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Starting a new UX project from scratch is a great challenge. Each project is different, it depends on the company you are working for, the resources you have, the design culture of the stakeholders and so on. There you go 4 basics that have been working for me so far. Hope it helps you too!
1 - Adapt or die 🦖
We designers live in an ideal world, our perfectionism is endless, but the world is not perfect and we have to embrace it as it is, otherwise frustration will be always with us. However, we can do a lot to make it better, but only accepting the beauty of imperfection. Have in mind that Product Design is a TEAMWORK.
Once you have understood that, your job will be easier by far and you'll have become a better designer. Now, with that in mind, try to understand the company and the project. That will allow you to adapt the processes and UX techniques to the available resources. Don't try to apply the theory just because. Be meaningful about what you're doing, do what makes sense to you and trust yourself.
- What team do we have?
- Is the company familiar with user tests?
- What UX research capacity do we have?
- How often can we test?
- Do we have a Design System?
- Do they really believe in the value of UX?
With the answers to questions like these, we will have a starting point, we will be able to draw up a plan and get the most out of the resources we have, then, gradually we'll enrich the process.
Once you have understood that, your job will be easier by far and you'll have become a better designer. Now, with that in mind, try to understand the company and the project. That will allow you to adapt the processes and UX techniques to the available resources. Don't try to apply the theory just because. Be meaningful about what you're doing, do what makes sense to you and trust yourself.
- What team do we have?
- Is the company familiar with user tests?
- What UX research capacity do we have?
- How often can we test?
- Do we have a Design System?
- Do they really believe in the value of UX?
With the answers to questions like these, we will have a starting point, we will be able to draw up a plan and get the most out of the resources we have, then, gradually we'll enrich the process.
2 - Strategy and planning to save up millions 💸
A good plan will not prevent mistakes from being made, but it will allow you to identify them and act quickly.
- Where is the product going?
- How happy are our users?
- What features do the users use the most?
- Which are our flaws?
The answers to these questions will allow you to draw up a plan with one or more clear objectives. Identify the MAIN problems to solve and go for the solution, try to focus on the problems that we'll have more impact.
- How happy are our users?
- What features do the users use the most?
- Which are our flaws?
The answers to these questions will allow you to draw up a plan with one or more clear objectives. Identify the MAIN problems to solve and go for the solution, try to focus on the problems that we'll have more impact.
3 - Without data, you are an artist 👀
Have you been hired as an artist? If the answer is no, get the data asap. We can't get results without goals, and we can't set goals without data. That's it. Designers tend to jump into Figma so early, make the difference by getting used to defining key metrics before you start drawing anything, then identify a success metric which you can check once the project is live.
- Where can we get this data from?
- Do we have Hotjar or something similar?
- And Azure Insights or Firebase?
- Are the Customer Success and Support departments willing to help us?
- How are we measuring the NPS?
With the answers to these questions, we will obtain a very clear vision of what is happening with that feature or product, from there we will be able to prioritize and define objectives.
- Where can we get this data from?
- Do we have Hotjar or something similar?
- And Azure Insights or Firebase?
- Are the Customer Success and Support departments willing to help us?
- How are we measuring the NPS?
With the answers to these questions, we will obtain a very clear vision of what is happening with that feature or product, from there we will be able to prioritize and define objectives.
4 - Communication moves the world 📡
Defining a workflow in conjunction with developers will greatly streamline production. The fact that our Design System in Figma, for instance, and the code of the developers are two parts of the same thing will save us a lot of time and money, in addition to allowing us to scale and grow very quickly.
Make them part of the process, and make them understand the Design System and how it is built, you don't want to waste your time (Nor your company) building scalable components that won't be built as such, as I mentioned before, this is a TEAMWORK.
Make them part of the process, and make them understand the Design System and how it is built, you don't want to waste your time (Nor your company) building scalable components that won't be built as such, as I mentioned before, this is a TEAMWORK.
Conclusion ☕️
A digital product is still a product as such, so it must work. We will not always have all the resources at our disposal, so we must know how to discriminate using the most appropriate ones at the correct moment. Lack of planning blocks success. Without data we will never know if we are moving forward or not, we will only walk in circles. Communication and alignment with developers is a fundamental point to scale fast and consistently.
Every company is different, unfortunately, Design Culture is still something that is not present in every single digital product development, the same happens with user testing. For instance, there is no engineering team that launches a feature if it has not been tested before, which is totally normal, we have to bring this same normality in our processes.
Every company is different, unfortunately, Design Culture is still something that is not present in every single digital product development, the same happens with user testing. For instance, there is no engineering team that launches a feature if it has not been tested before, which is totally normal, we have to bring this same normality in our processes.
Even though this situation has improved substantially over the years, it's our job to bring value by solving problems with beautiful and meaningful designs.
