Let's Talk UX DesignUX Design Denver. What exactly is it and how does it help?
UX - “User Experience”
First, let’s define the terms. UX stands for “user experience,” and, put simply, is the process of making interaction with a product or service a great experience. The term itself has evolved over the years, but as it stands now it’s how you interact with a product and the research to back that interaction up.
UI - “User Interface"
The user interface is the visual display of UX Design Denver. Let’s say you designed an app flow, and it functions and has a great user test response. You need to display this functionality, right? The buttons, colors, and overall visual design is the user interface. With a well-designed user experience and a beautiful interface, you make a great app or website.
UX Design Denver - It doesn’t stop there
A good user experience is everything in the modern world. It extends beyond an app or website and should be applied to everyday activities, objects, products, and services. User experience is how we interact with the world and the psychology of UX is ever-evolving and developing. Don Norman says it best:
"Good design is actually a lot harder to notice than poor design, in part because good designs fit our needs so well that the design is invisible, serving us without drawing attention to itself. Bad design, on the other hand, screams out its inadequacies, making itself very noticeable.” ― Donald A. Norman, The Design of Everyday Things
Invisible Design
Don Norman makes a great point in that design should be so easily usable, and so quick to the thought process of interacting with something that it’s invisible. This is why we apply UX design denver research methods to our creative process. Understanding the client's demographic and audience and then execute and iterate the process until it works is a core feature in how we approach a project.
The Relationship of UX/UI
A lot of designers make the mistake of going straight to the user interface (visual design). Their initial instinct is to make something LOOK good. But this isn’t helpful if the experience is terrible. You need both to create a brilliant design. Our creative process is:1. Discover & Research2. Define the Strategy3. Create a flow4. Visually Design5. Test6. IterateThis process is a cycle and is the key to ensuring the success of a project. Without the research and strategy, you are putting yourself in a spot of guessing and unchecked estimates. Your visual design is almost ensured to fail. Work, test, & iterate. Design is not more important than functionality, design IS functionality
Illustration: Mike Rohde, "Rework."
UX Design Denver - Research & Design
So now we have put the work and research into the project. We have taken the proper steps into creating a brilliant layout and design. We have iterated using user testing and found a solution. Not only that, but we have implemented core design features like hierarchy, a great color scheme, clean and clear font choices, and easy to understand navigation and flow. The project is completed, so what’s next?We let time do its job and show us how the project strategy worked. Is it effective? Does it hit its target goals? Is the right audience affected? Is there a different audience that was MORE affected? This is where you ask the questions that lead to the companies evolution and advancement. We track and note all of these factors to prepare for the next project. You could say, we iterate the projects themselves!Want to learn more about UX design denver? Reach out to us with questions! We’d be happy to answer them or have a discussion!