A user experience process is a flexible, iterative way to shape a website, application, product, or feature around user needs. It joins business requirements, research, planning, structure, design, development, testing, and evaluation rather than treating visual design as the whole experience. The aim is to identify a problem, build a solution, learn whether it meets user needs efficiently, and refine it when it does not. section 1.2.1 section 3.0
The process commonly begins before code is written, but it does not end at launch. Research and planning establish what users need; wireframes and prototypes clarify content, layout, and feature behavior; testing and feedback expose problems; development choices carry those decisions into the product. On continuing products, the cycle can repeat as features change. Smaller projects may use a shorter initial pass and then evaluate the launched site against business requirements. section 1.2.1 section 3.6
Use a UX process as a practical sequence, adapting its weight to the project and team:
- Identify the problem, target users, and business requirements before committing to a solution. section 1.2.1 section 1.1.5
- Research needs and plan the content, connections, and functionality that will support them. section 1.2.1 section 3.4
- Create wireframes or prototypes to work out layout and feature details before production development. section 3.6 section 1.1.5
- Build, test, gather feedback, and iterate when evidence shows the experience is not working as intended. section 1.2.1 section 1.1.5
Methodologies provide a frame for these activities, not a fixed recipe. User-centered design puts user requirements first and involves users throughout much or all of the work. The double diamond process moves between expanding and narrowing: explore a problem and then converge on solutions. Either can guide an entire project or a newly added feature, and either can be combined with a broader delivery approach such as Agile or Waterfall. A solo developer may reduce phases that a larger team distributes across research, UX design, UX writing, and visual design roles. section 3.4 section 3.6
Testing a feature at a small company
A small team plans to release a new website or web-application feature without a dedicated researcher or formal user study. Releasing it is not the end of the process: the team still needs a testing plan, a way to observe usage or gather feedback, and a decision about how it will revise the feature. Resolving functionality during prototyping can prevent problems from reaching production code and improve the end-user experience. section 1.1.5 section 1.2.1
UX process work also helps developers connect technical decisions to people using the product. Code choices, tool choices, accessibility, performance, feature behavior, and implementation details all affect the experience. Treating research, design, and development as connected activities makes it easier to notice user problems before substantial development effort is spent. section 1.1.5 section 1.2.3
Figure 1.3 The iterative process this book covers for a web design or web application project—from identifying the problem to user research, user experience design, design and build phase, and test and evaluate
Follow the cycle from identifying a problem through research, UX design, design and build, and test and evaluate; use the return path to locate where refinement begins. section 1.2.1
