Making great user experiences is an intricate and complex process. UX designers work with software engineers, designers, and marketers to help craft an amazing user experience. They help take the software idea from infancy to production. They help make sense of the software requirements, and help users understand how to effectively employ their software. They help bridge the gap between technical processes and creative ones. They help make a lofty software idea practical, tactile, and enjoyable to use. Without them, software applications are susceptible to being unusable.
There is no one trick that will help make UX design better, there are, however, proven strategies that can help make the design process more efficient. UX designers have a great deal of strategies that make the design process faster, help them gather information about potential users more effectively, and make collaborating with other team members easier.
UX Personas
One key strategy is to create UX personas. UX personas are basically templates that designers use to understand their customers. In this exercise, designers create a dozen or so personas, or avatars, that act as potential customers. Essentially, designers are imagining their customers, their behaviors, their likes and dislikes. This helps them build a in-depth profile of their target users. This is necessary because of the nature of UX design. UX designers have to understand the psychology of the user in order to create experiences that are accessible, usable, and enjoyable.
Collaboration
Collaboration is another key tool. You’ll want to connect with other designers, developers, and potential users. Attempting to create a great user experience alone is not advised -- and is nearly impossible. Even if you're working on a team comprised of other designers, it may be advantageous to consult an outside UX designer.
You may want to consider using freelancers throughout the design process so that they can give you input on your progress. Designers outside of your team may be able to see your project more objectively, and they’ll be able to give you some meaningful feedback on how to better your overall user experience. Sharing your progress with a design community, online or otherwise, can help you better some of the minutia as well, such as elements of your UI.
UI Design
How your app looks affects how your app feels. It affects how users perceive your app, which in turn, affects how they interact with it. If a design is visually appealing, a user generally believes the app will perform better. It’s important to understand this when attempting to create a great user experience. Your user will make immediate judgements based on the visual aspect of it alone.
In addition to collaborating with members outside of your team, you may want to pay more attention to what members inside your team are doing. Getting more involved with the UI design process will also help you better understand the user experience. Although it's not required, you may want to start having regular contact with the UI designer on your team.
If you don't have a UI designer on your team, you may want to consider hiring a freelancer on a short term basis to help you with these processes. They may have valuable input about how you can make the visual design elements better and how to make your UI design more visually appealing.
Conclusion
UX design is an art not a science. There's no formula that will guarantee a perfect user experience. User experience is highly abstract, subjective, and sensitive to change. There are a few strategies you can use, however, that can help your improve your UX design process. UX designers can understand their users by creating user personas, they have to understand their teammates through collaboration, and they have to understand their own weaknesses through constant constructive criticism and by reaching out to designers outside their team. By collaborating, listening, revising UX design becomes much easier to do and it becomes a more enjoyable and productive process.