User experience design is one of the more challenging aspects to any interactive design project. Whether it’s a website, mobile app, or desktop software, the goal is to create a pleasurable, immersive, and inspiring experience for the end user. As a start up focused on developing next level productivity and collaboration tools, we recognize (and embrace) the challenge of getting the user experience just right. A UX Wizard is an essential and valuable part of any budding startup team.
As the Lead Visual Designer here at Ivy Softworks, I understand the importance of creating visually stunning products, but that is just one small piece of the puzzle. We value UX design as being about the end-to-end experience. UX design goes beyond wireframing and prototyping. It’s a combination of strategy, art, design, psychology, and cognitive science.
Working with a skilled UX Designer allows me (and the rest of my team) to be successful in our jobs, and vice-versa. It’s vital to ensure a great user experience or our products may never see the light of day.
While I may not be a UX Wizard myself, as a Visual Designer it is imperative that I am familiar with the building blocks of UX best practices. These are a few things that come to mind when considering the overall experience we’re trying to create:
- Creating a narrative around what we’re trying to achieve helps to guide our product vision
- Learning about our target audiences with personas and user scenarios allows us to tailor our products to users’ specific needs
- Delivering a pleasurable, seductive, inspiring solution will keep our users coming back
- Planning and acting upon a certain set of actions and anticipating a users change of behavior helps ensure a smooth experience
- Prototyping and testing will allow us to identify problem areas before we get too far into the development cycle
and finally:
- Iterate, iterate, iterate! We probably won’t get it exactly right the first time.
These are just the tip of the iceberg. Maybe you have your own ideas and methodologies around user experience. We’d love to hear them! Our team is a highly collaborative one and we’re constantly striving to improve and strengthen our core talents.
As our team here at Ivy Softworks works through some of the complex interaction scenarios presented by our product vision, we have grown to appreciate the unique skillset and insights that dedicated UX Designers bring to the table. Did I mention we’re hiring talented people? Check out our job openings and see if there is a fit.