Begin with the end in mind, Stephen Covey famously has
said. User Experience Design is a way of doing just that in the
software world.
User experience design, abbreviated UX, is the practice of
seeing software through the eyes of its users, then designing the
interaction to be efficient, intuitive, and pleasant. For
StoneHenge Partners, the practice goes hand-in-hand with several
other user-centric practices that make up the Nimble Method℠.
UX balances the competing needs of software design and business
requirements, while championing the user's needs, expectations and
behaviors. (After all, in the software development process,
somebody has to stick up for the little guy.)
A typical UX sitemap/nav tree
Components can include:
- An audit and usability study of the existing site or software
app
- Task flows and navigation maps
- User archetypes boiled down into Personas, and typical
scenarios for each
- A content inventory and hierarchy
- Wireframes and paper prototypes
- Written specifications and graphic mockup
A typical wireframe illustrates functionality
At StoneHenge Partners, user experience addresses and integrates
all user-facing aspects of a company, including brand identity,
email marketing and web site usability & design.