*Our Front-end Developer Jordan takes an in-depth look at the typical process of digital design in 2016, and how this process of designing websites and apps has changed over time.*
With UX becoming a core aspect of digital design the process of how a website or app is designed has changed. Gone are the days where the client would ask for a new website, visuals were provided and then the client decided whether or not they were happy with the concept design before going into development. The design and development of a digital product is far more measurable these days than it used to be.
So what is the typical process when it comes to digital design in 2016?
Finding out the clients aims
Though this is a no brainer for some it seems that in the excitement of the prospect of a new client project the understanding between the client and the designer can become clouded.
If you are unable to pinpoint what the client aims to achieve from the work that you are providing then you shouldn’t start work. It is as simple as that. For you to be able to provide the best work you need to have a good foundation to start from and that is the brief from the client.
If you don’t know the aim then how will the success of your work be measured?
Wireframing
Once aims are set key structural decisions can be made and presented to the client along with proposed user journeys. The wireframes should include rationale to guide the client through the decisions that have been made to enable the to make a informed decision. This may be from analytics from a previous website or app or based on best practises and research.
User Testing
Many make the decision of leaving user testing until full visuals are available or even until the initial development stage has been finalised. This is the wrong approach to take as it provides no value and will lead to back tracking on decisions made in the earlier stages based on user feedback.
The best method of testing at a earlier staging is to produce a high fidelity wireframes that have the basic User Interface in place for the user to understand how to navigate through the website or app. This will enable you to set users tasks within the testing phase what can give you insight into whether the decisions made at the initial wireframing stage are justified or whether amendments need to be made to the initial structure.
The wireframes can be tested by importing them into a prototyping platform such as InVision which will enable you to link together each wireframe and enable the user to navigate through to achieve the tasks that you outline.
At the stage of outlining the clients aims it is beneficial to outline the type of user they are trying to target. This can help to outline a number of personas to influence the user testing criteria.
Content
The content can be one of the hardest things to collate for a digital project but it is important that the content is provided before visualising the wireframes can begin. A great statement was made by Jeffery Zeldman regarding this issue:
“*Design in the absense of content is not design, it’s decoration*.”
By ensuring that you have the content in place you can provide a realistic representation of the end result when providing the visuals.
Producing visuals
Once user testing feedback has been collated and any amendments required have been made and agreed with the client then the visualisation stage can begin. The designer will work from the wireframes that have been tried and tested and will take into consideration the research that is outlined in the rationale notes.
Collaborate with the development team
The best designs for a website or an app are those that involve the design and development teams collaborating. If you work with the mentality of once the design is done that it is the developers responsibility to make the rest happen then you will never be happy with the end result.
By working with the developers to highlight any specific requirements or your thoughts on how an interaction could provide a certain animated response you can get the desired effect. With animation becoming a newly adopted trend within the industry it is important to ensure that it is effective and not just added for the sake of it.
Iterate, iterate, iterate
Just because a website or app has been designed, developed and launched it doesn’t mean that you have successful achieved the clients aims. You need to revisit the project over the coming months to keep an eye on the analytics to see whether the work that you have produced has helped the client to achieve their aims. If the results aren’t as expected, even after the user testing a research that was done at the beginning of the project, suggestions should be made to the client as to where further optimisation can be made.