4. communication

    5. with users and clients to ensure the product works well for them

  5. adaptability

    6. Need to be able to deal with new technologies or a new direction after feedback

Beta Testing

  • second phase of software testing. sometimes refered to as user acceptance testing(UAT)
  • application is subjected to real world testing by intended users in order to increase feedback
  • developers use these expereiences to make final changes before releasing a first interation of the software/website commercially

That's all I've covered on UX this week!