DESIGNA MAGAZINE DESIGNA ISSUE III 2019 2 | Page 63

7. Just Start Designing
User Experiences
Here's the very best way to jump into UX design – just do
it.
It'll take a little faith on your part to try something new, but
if you want to start working in UX design you have to try.
Start with side projects of your own, try to build some
portfolio work, collaborate with others if you can. Just do
it.
Make it a game if you like. Daily UI offers a daily
project to help you think and be inspired by design.
Challenge yourself further with these projects to create an
actual experience, not just a pretty interface.
Another portfolio-building option is to join creative work
sessions (such as meetups) or take on a pro bono project
for an organization you are a member of or a nonprofit in
your area. (Just make sure to surround yourself with the
people you need to find success and share ideas with.)
Conclusion
The field of UX design is growing by leaps and bounds and
is a natural fit for many graphic designers. If this path
sounds enticing, you can make the jump into user
experience design. And remember, you are already ahead of
the curve thanks to your design skills.
As with anything new, it'll take some time to get fully
acclimated to the world of UX design and find your
foothold. In the meantime, take every opportunity to learn
new things and use some of the new UX design skills in the
process.
What is User
Experience
(UX) Design?
User experience (UX) design is the process of
creating products that provide meaningful and
personally relevant experiences. This involves the
careful design of both a product's usability and
the pleasure consumers will derive from using it.
It is also concerned with the entire process of
acquiring and integrating the product, including
aspects of branding, design, usability, and
function.
Products that provide great user experience (e.g.,
the iPhone) are thus designed not only with the
product's consumption or use in mind but also the
entire process of acquiring, owning, and even
troubleshooting it.
An important concept in UX design is the process
by which users form experiences. When first
encountering a product, a user for ms a
momentary impression—which evolves over
time, typically as the product is used throughout a
period. In this process, the user's perception,
action, motivation, and cognition integrate to
form a memorable and coherent story: called “the
user experience.” This process elicits emotional
responses, which largely determine whether the
experience will be considered positive or negative.
UX designers, or designers who are aware of the
process of experience formation, seek to create
and shape the factors influencing the process
deliberately. To do this, a UX designer will
consider the Why, What, and How of product use.
The Why involves the users' motivations for
adopting a product, whether they relate to a task
they wish to perform with it, or to values
and views associated with the ownership
and use of the product.
The What addresses the things people
can do with a product—its functionality.
Finally, the How relates to the design of
functionality in an accessible and
aesthetically pleasant way. UX design
starts from the Why, then determines the
What and finally the How, in order to
create products that users can form
meaningful experiences with.
By Nicole Saidy
May
-
June 2019 | D E S I G N A