Five Habits of an Awesome User Experience Designer
Over last few weeks, UXswitch asked a number of design managers across the globe what makes an awesome UX Designer. Here are the top five habits that were returned in our survey. Do you agree, have we missed anything important?
Great designers are able to convincingly fight their corner when the essence of the design is being compromised
1. Informed
Great designers seek to be as informed as possible from the outset of an assignment. They are not afraid to ask questions and to listen. They ask that question, no matter how basic or rudimentary those questions might seem. Good practice is to clarify the objectives of the work and to go back to them frequently to see if you are still on track. They enquire about preexisting research and evaluate competitor offerings as a rule. Another good habit is keeping abreast of new interactions and technology that can inform their design work. Seeing a UXer using sites such as UX Mag and Biglittledetails is encouraging.
2. Methodological
Great designers seek to establish a clear mental model of what they are tasked with before getting involved in low-level design. They investigate competing models and are prepared to revise them once they learn more. Sketches are easily amended and are a good place to start before progressing on to digital prototypes. Great UXers realize that the best designs are achieved by iteration.
3. Efficient
Admittedly, some creative geniuses are not the neatest people in the world. However, great UX designers realize that there are others involved in the creation of product experiences such as the client and the development team. The best designers create easy to follow, neat documentation. Templates and artwork should be easy for other designers to pick up.
4. Pro-users
Great designers seek to involve real users in the design process. They campaign for it at the beginning of projects and find ways to cleverly sneak it in to tight deadlines or budget challenged projects. Guerrilla testing and other informal methods are part of their arsenal and are deployed with subtle ease and to great effect.
5. Pragmatic Passion
Great designers are pragmatic when it comes to project deadlines and dependencies of other teams. They facilitate development as opposed to being a roadblock. This means looking ahead and trying to anticipate difficult design issues, prioritising resources and flagging problems as soon as possible. It also entails being prepared to make design concessions where needed. However, great designers are able to convincingly fight their corner when the essence of the design is being compromised.
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Article originally appeared http://www.uxswitch.com/five-habits-of-an-awesome-user-experience-designer/
20 yrs++ UX Consultant
9yNicely distilled piece. I'd add "creative" though - depending upon the brief of course. I've come across many UXDs that sit at opposite ends of the spectrum ans are great for whatever brief is at hand. But on brief where innovation is required, creativity trumps methodology.
Thanks Frank, interesting trend that UX Design seems to slowly evolve and split into a pragmatic part and little more strategic part. The pragmatic part is kind of clear cut already when you read job posts: 3-5 years of experience, great UI and IxD skills, decent frontend coding knowledge and a basic understanding of Mental models, Usability and User Research. Wondering in which roles the more experienced UX people will land, those who can connect UX strategies to business, who e.g. know "What makes them click?" by heart, those who are deep into UX strategy, Information Architecture, Content Strategy, etc.
Senior User Experience Designer: Best in vast information spaces where elegant and helpful interaction design gets it done.
9yDoes Biglittledetails = Littlebigdetails?
UX & CX, Design strategist, Data Story Telling, Product Innovation, Mentor, Public Speaker, Researcher, Psychologist, Entomologist, Traveller, Artist & Farmer
9yNice post friend