The Developers Checklist to better Ux design.

User centered design is not a process only for user experience designers. Developers surely need to understand the user and how to build a product that is user centered. When you want to start a new development task,as a developer and it’s up to you to deliver great functionality and a great user experience as well, its important to realize that your job goes beyond just writing codes to create boxes or to add new form fields. But its to make sure you design a micro interaction that would make the form field usable and functioning well and the experience of people who want to use the website would not be frustrated and ruined.
To help you to get started on the right track to provide a great experience with your app development, will like to share some of my checklist i use for work to create a great experience. Finding answers to the questions is a step in the right direction to unleashing your ux potentials.
BEFORE YOU START CODING
Go out and research dude.

Who are you Designing for?
It always start with a knowledge of who will use the app. that’s why the process is called user centered design. it is a design that is centered around the user. to knowing the user, will help you understand how best to design for them.
What is your app trying to achieve?
Just as its important to know your users, so is it important to have a clear knowledge of the app you are building. what is the business objectives, what do you want to solve with it? These answers will help you balance the flow for both the user and your business/app.
What are the Users trying to Accomplish?
what are the task the user will need to accomplish with your app and what are the processes it will take the user to accomplish it? learn and define this so you understand the user mental model and how to help the user reach their goals. How would you make a call from your iphone? ask the same question with your app.
THE IN BETWEEN
Wait, it’s time for ideation ,prototyping and testing.

What is the sketch like?
You need to sketch out what the app will look like using a pen and paper first. pen and paper are my best design tool because the are free from friction and connect so well with my creativity.The flow is great.You want to sketch out the flow of the website from how the visual will look like, and how the content and navigation will flow to make the final user goal seamless. never build an app, without first sketching what that app would look like first. It helps you sketch out your idea, helps your planning process and helps you test the idea.
Do you have a prototype yet?
From your paper sketch, it would be a good idea to not go straight to building the app but to first build a prototype. Build a fake version of your app first. like the saying, “fake it, till you make it’’. yes. build a prototype of your app first.you can use some prototyping tools or ask a friend to help you design it with Photoshop if you can’t do that.There are two important reasons to prototype which you should keep in mind.
- Test ideas: spend less time and money building the right things. It sure helps to reduce risk of your app not coming our right and increase the chances of building the right app and on time.
- Get new Ideas: Its an opportunity for you to know how best you can improve your apps user experience . you get to see areas, you never thought about and areas you don’t need to include in your app especially when building with an MVP(Minimum Viable Product) principle in mind.
And how can you do this, it is pretty simple. just go ahead, and:
- Make fake apps (fake version of your app without deep coding)
- Show people
- Learn from their feedback.
How Can you Make your app better?
You have created a fake app, well done on that. You went ahead to show it to people and when i say people i mean not developers like you except they are the people you are building the app for.Show it to the potential people who would use your app. observe and listen to them use the fake app. Do not interrupt them,argue with them or force your opinion on them. allow them be themselves with your fake app. For the period of time, only use your eyes and ears alone. mouth shut! .you want to find out from them if:
- They know how to ………..(insert a particular task your app performs here)
- It was easy to………..(insert a particular task your app performs here)
And you finally want to know how you can make the app better for them. that is the feedback you need and should take seriously to build a better app for people.
P:S: There is no fixed time where you want to stop prototyping. It depends greatly on you and your project. the information you have gotten from the potential people who would use your app is it enough to help you build the right app? remember even when your app is built, iteration never stops.
‘ A designer knows he has achieved perfection not when there is nothing left to add, but when there is nothing left to take away’
Antoine de Saint-Exupery
IT IS A CODE DAY.
Err…more like a code party so bring design thinking along.
You know who you are building for, you know what you want to build, you know the business objectives you want to achieve, you have a prototype which you have tested with your potential users and have their feedback Incorporated to your prototype, now its time to do your magic.Build the real app . code the app but you started your development project thinking like a ux designer, its important you also code the app thinking as one too.
……. To be Continued.
(This article was cut short because of the length. hope to share the last part soon . check-in soon #winks.)
