My Design Process

 
 

My design process is made up of 3 core actions:

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Empathize (Requirement gathering, user interview, personas, user flow)

Empathy is at the heart of all my designs. In order to create truly meaningful experiences for others, you have to take a look at life through their eyes. You have talk to your client; really get to know who they are, how they work, and what they need to get their job done. UX designers/developers make our best contributions when we look at the problem from the user’s perspective, while also applying our vision and expertise to achieve the business objectives of the company we represent. If you're just looking at the project through the eyes of a designer and developer only, it is easy to think that you know what is best for them when creating solution solely based on your past experiences and techniques alone.

Our expertise, experiences, and preferences serve us best when combined with the consideration of all interests.  This is the catalyst to creating purposeful, beautiful, and intuitive products which contribute value and a positive user experience! To achieve this, with all interests in mind, you need to take a step back and simply ask, "Does this work for them?". It is from here that I build the personas of my core users and the scenarios that they would go through in a day in the life. 

 
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BUild (Sketching, Wireframing, mockups, prototyping, coding)

Once I truly understand who my users are, I shift my perspective back to being a designer/developer and begin building. I start every project by sketching out my work. I sketch the layouts, the buttons, wireframes of the screens, the flow of the application, everything. When I feel satisfied with the work, I transition from paper to the computer. Figma has been a favorite of mine for designing lo-fi wireframes, mockups and prototypes. I've always loved minimalist and flat design. I want the components of my website and app to pop with bold and vivid colors, while at the same time being clear and easy to understand. If I'm only showing a website or application design alone, I usually just stop at the mockups and present a breakdown on each screen.

 
 

REFINE (USability testing and KPI Analytics)

I love showing my work and always welcome feedback. Whether I'm showing it to my colleagues, presenting to the client, conducting usability tests, or just letting people play with my work through betas, sharing my work is critical to the refinement of my design/product. If there is one thing I've learned as a designer/developer, it is you never get it perfect the first time. You need the opinions of others to see where you can improve. Having a fresh set of eyes look and interact with your work not only helps you refine the product itself, it also gives you new insights and perspective on your creation. This goes back to Empathize, one of my 3 core actions of my design process. I take myself out of the designer/developer mindset I had while creating, and refocus it into the user's mindset.  I compare my understanding of the user to the product I created.   I listen to feedback with an open mind.  I believe in my designs and I will always state my opinion, however, it is during the refine phase that my non-defensive listening skills truly serve the process. We all need the feedback and critique of others in order to turn fundamentally good products into amazing and impactful experiences.