The UI/UX design process is critical to the success of any custom software development project, whether you’re developing an enterprise software platform, a web-based client portal, a mobile application or virtually any other Digital Transformation project.
What is User Interface (UI)?
The user interface refers to the actual elements that the user interacts with on an app or software platform. The UI/UX design refers to everything on the page, from the overlay layout, design, fonts and backgrounds, to button colors, placement, shape, size and so on.
What is User Experience (UX)?
User experience refers to the individual’s actual experience — positive or negative — as they use and engage with your platform. The UX encompasses everything they see, click and interact with on the platform.
UX is heavily impacted by the user type or user profile. An advanced user with lots of technical savvy is going to have a radically different experience when compared to a novice user who has more limited level of tech savvy. Just consider the difference in how a 12-year-old user may be attracted to bold colors and cartoon-style graphics, whereas an older user may find these UI elements overwhelming and hard on the eyes. This underscores the importance of tailoring your UI/UX to a specific user type.
Why is a Strong UI/UX Design So Important?
UI — or user interface — and UX — or user experience — are essential to the success of any platform, regardless of target audience or platform type. Without a streamlined, engaging user interface, your user experience is going to suffer, which makes it virtually impossible to succeed with your development project. Here is a look at a few reasons why UI/UX design is so critical.
Engagement Becomes a Challenge – A poor UI/UX design makes it difficult to engage users, especially on a long-term basis. If a platform is hard to use and navigate, users will quickly get frustrated, making them reluctant to use the platform again in the future.
You’ll Struggle With User Adoption – User adoption is going to be a tremendous challenge if your UI/UX design is weak. This is especially true if there are other more user-friendly alternatives available. It’s going to be difficult to compel users to switch to a platform with a bad UI/UX.
Efficiency and Productivity Suffers – A platform that’s difficult to use and navigate leads to decreased efficiency and productivity. That stands counter to what an organization is seeking to achieve when they invest in an enterprise Digital Transformation project, such as the development of an enterprise software platform.
The UI/UX Design Process Steps and What to Expect
The UI/UX design process takes place relatively early in the Digital Transformation and software development process. This is because the UI/UX design has a significant impact on other aspects of the development process. For example, user paths and user profiles / user stories are all relevant for the UI/UX design process, but they also affect features and functionalities and overall project scope.It’s important to note that the UI/UX design process steps are a bit different from the broader UI/UX design stages of the development process.
The UI/UX design process steps will vary slightly from development firm to development firm, but the following is a look at generally what you can expect as you begin this sort of Digital Transformation project.
Identifying Target Audience – The first step in the UI/UX design process is to identify your target audience. You cannot expect to be all things to all people; that makes it impossible to succeed. You must create user profiles and user stories that articulate who these users are and what they are striving to achieve on your platform.
Identifying User Paths – You’ll need to create user paths where you delineate likely paths that a user may take through the platform. These user paths ought to be apparent and easy to travel, ensuring a positive user experience. A user path will begin at login or arrival on a landing page and it concludes when the user reaches their end point or fulfills their objective on the platform.
Identify User Preferences and Limitations – What appeals to one user may be off-putting or even limiting to another user. Your UI/UX design must align with your user preferences and limitations. For example, if your user base is 65+, you’ll need to opt for a design and color scheme that is easily visible to older users who may have visual impairments of varying degrees. This may include larger font sizes, high-contrast color combinations on buttons and links, along with easy-to-follow user paths.
By contrast, an enterprise software platform may have a very clean, simple UI/UX design that’s primarily utilitarian in nature with the company’s brand elements integrated throughout.
If you are targeting a young demographic with a mobile app, a good UI/UX design may include bold colors, lots of illustrated visual elements and large buttons that are friendly to small hands with still-developing motor skills.
Integrating Brand Elements – Your UI/UX will typically include brand-specific elements, such as colors, logos and specific shapes or designs that are characteristic of a company’s brand identity. You’ll need to determine exactly how you’ll integrate these branded components into your user interface.
Platform Architecture Review – Additionally, the UI/UX design process steps will include a comprehensive review of the different regions, features and functionalities contained within the platform. While consistency is generally the best practice, you may need to modify the user interface design in some regions of the platform to facilitate a positive user experience.
The Importance of Collaboration and UI/UX User Testing in the Custom Software Development Process
The UI/UX design process is a collaborative one that requires input and insights from the client and the actual end users. Without the client’s insights, the developers are going to be blind to many aspects that make your platform and its users unique.
You should expect to engage in several rounds of user testing. This form of beta testing is essential for ensuring that your UI/UX design resonates with actual users and delivers a positive experience.
User testing is critical because actual users are going to have a very different experience from QA testers and others who may have unique expectations, limitations and expectations. What may appear to be appealing to an experienced QA tester in her 20s may be off-putting to a middle-age user with very minimal tech savvy. Actual user testing is very important, especially if you’re going to have multiple user types engaging with your platform. In fact, a bad UI/UX design could even lead to app store rejecttion!
Achieving Maximum ROI With a Collaborative UI/UX Design Process
At 7T, we believe in using a collaborative enterprise software development process and this includes UI/UX design. With the right UI/UX design process, you’ll walk away with a platform that delivers a significant ROI with strong user adoption rates, high engagement levels, better productivity and improved profitability.
At 7T, we take a collaborative approach to enterprise development projects, including UI/UX design. We engage the client from the discovery phase to deployment. Our many Digital Transformation service offerings include process automation solutions, enterprise software development for ERP and CRM systems (among others), along with SaaS development for web apps and mobile apps, amongst others. We work extensively with cutting-edge technologies as we strive to help clients solve pain points, improve efficiency and achieve their business goals.
We’re guided by the approach of “Digital Transformation Driven by Business Strategy.” As such, the 7T development team works with company leaders who are seeking to solve problems and drive ROI through Digital Transformation and innovation. We then provide collaborative, multi-phased and impactful Digital Transformation solutions.
7T has offices in Dallas, Houston and Austin, but our clientele spans the globe. If you’re ready to learn more about Digital Transformation and how business process automation can benefit your business, contact 7T today.
