User Experience Design Process Guidelines
Below is the process I follow when approaching a new project. All of the steps may not be realistic in all situations, but it is helpful to at least touch on some of the steps in each phase. I have performed all of the steps below with the exception of formal usability testing. I have helped design usability studies, but the actual studies were conducted by a usability specialist.

Discovery & Analysis
The first phase of any project, small or large, is the discovery and analysis phase. Depending on the scope of the project, this can take as little as 30 minutes or several weeks. Some of the activities may include:

  • Gather and review relevant user data, including existing customer and industry data to create user personas
  • Perform heuristic evaluation on existing site or feature if applicable
  • Conduct competitive analysis to understand the trends, strengths, and weaknesses of the client's competitors
  • Capture business and brand goals and map them to website goals and proposed features


Information Design
The next phase is the information design phase. Before jumping into final mock-ups, it's important to capture the overall user experience. Some of the activities may include:

  • Create task based customer journeys based on the above findings to identify required features and brainstorm new content
  • Create or revise site taxonomy -- think of this as the blueprint to your site
  • Create workflow diagrams that show how a customer moves through a particular feature or task
  • Create wireframes that allow us to focus on functionality, site structure, and content


Visual Design
If more than one designer is working on a project, the early stages of the visual design phase may overlap with the information design phase. Some of the activities may include:

  • Exploration of color, fonts, and visual tone
  • Creative direction or designs based on the client's existing brand direction
  • Visual design of presentation layer presented in Mock-Ups
  • Final designs documented in a styleguide


Iteration and Validation
User testing is a critical phase in user centered design. This can take place during the information design phase and the visual design phase. Some of the activities may include:

  • Formal 1x1 usability tests conducted by a usability specialist
  • Heuristic evaluations
  • Informal design reviews conducted by peers
  • Results documented in findings report with actionable design recommendations
  • Analysis of website metrics post launch