5 REASONS TO PLAN UX BEFORE UI

In today’s digital world, the terms UI and UX (user interface and user experience) are used frequently and interchangeably. It is safe to say that the distinction between both has been fairly discussed, explained and digested. This post is aimed at discussing the notion of product development that starts with the user experience at its core rather than starting with the design, and the main advantages that advocates for such a flow.
The rather typical approach of designing digital products (mainly websites and mobile applications) is to start sketching and designing the flow of the screens or pages based on the client’s requirements. The challenge with this is that clients typically have a rather good idea of what they want to see, but not how it should be implemented (UI vs UX). By starting off with the user experience in mind, several aspects of the requirements could be amended, improved or added so that the final product is a better fit for the end-user.
At Bread Crumbs Studio, we always start by designing the ideal user behavior flow and then move on to translate this into artboards, design and eventually functionality.
Here are five reasons why we believe this is a better flow:
- REVEALING HIDDEN AND UNMENTIONED REQUIREMENTS:
When starting with the user experience rather than rushing to design, you start coming across scenarios that by default reveal the need to add features that are not part of the client’s initial requirements. This typically happens in scenarios such as sharing features, HTML5 emails, content arrangement and much more. This can be effectively avoided if the product designers lay out the requested functionality and brainstormed on how this is best translated in a seamless flow for the user. By doing so, lots of unmentioned features or requirements start popping up and thus incorporated in the design phase later on.
2. EMPOWERING YOUR TEAM MEMBERS:
Even if you know exactly what the flow of the software should be, its always a good idea to empower your team members by involving them in shaping the software that they will build. This allows the team to ask questions and shed light on angles that you might not have seen. If you manage to convince others with your (or the client’s) point of view by having them reach the conclusion on their own, you -the project owner- save yourself the hassle of the defending your ideas or adopting a very authoritarian and detested attitude that is “my way or the highway”.
3. LEARNING FROM THE MISTAKES OF OTHERS:
According to the International Business Times, the Apple App store alone is growing by 1000 apps per day- and that’s in 2015. As for websites, the numbers are even more dramatic. The upside of this is that software and digital products developers can learn from other’s mistakes. A very good way to do this is by drawing out user scenarios and plotting out what could be improved. At the end of the day, impressive designs that do not satisfy the ever-growing needs of end-users, project owners and clients are a recipe for disaster and so-called “scope creep” (more on this topic in a separate blog post soon). It is very likely that the idea you are working on has already been — at least in some way- been done before. Sweep the app stores and the web to look for similar ideas and see how others crafted their user experiences to learn from their mistakes and success and apply it on your own software. There is however a very fine line between learning from other’s mistakes and getting dragged down a certain path just because you looked at too many examples that follow the same route. Moderation is key: take the learning you need from products already on the market, but be sure to stick to your own essence and style.
4. GIVING THE DESIGNERS MORE CREATIVE ROOM:
No one hates to be told what to do more than creative people. Its always better to give them a general understanding of what is needed and then let them worry about how the design will shape up to be. The downside of this is that the project owner or the client typically have a good idea of what they want to see. The best way to manage this is the following point number 2 explained above- let your team members arrive at the conclusion you want on their own. This applies to creativity as well. Once again, moderation is key. Give your team members a chance to shine and be creative, but make sure they do not lose focus and drift to uncharted requirements.
5. GIVING THE DEVELOPMENT ENGINEERS A DEEPER INSIGHT:
Designing final screens and pages and asking engineers to “bring them to life” sounds easy enough- but it's not. Engineers have to understand the flow of the software to be developed even before sending the final screens. This enables them — just like designers- to have a very good insight into the nooks and crannies of the development. A priceless knowledge asset that will save a lot of time and effort when actually developing the final screens. Also, giving engineers all the details of the user experience before showing them the final interface allows them -or the quality assurance team- to build their test cases and use them to test the user interface when it's ready.
In summary, there are clear advantages of starting with the user experience rather than the user interface. At Bread Crumbs Studio, this is exactly what we do to achieve the best results when developing or maintaining mobile apps as well as websites.
Do you have an idea that you want to see developed? Are you an aspiring start-up and need guidance and consulting in the digital world? Want to scale and multiple your digital business organically? Are you a multi-national firm looking for a technical partner? Get in touch with us at breadcrumbs-studio.com!
Copyright note: The image used in this post belongs to surgeforward.com
