What is an Experience Designer?

User experience designers belong to the category of design engineers ^[1] , that is, practitioners engaged in user experience design.

User Experience Designer

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User Experience Designer, Design

When it comes to user experience designers, we must first talk about what is user experience design. "User Experience Design" is a broad term that can include various designs: UI (User Interface), Interaction, Visual , Auditory, and even industrial design, so UI and interaction designers are often referred to as user experience designers in a broad sense. standard.

1. Responsible for the conceptual prototype design and detailed interaction design of the product, and cooperate with user testing and analysis;

2. Team members cooperate, exchange various ideas, draw prototypes, and participate in the entire product cycle;

3. From the perspective of product availability and ease of use, provide sustainable user experience design and track implementation throughout the product life cycle.

1. Have a strong interest in user interface design related work, strong learning ability and innovative spirit;

2, with good communication and coordination skills, full of team spirit;

3, has excellent design expression ability, can quickly and effectively express ideas as design solutions;

4. Familiar with the product development process and methods.

1. Master more direct and efficient communication methods

The wireframe prototype is just one of the tools that designers use to communicate; more importantly, in the process of actual communication with the demand side or the developer, the ability to communicate the solution and related basis to the other side is described.

Compared to wireframe prototypes made with software tools, paper, pens, and whiteboards are often more effective tools. Especially in the early stages of the product and in the process of iteration, these tools can help us to clarify ideas and implement ideas faster, and communication and cooperation between multiple departments will become more direct and efficient.

As designers, we should understand that the process of communication and cooperation with users, product teams, and technical development is an important way to help us accumulate design practical experience.

2. Investigation and verification

Have you visited customers? Have any focus groups been organized? Have you conducted a contextual inquiry? Or are you just designing for yourself?

Many designers, including ourselves, may be working on products that we would not have the opportunity or need to use. I am currently designing an applicant tracking management system for many client companies, which is something I would never use in real life and work. This means that I have to spend a lot of time communicating with the target users of the product.

If you are not the target user of this product, as a designer, what reason do we have to build behind closed doors?

There will always be time for user research, because tasks such as prototyping should only occupy a small part of the overall design process. Even if you just draw a sketch, you can do it after discussing the actual requirements with a small number of target users; there is no any visible prototype, this is not a problem, you can get what you want by observing the use of competitors' products Information to get.

Only by understanding the user's requirements in the real use scenarios and use cases can we start the product design work.

3, earlier and more display design solutions

Have you printed out the prototype solution of each stage and posted it on the wall to discuss with everyone? Have you tested usability with paper prototypes or high-fidelity prototypes?

It is very important to test your hypothesis. "I think" is the most dangerous word in the world. People pay us not to ask us to design for ourselves.

Usability testing is not a sophisticated rocket science. Even in the most difficult conditions, you can show your prototypes to colleagues or family and friends, observe their trials, and record their feelings. Most people like to do such things, and they feel that their opinions are valued.

4, control the process

How did you get started with the actual design work? Are there clear steps and milestones? Do you know how to cooperate with which departments in this process? Do you use project management software like Basecamp or Asana to track work progress?

User experience designers should know the product design and development process, and understand how to cooperate with upstream and downstream departments at each stage, including product managers, front-end and back-end developers, and even customer service departments. What kind of support can we get from them.

Some of the most typical links in the product design and development process include: user research, role design, requirements analysis, sketching, prototyping, usability testing, development, and going live. In particular, the last three steps usually need to be repeatedly performed during the product iteration.

Fully plan and control such processes, and work closely with relevant personnel in each link-this should become the habit and instinct of the user experience designer.

Even the best writers don't sit down and start writing. They first frame the story; the same is true for us.

5. Continuous improvement

Do you think everything will be fine once the product is launched? Is there a desire and opportunity for continuous improvement of the product?

A designer once asked me: "When do you think the product was really completed?"

I personally think the answer should be "the product will never really be completed."

The word "Kaizen" in Japanese means "continuous improvement." The improvements mentioned here also include improvements to the iterative process of "continuously improving the product" and related methods. This can not only promote the optimization of existing products faster and better, but also benefit future product design and development work.

Review the projects you have done and the workflow behind them, see what works well or lacks, and consider what you can improve or verify in the next projects. Try to try something new in each link of each iteration cycle, implement and verify it, then review and summarize, make adjustments in the next cycle, and continue to try. ^[2]