UX Design Flashcards
Design Thinking Steps
Empathize, Define, Ideate, Prototype, and Test
Foundational Research
Done before you start designing anything. The goal is to figure out the user needs and what problem you are trying to solve.
Design Research
Done as you are designing. It helps inform your designs and reduce risk.
Post-Launch Research
Done after the design in complete and your product has launched.
Usability Study
All users are given the same tasks and try to complete them as observers watch, listen, and take notes. The goal is to identify any usability problems, collect qualitative and quantitative data, and determine participants satisfaction with the product.
User Interviews
User interviews are one on one sessions between a user and a designer. The goal is to get to know the users experience and how they currently solve their problems. It can be done in the early stages of design thinking before a prototype is present.
User Surveys
A set of questions that evaluate a users preferences, opinions, and attitudes about a product.
Contextual Inquiry
Designer observes a users behavior in their own environment doing their own tasks.
Open Card Sort
In an open card sort the users are given a randomly shuffled deck of cards and asked to organize them how they deem sensible. Then they are asked to explain their reasoning.
Closed Card Sort
In a closed card sort, participants place cards from a deck into pre-existing groups and their word associations are documented by researchers.
Empathy Map
A chart with four squares (say, think, feel, do) that breaks down user interviews into more digestible pieces of information.
Personas
Personas represent a group of users that you have learned about through your research. Look for the most common themes in your data and personify those themes into one or multiple personas.
User Story
A fictional one sentence story told from a personas point of view. “As a (role), I want (feature/action), because (reason).”
User Journey Map
A chart that demonstrates how a user would go through using a product in real life. Includes their goal, the actions they take to reach it, and their feelings along the way.
Storyboard
A visual representation of how a user would react and interact with a product.
Scenarios
User scenarios are detailed descriptions of a user – typically a persona – that describe realistic situations relevant to the design of a solution. By painting a “rich picture” of a set of events, teams can appreciate user interactions in context, helping them to understand the practical needs and behaviors of users.
Problem Statement
Sometimes called a POV statement. Provides a clear description of the user need that should be addressed. (user name) is a/an (user characteristics) who needs (user need) because (insight)
Goal Statement
This considers how your design will alleviate user pain points
“Our (product) will let users (action) which will affect (describe who the action will effect) by (describe how it will positively affect users). We will measure effectiveness by (describe how you will measure effectiveness).”
Competitive Audit
An overview of your competitors strengths, weaknesses, and user feedback.
Direct Competitor
Competitor with a similar offering and audience
