Being in the field of Computer Science, there are endless opportunities. This field is seen with a perception that it involves only coding but there is a lot more to it. There are jobs that do not require coding. One of these is UX Design. If you are pursuing your degree in computer science or similar and are not able to find any interest in coding then this article will help you out.
User Experience: UX is known as User Experience. Basically how a user feels and his/her demands getting fulfilled after using the software or automobile or any other gadget designed. In simple terms “is user able to use the product in an efficient manner, the way the developer has intended to use his artifact.”
User Experience Design is all about the user interaction or overall experience of a user with the product, webpage or an application. How the customer feels about the product when he/she is using the service and if he/she is facing any problem while interacting with the product or application, also how easy it was for a user to perform a certain task to use a product. UX can have everything from physical product to digital experience. It considers a user’s journey to solve a problem. Think of e-commerce, online food delivery or online travel company website where how easy it was for a user to make the payment, how long it took to complete the payment is considered as UX design. Empathy is a crucial part of UX design. UX designers need to put themselves in customer’s. So it’s all about the overall experience of a user with the product.
There is one related topic User Interface (UI). UI is known as a User interface. It is a bit different from the User Experience. The User Interface is defined as the interaction between the user and the design. These two terms go hand in hand. Don’t get confused between UI and UX.
How to start with UX designing:
- Start observing the surroundings.
- Start sketching and making doodles. The point of making sketches is that when you observe things, more ideas come to mind. You get a perception of how things should be seen.
Learn UX through books:
- Design of everyday things.
- Don’t make me think.
- The elements of user experience and much more.
Get a mentor: Find a teacher who could guide you with UX designing.
Make a portfolio: Start collecting your drawings and prototypes. To create a prototype there is software used for UX experience. A beginner can start with Adobe XD.
UX designing is a 4 step process:
- Requirements: The problem space where the task has been lacking.
- Design Alternatives: To know what could be the alternative for a preexisting software.
- Prototyping: To ensure that the design has met the needs of the user better than the existing design.
- Evaluation: Allows to ascertain that UX has been improved.
UX designing is based upon the user’s interaction with the design. Now to understand what a user thinks and wants, there are some methods discussed as follows. These methods are required to be followed by a designer to collect some vital information about his/her product by getting reviews.
- Naturalistic Observation: In this section just watch the user using the design in their own environment. In this type of observation, the user does not interact with the designer. Data collected in such an observation is quantitative as well as qualitative.
- Surveys: Get the user’s opinions. It requires physical interaction with the user.
- Focus groups: In this type of observation a group of users is made to communicate with each other in a room where a moderator who controls the team is required, basically who looks upon the actions and decisions of that group.
- Communicate: This is a face to face or one to one interaction with the user and the designer.
All of these methods have their pros and cons discussed as follows:
| Steps | Advantages | Disadvantages |
|---|---|---|
| Naturalistic Observation | The user is in his/her comfort zone.Designers get quality feedback because the user uses the design in their environment | This leads to incorrect notes a few times.There is no privacy for the user’s information. |
| Surveys | Efficient data collection.Easy data analysis. | The information provided could be superficial. |
| Focus groups | A rich amount of data can be collected | A moderator is required.The ideas could depend on the influential member in the team, it means that the views could of any one member only.The ideas could get affected by social influence. |
| Communicate | An in-depth conversation can lead to greater results in knowing how a user wishes to use a specified product. | Skilled communicators are required.It is time-intensive. A lot of time is required to interview with so many users. |
