A UX Frame Of Mind
User experience design “encompasses all aspects of the end user's interaction with the company, its services, and its products.” — Don Norman. It’s the job or the user experience designers to make compelling products, and experiences for customers through design decisions that are informed on research and understanding users, bridging people with technology.
Main Takeaways
This week I learned a lot about UX at Lambda School and how to develop a UX mindset. My main discoveries were:
- The importance of asking WHY with a user-first and empathetic mindset.
Asking WHY early can save a lot of trouble later on. If a company can’t answer why the potential product or service is solving a problem, they could encounter a lot more headaches later on upon realizing there is no user interest or need. Asking why early and often empowers the UX designer. A good UX designer approaches users in an empathetic way to discover if the product or service is solving a problem by putting themselves in the user’s shoes. I felt calm and confident learning that, asking why and having empathy were critical aspects of UX design. Asking why and trying to see perspectives from multiple points of view are a part of my personality.
2. Find out market viability before building a product to ensure you are solving a real problem for users.
Often times, money and time are invested in a product or service that don’t take users into account, only to realize too late that the service isn’t solving a problem for anyone. A good UX designer can help have these difficult conversations early on in a product life-cycle, in order to avoid bigger losses later. Don Norman echoes this in his book; a user interview early in the exploratory phase of a product is far more useful than 50 user interviews after a product has been built. I was a bit nervous to think about this aspect of a UX designers job. Being able to approach different stakeholders and deliver the information they don’t want to hear, won’t always be an easy conversation to have.
3. Be able to pivot if findings prove initial assumptions wrong.
Learning and pivoting are key in good user experience design. If you find out the product you are building isn’t viable after user interviews, you can usually discover a different complaint by talking with people and adjust your position in the market to remain competitive.
& lastly my aha moment
4. A UX design mindset fosters positive thinking because the act of discovery becomes a learning opportunity.
This last discovery is what motivates me most about User Experience Design. With an iterative approach, a UX design mindset encourages positive thinking; if something you initially thought doesn’t turn out to be the case, you can pivot your product or service to serve an actual need, and solve an actual problem. Mistakes and failures become opportunities for growth. Good invention comes from trial and error. The UX process is all about discovering what doesn’t work to make more informed design decisions.
