Perfect Your Solo UX Design Process

Neil Pearce reveals how, as a solo designer, you can follow a simple but solid UX design process.

- Neil Pearce

The UX design process itself is very flexible and can change significantly depending on the circumstances, with different design teams having different ways of implementing their process. However, without having a solid UX design process in place, a design team could be working completely in the dark. A clear and concise UX process, on the other hand, makes it possible to craft amazing and less problematic experiences for the user.

But how do we implement such a process if we’re working as a solo designer – which is a common position to find ourselves in these days? In this tutorial we take a look at a simple four-step UX process to help streamline your solo workflow.

1. DEFINE & RESEARCH PRODUCT DISCOVERY

Define the problem(s) first! You need to understand clearly what you’re trying to solve: ask your clients if you are working in an agency and ask business stakeholders or the product manager if you are in a product team. UX design is a problem-solving discipline and helps the end users to achieve their goals with ease. So discovering if your product idea will fulfil these needs is your first step.

USER SURVEYS

Surveys enable you to get a decent amount of data from real users. By using clever questions, you can discover more about who they are, where they are and what their needs and goals are. You can use many available tools to carry out surveys, such as SurveyMonkey and Google Forms.

2. ANALYSE & PLAN COMPETITOR ANALYSIS

By looking at who your competitors are, you can get a much better feel of how you can create something more unusual. However, this shouldn’t be a long process, as all you’re doing is seeing how viable your product idea is and whether or not it has a place within the market.

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