What is user experience in the IT industry?
In the world of digital products — websites, stores, applications — there are fewer and fewer opportunities to stand out. Price, offers, promotions — are often not enough to attract and retain a customer. What can you do to gain a loyal user? Why does user experience support sales? Klaudia Widz — UX & UI Designer at 25wat knows the answers to these questions. Read this article to know them all.
What is UX?
Klaudia Widz: The most common definition of user experience (UX) is user experience design. In practice, it comes down to determining what the user needs and then designing it to meet his expectations. In other words: the existence of each product — whether online or traditional — depends on the experiences and emotions of users. If they are good — the product is satisfactory and does not cause frustration — then the user willingly returns to it and becomes a loyal customer. If the experience with the product is bad and the applied solutions discourage rather than encourage the use of the product, the exact opposite takes place.
Why is it worth investing in UX design?
Conscious UX design guarantees that the product will reach the target recipient and not cause problems in use.
Does this only apply to digital services and products?
Not only that, although UX comes from the IT industry and is mainly used in IT projects. User Experience Design can be successfully used to develop services and products in other industries or solve problems in public sectors. Then we use the same methods as in IT projects. For example: if we have a problem with queues at the office, we can use UX methods to determine what is causing them and make them smaller or even disappear. As a result, we improve — as in websites or internet applications — the usability of using the office.
What are the benefits of using UX in online products?
In the case of websites and applications, because such IT projects are mainly at stake, the user’s paths must be simple and meet specific goals — ensure smooth use of the website, suggest further steps, and guide the user. A well-planned, well-thought-out path makes what we expect to happen. The user becomes a customer; conversion takes place. A good UX supports the sale and popularity of the product. It also helps to distinguish it effectively. We have a lot of similar services and products on the market today. To exist, you need to stand out. This is where the user experience becomes decisive — if it is positive, the brand wins loyal customers. Moreover, thanks to UX, we objectify our goals. Already at the design stage, we can capture the so-called pain points (problem spots) and eliminate ideas that could frustrate the user or turn into an image failure. UX prevents you from launching an untested product on the market. On the other hand, in the work of project teams, the introduction of UX design methodology helps to prototype solutions quickly and allows them to be tested in terms of usability and accuracy before the finished product is created. This guarantees time savings and the possibility of introducing changes, improvement, and development of the idea.
What are the stages of creating a product following the principles of good UX?
The UX process consists of various stages and methods that help you empathize with the user. The basic elements of this process for digital products are research, information architecture, strategy, content design, interface and interaction design, and digital product usability testing. At the same time, UX cannot be done “by the book”. This design requires an agile and holistic approach. Every UX process is different. It depends on your budget, time, and business goals. It is tailored to the project to meet its expectations.
UX design process at the 25wat agency
Is this the role of a UX designer at 25wat?
At 25wat, the UX designer is involved in the design process from the very beginning. Often, at the stage of submitting an offer, he takes part in its analysis. UX-sheep is needed at every stage of the work because he can always see something and propose something that may be very important for a given project. At 25Wat, we follow the principle that the sooner it is included in the work, the better for the project — also for cost reasons.
The most interesting IT project from the perspective of a UX designer?
In terms of user experience, an exciting project was ProteGo Safe App (now known as STOP COVID ProteGo Safe). While working on it, we had to face many non-standard challenges. For example, we had to prepare solutions for an extensive and diverse group of recipients. We had both seasoned mobile and occasional applications; we could not use standard mobile application patterns, which made it necessary to create creative solutions. We were also unable to use your location information to protect your privacy. The limited possibilities of analyzing user paths were also an additional challenge. We were based on surveys, focus groups, comments from the App Store and Google Play. We have also introduced the option of reporting needs via the chatbot flow on the gov.pl website, for which we have designed a detailed support path. Nevertheless, working on ProteGo Safe gave me a lot of satisfaction. It is a very creative project.
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Klaudia Widz is a designer with 6 years of professional experience in design, marketing, and branding. For two years now, it has been focusing solely on the comprehensive creation of digital products for various sectors: automotive, e‑health, FMCG, and building a recognizable brand image on the web. Designs and co-creates: websites, sales platforms, mobile applications, software. At 25wat she is a UX & UI designer and deals with creating user-friendly (and business) products. She cooperated with the Chancellery of the Prime Minister of the Council of Ministers on the STOP COVID ProteGO Safe application and the European Remarketing Center (leader in the sale of post-leasing equipment).