4 key things all UX Designers should keep in mind
Things I learned after my first year of working in retail
It’s been almost an year since I started my professional journey as a UX Designer. From doubting my capabilities as a designer and getting jealous of others to putting in hours to learn new and interesting tools, there were many ups and downs. And many more to come.
But in this last year, I got a real introduction to what UX Design really means (reserved for another blogpost). When I look back, these are the four things which I feel a designer should incorporate in his or her work.
1. Where to dig? Define the problem scope.
One of my biggest learnings has been this. As a designer you tend to jump into thinking about different solutions and probable options. Before you do that, identify the scope of the project.
Create a problem statement and identify success for the problem you are going to solve. Build a flowchart to identify the components of the system your work is going to touch.
By doing that, you will get to define a system around the problem and you’ll be able to identify risks. As you do that, collect all the resources related to the all the identified components and create a mind map (and or a moodboard) to get a head start.
2. Get dirty with ideas
Set up your design files and start figuring out the right fidelity. Depending on the timeline and identified scope, start playing around with ideas.
Use templates and remember not to over polish. If you’re working within a team of designers, make sure to keep consistency and structure to your files since multiple people will be looking at your file later on.
Having structure to the files helps you easily track progress and tell an organized story when you present.
3. Pump in fresh, real data
Ah, this is something I understood that it was needed but struggled to incorporate in my designs. When you’re working at a large company, fetching things can be a little difficult.
Put working prototypes in front of users as early as possible. Conduct interviews and user studies to understand what exactly is needed. Sometimes you may even have to validate the problem you’re solving. And you might end up changing the direction midway which is okay.
4. Take big leaps and try new things
The best thing about being a Designer is that you get to experiment on a daily basis. Right? You have the liberty to think divergently and bring out ambitious ideas and build upon each other’s thoughts. I love that.
Keep your curiosity on the higher end. You’ll find ideas at places you can never imagine. Keep experimenting and building new things. Designer = Curious learner.
Speaking of building something cool and risky, I got around dabbling with chatbots in one of my side projects. It is about reminding me to feed my fish daily.
I’m Rachit, a UX Designer at Walmart Labs. http://rachit.design/
