All projects start with a plan and all projects deviate from that plan.
User experience is an iterative process that works through, encounters a new understanding and then starts from the beginning to better understand that new perspective. I believe that much like user experience, your plan should be iterative as well as flexible. When we encounter a new understanding or problems we need to be able to adjust and improve the plan.
The first phase of this project is planning and at the same time learning. Since I decided that Authora will be user experience focused, my plan is built off of the user experience process. I initially did a lot of research leading up to this on the user experience process, what’s involved, and the reason behind using certain methods. UX design can be very daunting to a beginner, because there are so many methods that you can use to improve the user experience.
Some resources that I used to learn are -
Medium.com- I get a email everyday with articles to read based off my interests. One of my favorites is https://medium.com/@uxdesigncc
Some articles on the UX Process and different methods available:
https://uxplanet.org/51-research-terms-you-need-to-know-as-a-ux-designer-fac0d40a59d7
I also use Youtube quite a lot as I find video content easier to digest sometimes. Some channels I like:
Laith Wallace: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnpdR3kXJgs2y8o_PNddZxQ
Sarah Doody: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxM6G42vmI752f60od3Gypw
User Experience Topic: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCU5b_pb-6oETRLes2zF3EVQ
UX Hacker: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGtjpDt8O6Es9kJza7j4MXg
UX Mastery: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCXmQyv8sAjmvgCCgvRKi9hw
Everyone’s process is different and it should and will change over time. This is my UX Process that I’ve learned from the above resources:
- DISCOVER- The discovery phase is where you try to understand what you don’t know and better understand what people need.
- EXPLORE- Exploration is for understanding the problem, design scope and addressing user needs appropriately.
- TEST- Testing or validation is for checking designs during development and beyond, to make sure systems work well for the people who use them.
- LISTEN- Listen throughout the research and design cycle to help understand existing problems and to look for new issues. Analyze gathered data and monitor incoming information for patterns and trends.
Using this structure I created a plan of different methods within each section that i thought were best suited to my project. I determined which methods to use based on resources and time.
For example, a few methods I chose to use were:
- Competitor Benchmarking
- User problem surveys (idk if thats the real name for it)
- Personas
- User Journey
- IA
- Prototype
- Usability Testing
- More Surveys
These are just a small selection of methods that I chose to use. Most of which I used before in small capacities. This time around I’ll be researching into each method to make sure I’m making the most of the method. Next time we are diving into the discovery phase. Starting with setting goals.
I’m Mathew Morse, Syracuse, NY-based UX Designer & currently looking for an amazing company to join.
You can follow me on Medium for more mini blogs or on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/mat.morse/
If you have any input definitely let me know!
You can jump back to the very first blog here: https://medium.com/@mat148/authora-mini-blog-starting-without-starting-part-one-1b3936b17991
Or read the next article here: https://medium.com/@mat148/authora-mini-blog-its-just-business-part-three-270041e5db40
