Process Details

What is UX Design and why do you think it is important?

UX Design is the process of solving a problem for a specific demographic. Design, in its simplest sense, is intentionally solving problems with the end user in mind. UX Design is important to a company because without good UX design, you are consistently losing potential customers who have become frustrated by a poor user experience and abandoned your site or app in the middle of their path to purchase.

Describe your UX Design Process? Even if you’re not like everyone else, tell us the “why” of your approach and how you think it’s effective.

Phase I: Problem Identification

My process typically begins by receiving a “spec document” from a Product Manager. I’ll read it carefully to understand as much as possible about their goals for the feature or product. My most important step in this phase is to answer the question, “What problem does this solve and for whom?”

After I’ve spent time understanding the Product Manager's goals and decided on what problem needs to be solved with this feature, I establish my own goals based on the problem statement.

Phase II: Research

Next I move into the research phase. This is the part of the process where I try to learn EVERYTHING I can about how to tackle the problems I’ve been presented with. I’ll do a competitor analysis where I answer the following questions:

• Have other people solved these same problems?
• How did they arrive at their decisions?
• What’s good about what they do, and what’s bad?
• How might we take what they did and do it better?

After I’ve done my competitor analysis, I begin to build user personas to inform who the feature is for and how we can tailor it to best serve them. I also gather any additional information that may help inform the team and serve as our “North Star” as we drive our decision-making process.

Phase III: Wireframes

After the research phase is complete, I begin the fluid process of sketching out ideas and low fidelity wireframes. I try to keep this part of the process as collaborative as possible; I start with a few of my own ideas/sketches and then conduct brainstorming sessions with my colleagues, using my ideas as a starting point for the sessions. This allows me to gather the ideas from the team. While in these brainstorming sessions, I’ll explain the goals of the project and pitch what I’ve come up with so far. I’ll take thorough notes during these sessions, and as the ideas begin to grow, I’ll continue to refine my sketches to reflect the ideas that best solve the feature’s problem. Adding collaboration to the process helps gain buy-in from decision makers later in the process since several people have evaluated the problem and come up with solutions collectively.

Phase IV: User Testing

Once I have arrived on a design that I feel confident about, the next step is user testing. This step can vary depending on the project’s needs, but in my experience, it typically consists of external user testing, internal user testing, click test/ heat map testing, or survey questions. This helps vet the decisions I’ve made thus far on the project and builds confidence that our users will like what we’ve made for them upon launch.

After user testing, I move forward with the iterative process using the newly-gathered data to inform my decisions. If the user was confused, what were their pain points? Did the feature bring the user joy? Did they find it intuitive? Once I’ve answered those questions, I either conduct an additional round of user tests (if the results were inconclusive) or move on confidently to the next phase.

Phase V: Higher Fidelity Wireframe

After I am confident in the results of the user testing, I move onto a higher fidelity wireframe phase where visual design and animation choreography are taken into consideration. In this phase, the mock ups will begin to more closely resemble the appearance of the app. I’ll resolve any obscure interaction design by doing animated or interactive mock ups/prototypes and begin to build out the assets for the feature in a way that developers can understand and use.

Phase VI: Building

Next, we begin to build the feature. This consists of me working in Unity (or other platforms) and closely collaborating with developers to ensure that all of the deliberate work we’ve put into the feature is upheld in its final implementation. I’ll often build UI layouts myself in Unity to ensure that they are pixel perfect, and in some instances, I’ll work alongside a developer to make sure his or her implementation of my designs is correct.

Phase VII: Launch

Finally, we’ve arrived at the launch of the game or feature! A well thought out launch plan that promotes the success of that feature must be in place. In some higher risk cases, a feature may need to be launched in multiple parts or to smaller sub-sets of the audience to ensure that it goes out smoothly. At this stage, the success of the launch is often contingent on the availability of well executed marketing art. Since marketing art is such a large part of a feature’s success, I often aid in the generation and management of that artwork.

I have learned that taking a moment to celebrate your hard work and success boosts team morale. Pat yourself and your teammates on the back and enjoy the launch before jumping to the next thing.

Phase VIII: Post-Launch Maintenance

Even after the feature is launched, the work doesn’t end; maintenance and adjustments will typically be required. It’s very important to analyze the data in order to establish best practices and inform your future decisions.

Let’s say you produce a plan that you love and think will be effective. The boss is not thrilled and feels it isn’t going to work. What do you do?

Having navigated similar situations in the past, I’ve learned that it takes time to build a stakeholder’s trust. I take steps early on to ensure that my solutions align with the stakeholder’s vision. To do so, I often keep my ideas very broad in the early stages of a project and present several options to him or her up front.

I have found that it's important to always be an active listener in order to make everyone on the team feel like their ideas are being heard. Working on a multi disciplinary team is a tool that shouldn’t be ignored, so I ensure that all of the experts on the team utilize their strengths and backgrounds to solve more problems faster.

I try to back all of the project decisions with data and research. First, I make sure that the stakeholder understands why I feel that one solution is better than another, and I present the supporting data and reasoning backing that solution. If the stakeholder disagrees with the findings, I try to understand why he or she feels that his or her solution is better.

Next, I’ll develop a solution that is a combination of the stakeholder’s solution and my solution in order to create an end product that is a happy medium. If the stakeholder insists wholeheartedly that his or her solution is the way to go, I’ll execute his or her vision and circle back with measurable results that either support or disprove his or her solution. Data speaks volumes, and if that solution doesn’t serve the business goals, then the stakeholder will often revert to past alternatives that I’ve presented and trust my professional opinion more in the future.

“Great designers don’t fall in love with their solutions. Great designers fall in love with the users’ problems.”

Tell us about your soft skills and how you feel you would fit into a start-up culture.

• I am a great listener and skilled in politely guiding conversations towards creative and research based solutions.
• I am able to speak and write confidently about solutions.
• I am an ambitious person who will continue working towards my goals until I achieve them.
• I like to think outside of the box in order to arrive upon creative solutions. I never let technical limitations constrain my innovative ideas. Where there is innovation, there is imitation, and I always strive to be the innovator.