User experience could be defined as the human-centred design process. But it’s not just that, it’s much more, and in this post we’ll tell you all about it.
UX is the way users perceive a system or service. It’s how they feel when they use a website, app or tool. How they feel when they interact with what they have in front of them.
Everything you experience when you buy a product online, navigate a website or move through the options of a digital interface is an example of user experience.
But UX is not just about usability. A screen can be usable but not provide a good user experience. UX is based on a deep understanding of users.
User experience is a bundle of different areas
It is not a single topic that focuses exclusively on the visual aspect of a website or app, but encompasses many other areas that are necessary for a successful project or product: Interaction, information architecture, animation design, communication style, etc. These different approaches result in a product that is much more robust and with which the user can interact more fluidly.
A UX product must include: look (be visually appealing), feel (the user must feel comfortable interacting) usability (it must serve a purpose).
The user experience includes a process
At WATA Factory, we believe that good UX development involves a number of phases to ensure the quality of a product. It is necessary to know the needs of the customer or the brand. For this, user research must be carried out to study the target groups of the product –and to find out their needs, behaviours, actions…–, Wireframes need to be planned and designed, and the visual aspect also needs to be considered.
But UX does not end here
The last phase is, perhaps, the most important in the design process: to test and feel the product on the street, in the hands of the users.
With data-driven product design, it is possible to find out what is likely to work and what is not, considering the project and business goals.
A UX product is a living product, it is important to determine effectiveness and receive feedback (through platforms such as analytics and usability testing). This phase is ongoing as regular improvements need to be made throughout the life of the product based on the information gained from this feedback.
There is definitely no user experience without research. It is not an option to make a product, let it come into the world and leave it to its own devices. User experience design is a continuous process that never ends, so we must act accordingly.
