Design research is a core practice in design and when applying the design thinking process professionally. However, in some situations, we seek agreement from experts around one question, decision, or strategy while exploring problems before jumping to prototyping solutions. While there are several tools to explore problems from the user perspective, I would like to […]
The Characteristics of Human-Centered Design
Design is a complex process involving several human and non-human actors interacting in the design arena. When IKEA designs a chair or kitchenware, they consider several factors manifested in their Democratic Design strategy. We need to define the orientation of the design process or its main aim to guide the creativity and problem-solving focus in […]
How to Use Persona Empathy Mapping in UX Research
A user persona is a tool used to better understand user behaviour in user research by building a virtual avatar that represents the target consumer's characteristics. However, achieving empathic design requires more than just drawing a virtual character representing the target consumer. It also requires that designers put themselves in the consumer's shoes to learn more about […]
Step-by-Step Guide to User Scenarios
During the UX research process, one of our big aims is to understand user behaviour when visiting a website or using a mobile application. Over the course of building this understanding, different tools such as user scenarios can be used to put us on the same page with the user goals and ensure that the suggested solutions […]
How to Conduct Heuristic Evaluation?
The usability testing is one of the essential stages of the user experience design process where the prototype is tested and evaluated to ensure that the final product is user-friendly in terms of usability factors such as functionality, user control, consistency, and error prevention. There are different usability testing methods that could be used in […]
How to Use Role-Play Method in UX Research
As human beings, our lives are formed as a net of intersected stories. Reading or watching stories help us to put ourselves on others shoes, feel their pains and pleasant experience. Accordingly, role-play can be one of the effective method in UX research to explore about users' needs and experience when using the developed product […]
Guerrilla User Experience for Quick, Low-Budget Research
Building a user-centered design requires a deep understanding of consumer experience, which can be only achieved through an in-depth research process prior to building the first product prototype. However, as a designer, one of the common challenges when conducting user experience (UX) research is the project managers themselves. Although they never say no to user […]
The Price of Not Doing a Proper UX Research
When it comes to UX research, business owners and managers freak out to implement as they eager to invest the precious project time in production stages rather than thinking and research ideas. However, this puts the project in the trap of unpredictable outcomes in terms of the user experience which may have a negative impact […]
Free Webinar: Introduction to Google Design Sprinting for UX
Google Design Sprint is one of the UX design processes that is based o the agile methodology. It aims to put the user in the center of the development process in addition to technology and business. Unlike the other UX design processes, the Google Design Sprinting aims to shorten required for the UX design process […]
Hick’s Law: Building Usable Navigations
Building a user-friendly UI Design involves creating a usable navigation system that allows users to easily move between pages or UI screens, and one of the laws that contribute building a clear understanding about how users navigate through different choices in websites or applications is the Hick’s Law. It highlights that the time needed by the […]
10 Success Factors for the Experience Design Process
Experience design (or “user experience design”) aims to improve the usability and accessibility of the digital or physical product and thereby create a pleasant and effective experience while using the product and hence a satisfied user. This requires more than just focusing on the aesthetics or the layout of the application design. A successful experience […]
UI Design Patterns and How They Are Applied
UI design patterns are based on the observations of Christopher Alexander. In 1960, he observed that many things happen in our lives according to recurring patterns. This observation was later implemented in different design fields in order to solve problems with existing solution patterns. In user experience, the UI design patterns refer to user interface […]
7 Steps to Create a Successful Journey Map
‘Putting yourself in someone else’s shoes’ is a commonly used idiom. For a designer, however, it is an essential step in concept creation, research, and design. In order to guide any design process, the following vital question should be answered by designers; “Who is the target user, and how will he/she use the product?” Whether […]
How to Conduct a Successful UX Research for Your Design Project
Lacking a clear understanding of the project target audience can prevent a design team from developing a product that fulfills the end user’s needs and expectations. Before starting a project, many questions come to mind including “What is the target market segment?”, “What are the user problems that we can address?” and “How we can […]
The Role of White Space in User Interface Design
In the field of design, controversies between clients and designers sometimes arise regarding the use of “white space,” or negative space between user interface design elements. Misinformed clients are often under the impression that any empty space should be filled in with practical elements. Experienced designers, however, know that white space between typography glyphs, content […]
Adobe Experience Design CC: Taking the Creative Cloud to Prototyping
As interactive and user experience designers, there was always the question: Why is there not a prototyping tool included in the Adobe Creative Cloud? Since the release of Adobe Creative Cloud, it has been known as an integrated platform for designers, developers, photographers, and media experts to build their projects through a bundle of applications […]
Five Principles for Successful User-Centered Design
Look at the various products in our daily lives. Why do we love specific products while we get frustrated with using others? Why you prefer to use a specific brand over the other? I still remember the day I switched from Windows to Mac OS. I am sure you have a similar experience about one […]
Using Inductive Reasoning in User Experience Research
Part of the design process is to build a deep understanding about users’ behaviors and how they tend to use products or applications. This can be achieved through user experience research, a process that involves collecting and processing user data to build a product prototype with the user experience in mind. Reasoning is a common […]
Five Common Mistakes Committed by UX Design Teams
Building a user-driven design process is one of the main targets of the UX design team, which aims to create a product or service design driven by deep understanding for the end user. In their book, Design Experience: The Role of Design and Designers in the Twenty-First Century, Mike Press and Rachel Cooper highlighted how […]
Using Mind Maps to Track User Experience
When it comes to building a user-centered design, the core target is to have a solid understanding of the user experience and how users navigate through different design layout elements. Achieving this target requires clearly defined goals, which are supported with deep understanding of the end user through building a persona empathy maps and scenarios for […]