UX Designer: The User’s Champion

A good UX Designer must understand that users are their most important customers. We always try to create a simple and easy-to-use design for the users. At the same time, we always listen to what users need and want from the product. That’s the most basic knowledge for a UX Designer; to deliver a product that fits the user.

As a UX Designer in DANA, I experienced new things that made me realize — I’m not creating a design for only one customer. I work with other teams such as Product, Engineering, Business, Marketing, Stakeholders. It’s a collaborative effort from each team that builds up to an amazing product. Knowing this, my list of customers grow including the other teams.

The users are still my priority, but in practice, I can’t neglect the needs of other teams either. Designs are useless without the help of other teams to push it into reality. However, it’s quite impossible to meet everyone’s demands, but I learned how to find the perfect balance to this problem.

Stay open-minded and flexible

Working with a big team with different backgrounds and specialty has its own sets of challenges. Even if we’re working on the same project, our focus may be different.

For example, as a designer, my focus is on how the design looks (colors, layouts, etc). But an engineer would focus on technical capability, scalability, and so on. With this understanding, we should always stay open-minded to various conditions and circumstances.

Listening to feedback from others with an open mind gives us insights on creating effective design solutions. Here’s the truth: design changes are always going to happen. It’s not new and it’s not the end of the world. We should keep this in mind every time we design.

The key here is to be flexible and adapt to the circumstances based on priorities and impact. Being flexible and compromise with the circumstances makes you efficient and adaptable to future challenges. It’s not easy to do, but it’ll help you cope with a workload with difficult requirements.

Communicate for a better solution

It’s a struggle to communicate in a company with hundreds of employees, especially during this pandemic. But it’s still an important aspect of working in a start-up company. In all honesty, I’m a shy and awkward person who sometimes has a problem talking to people. But I realize that I have to able to communicate my problems and concerns to my colleagues. I also have to be able to listen to their concerns and ideas as well to know the right action for my design.

Communication allows you to exchange thoughts and gain insights that you need. This will give you a better solution that fits your situation. Asking for feedback from others’ perspective helps in many ways. Most often, discussions with my colleagues produce the best ideas. This helps to gain insight which will make work easier.

Be realistic with the situation

Designers tend to strive to create the most beautiful and perfect design possible. The truth is that this mindset isn’t practical in real life. Sure, it’s important to make beautiful designs but it’s not the only thing that matters.

Designing a product comes with other considerations. Is it functional? Useful? Scalable? What value does the design provide? We must ask ourselves these questions before we even start designing. Because in the end, we’re not the ones who use our designs. Your design impacts different people from various backgrounds.

The goal is to create a real product that brings value to our users. With this in mind, we should always be considerate of our design choices. Don’t push personal ego so much that the end result is unrealistic and impossible to make. We should take action based on data and the current condition that aligns with our goal and brings value to our users.

Think and plan ahead

I used to create a design only to fulfill current requirements. But then more problems will surface when I finish the design. This may come from engineering limitations, business changes, another problem, you name it. Those problems forced me to make changes in my design, which takes up a lot of extra work time. We can’t predict when these problems will come, but we can prepare ourselves to handle it well.

Before I design a product, I always imagine the scenarios that may happen while using it. The possibility of improvements that may bring more value to the product in the future. Let’s also not forget the possible problems or errors that may suddenly pop up.

Thinking and planning ahead helps us to be wiser when making design choices. We may not know what exactly will happen, but at the very least we can prepare for future possibilities. This practice helps us create a versatile design for any future scenario and avoid extra work from missed out problems.

These are the essential things that have helped me design for my customers. It’s almost impossible to fulfill all the demands. But finding the sweet spot in this situation is the challenge as a UX Designer. Plan, prioritize, and communicate with an open mind for an efficient workflow. Don’t forget to stay humble and always open to new possibilities and ideas. Remember these things to help you get to a whole new level of design.

I hope a glimpse of my experience will help you deal with the challenges of UX Design. Good luck!