- Why? – “If I had an hour to solve a problem and my life depended on the solution, I would spend the first 55 minutes determining the proper question to ask, for once I know the proper question, I could solve the problem in less than five minutes.” – Albert Einstein. Why we are building a product or why we need a redesign are the kind of questions you need to ask yourself before beginning with any other step. People always like to put their money into something that is driven and has a certain belief attached to it. And, to ascertain the same, your faith in the product should be in place. With a clear answer to why you want to do it and what it will help achieve would certainly help in creating a better strategy and a winning product.
- Problem – “The greatest challenge to any thinker is stating the problem in a way that will allow a solution.” — Bertrand Russell. Identifying the problem can be regarded as the foundation of a design strategy. It is the gap between the current state and the ultimate goal of the business. Through the analysis of existing problems, ongoing challenges, and customer needs we can derive a problem statement. This statement acts as a guiding star for the team and keeps its focus on solving it.
- Business Goal – To create a successful design strategy, the strategist needs to know what we are doing and where we are headed to. With complete know-how of the business goals, we can create a set of design goals that makes the solution more attainable. For example, if a business’s goal is to get more users then their design goal is to get more people to click the Register button. A winning strategy aims at aligning the design goals with the goals of the business.
- Gather Requirement – What a product should do and how it should do is what makes up a requirement statement. At Semiqolon, we aim to collect the information based on the user’s needs and not through traditional ways. By asking thoughtful questions and through deep research, we try to understand the business as well as the user’s behavior. The techniques followed by us to collect these requirements are:-
- Stakeholder Interview – Through the point of view of the stakeholders, you get a better idea of where the business is headed. All the information regarding the target user, business goals, competition, and technological limitations are ascertained in this step. Actual UX starts only after this step is done.
- Industry Research – A design strategy is created only after a deep understanding of the product’s competition in the market. Does the product we are creating have any unique features that have not been seen in the market before, or is it going to provide a solution that has not been solved until now? Pondering over such questions helps to shape up a better strategy.
- User Segmentation – User segmentation is the method of dividing users into groups that share similar traits. The demographics and geography of the users deeply impact their choices therefore, segregating them based on these characteristics helps in a better understanding of their behavior.
- Solution Validation – Building a solution based on the above-mentioned steps is not complete until it goes through the step of validation. To prove the viability of the solution, it is put through the process of design-thinking that involves:-
- Empathizing – This refers to understanding the needs of the user.
- Defining – It aims at defining the problem in a user-centric way.
- Ideating – Brainstorming on various ideas during ideation sessions
- Creation of Prototype – This step involves creating a sample version of the actual product or a product idea so that it can be tested before putting it into production.
- Test/Rapid Testing – Once the prototype has been created, an attempt to generate feedback through real users is called the testing phase.
- Implementation – The solution that is inclusive of the needs of users, as well as the business, is put into implementation.
What is UX and what is its role in creating a Product Design Strategy?
User experience is quite often mistaken as a visual design but, it is much more than that. The process of UX solely aims at designing a system that provides a great experience to its users.
A great UX helps align the goals of the business with the needs of the end-user. It takes care of human needs during each phase of the design can be termed as User-Centered design. The highlights of the process that is followed to design a UX strategy are:-
- Persona Creation – Personas are imaginary characters, which are created based on your research. It helps in understanding the real user, his expectations, motives, and goals. Personas help in creating a better user experience for the target audience by adding a human touch to the design thinking process.
- Task Scenarios Mapping and Finding Common Patterns – A user scenario is nothing but a narrative of an action or goal that a user wants to attain. Once the user persona is ready, UX designers put them into real scenarios by concentrating on who, what, when, where, and why’s of the task that the user wants to accomplish. User scenarios help to define the key tasks that the user will perform and comes handy during the usability testing phase of the product.
- Information Architecture – IA aims to organize the contents in a way that it becomes easier for the user to find anything that they need with minimum effort. It defines the frame of the product design ranging from its visuals, functionality to the interaction. A well thought information architecture saves time and effort and creates an attractive product that is appreciated by its users.
- Prototyping – User experience strategy involves creating a prototype of the actual product to validate it before putting in time and money into it. This step helps designers refine the features of the product if needed.
- Design and Usability Principles – If a product is not usable then the chances of its failure get very high. To ensure that the end product is a delight to use, the principles of usability should be followed throughout the design process. The components of the widely followed Norman’s design and usability principles are:
- Visibility
- Feedback
- Mapping
- Affordance
- Constraints
- Consistency
- Interaction Design – The design of interaction between users and the product is called as Interaction design. By determining how a user communicates with the technology, designing an engaging interface is what an Interaction designer does.
- Visual Language – The language used by designers to communicate with their users is called as a visual language. Fonts, colors, shapes, and icons are the elements of visual design. An efficient visual language streamlines communication with the different parties aligned with the product and strengthens the brand identity.
- Accessibility – It is a concept that states on how to design for all. While designing a User experience strategy, we need to make sure that this experience is available to everyone and not only for a certain group of people. When we incorporate accessibility features in our design we let everyone, including people with disabilities use or benefit from our product.
- Usability Testing – It is a test to evaluate how easy to use the solution is. This test takes place with real users and helps eradicate any potential problems that are highlighted before the launch of the product.
- Back-end Development– The visual designs, the wireframes, and all the other essential information are provided to the back-end developers who finally create the product that the business wished for.
With a team of brilliant UX designers, team Semiqolon; The Best UX/UI Design Agency in 2020 can help execute a successful business strategy for your business. For more info contact us at info@semiqolon.com.