The UX Design Institute succintly formulates the value of UX design:
From a business perspective, prioritising the user experience results in happier customers who remain loyal over time. This in turn achieves higher conversion rates and increased revenue, lower development costs and an overall stronger, more competitive brand.
From a human perspective, the value of UX design can be felt in how we experience the world around us. It gives us solutions to everyday problems and ensures those solutions are enjoyable, user-friendly, and, most importantly, accessible and inclusive.
Achieving high quality UX design requires experience and expertise, on many levels. Here I highlight just a few aspects.
Big picture: strategic user research, concept design, visual design
Originally created by Jesse James Garrett, this diagram illustrates what is involved in going from the complex and messy reality to a well-designed online product that serves your users and your business.
User experience design experts know how to deal with this complexity, how to navigate these layers, and what methods to employ.
Process
The double diamond model visualizes the 2 main phases in a design and innovation process:
- building the right product
- building the product right
As suggested by the 2 diamond shapes, both phases have a discovery / exploration phase where you go wide, and a consolidation / implementation phase where you narrow things down. Typically you go back and forth between these 2 phases, so it's not just a sequential process.
