A Step-by-Step Guide to UI/UX Design
Introduction of UI/UX
The ratings of your websites depend on the layout to some extent. People get attracted to things that give them inner satisfaction. So we came to know that the user interface or UI design is the backbone of your website. Same as the backbone plays a vital role in the body, UI/UX design is the secret sauce of success for your website. There are many companies that are offering UX/UI design services over the internet. The owner of the apple company stated that,
“Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.”
(Steve Jobs)
The term “UI/UX design process” was introduced at the end of the twentieth century. The inventor of the UI design process stated that he invented this term so humans can interact more with the system. The experience of the human with the system was really good. He wanted to cover all the points that are used in UI/UX designing— like industrial design graphics, the interface, physical interaction, and the manual.
Importance of UI
Steve Jobs focused on the UI/UX design of his products personally. The idea clicked and now the words became guidelines for the other. Giant companies like Microsoft, Amazon, and others mostly focus on the user interface to give a better experience to their customers.
“Design creates culture. Culture shapes values. Values determine the future.”
(Robert L. Peters)
According to Robert Peter, if we want a successful future, we have to design better. The best design not only makes the users comfortable but also enhances the customer’s trust in you. When they require something, they will not go anywhere else except you because you have won their trust.
There is also a factor of simplicity. The more you make things simple for your users, the more it makes you stand apart from your competitors. Steve Jobs always gives priority to simplifying the UI/UX design rather than complex things. He said,
”Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.”
(Steve Jobs)
Let’s move under the hood, because there are some steps of the UI/UX design process as well. If you want to make your business successful, you must follow these steps. These steps will polish your products. Your designers should analyze every single step deeply to make a perfect user interface. There are five main steps of the UI/UX design process:
- Product definition
- Research
- Analysis
- Design
- Testing the final product
Product definition
When you are making something new, you have to know about the basic requirements of it. Similarly, the first phase of the UI/UX design is about requirement gathering. The designers collect all the important things and check the real scope of the product. The people that work in this phase are the design team, the Business manager, and the product manager. The team organizes an interview with the clients and consults with them in their workspace.
The result of this phase is out in the form of use-case diagrams. The use-case tells us how many actors/people will interact with the system. Who performs which function? All these things are discussed in the Use-case diagram.
Research
Research is the most important part of any project. Good research will give you the best facts and figures about the product, industry, and market. In the UI/UX design process, the design team searches the ways in which the system works according to the client’s proposal. The researchers should note the following things while searching for the project:
- They should do the proper research on the competition.
- They must study the existing domain.
- They should do the competitor analysis to examine the strategies of the competitor.
- They must follow the guidelines, principles, and trends of the advanced UI/UX design process.
Analysis
When designers complete the research work, the data is used in this phase to make decisions. We make hypothetical personas and experience maps from the collected information. These two terms are explained below:
Hypothetical Personas:
In this phase, the designers make hypothetical personas in which they know about the experience of different people about your product. It allows them to represent the ultimate product. Before delivery, the designers check the performance of the final product.
Experience maps:
This will tell the user flow with your final product. The whole process is visualized and the team makes interactions with the client directly.
Design
When we complete all the above-mentioned steps, our goal is to give life to the idea. Those ideas come on the front with different interfaces. The designers make the final product in this phase. There are many ways to make designs.
- Sketching
- Creating wireframes
- Prototypes
- Design specifications
First of all, the designers make a rough idea of the system through sketches. After making the rough sketches, they are gathered on a point. After sketching, the designers make wireframes of the product. This step is the backbone of product development. The visual effects of the product are created in the prototypes. In the end, user specifications are made in the workflow of the system. It creates an amazing graphical user experience.
Testing
In the last phase, testers test the code and check the validity of the code. They check if the product is according to the expectations or not. If they don’t get the right product, they send back the product to the designers to correct the errors. There are some important factors that need to be considered during evaluation.
- The system should be user-friendly.
- It should be easy to operate.
- It should solve the customer’s issue.
- It should be according to the customer’s needs.
Conclusion
As you have learned every aspect of the UI/UX design process, you can build the perfect user interface for your project. The UI/UX is important in the field of Commerce so we can’t neglect it to develop software.
I hope you have understood well about the user interface design process. If you have any queries about it, you can contact our designers for help.