← Go Back

UX Design

What is UX design?

UX design (user experience design) is the process of designing products and services so they are useful, usable, and meaningful for users. It covers understanding users, defining structure and behaviour, and evaluating the experience through research and testing. The outcome is an experience that helps users achieve their goals with minimal friction and appropriate satisfaction.

Use it when: you’re building or improving any product or service that people interact with. UX design is the discipline that ties user research, information architecture, interaction, and usability into a coherent experience.

Copy/paste checklist (UX design scope)

Why UX design matters

  • Aligns the product with user needs and behaviour instead of internal assumptions.
  • Reduces wasted effort and rework by testing early and often.
  • Improves usability, satisfaction, and business outcomes (conversion, retention, support cost).
  • Brings a shared process and vocabulary (research, IA, flows, testing) so teams ship better experiences.

What good UX design includes

Checklist

  • [ ] User-centred – Decisions are informed by research and testing, not only opinion.
  • [ ] Clear structure – Information architecture and user flows that users can follow.
  • [ ] Usable – Tasks are learnable, efficient, and error-tolerant. See usability.
  • [ ] Accessible – Accessibility is part of the design process.
  • [ ] Iterative – Design is refined through prototyping and testing. See iterative design.
  • [ ] Documented and shared – So the team and stakeholders can align and build.

Common formats

  • End-to-end process: Research → Define → Ideate → Prototype → Test → Implement. (See design thinking.)
  • Sprint-based: Design work in agile sprints; research and testing in parallel or in discovery sprints.
  • Continuous: Continuous discovery and feedback loops so UX is ongoing, not a one-off phase.

Examples

Example (the realistic one)

Project: Improve onboarding. Understand: 5 user interviews; persona and problem statement (“New users don’t complete setup because the steps feel long and unclear”). Structure: User flow for “first run” with 3 steps instead of 7. Interact: Wireframes and prototype for the 3 steps. Evaluate: Usability testing with 5 users; completion improves. Implement: Handoff to dev; post-launch check with analytics and a follow-up test. That’s one UX design cycle.

Common pitfalls

  • No user input: design based on assumptions or stakeholder preference. → Do this instead: run user research and usability testing at least on critical flows.
  • Skipping structure: jump to screens without IA or flows. → Do this instead: define structure and flow before high-fidelity screens.
  • UX as “pretty” only: equating UX with UI design or visuals. → Do this instead: UX is the full experience (research, structure, interaction, evaluation); UI is one layer.
  • No iteration: one design, then build. → Do this instead: prototype and test, then refine and build.
  • UX vs UI design: UI design is the visual and interactive surface; UX design is the whole process and experience (research, structure, behaviour, evaluation). UX includes UI; UI is part of UX.
  • UX vs product design: Product design often includes strategy, roadmap, and business outcomes; UX design focuses on the user’s experience of the product. They overlap; many teams use “product design” to mean both.
  • UX vs human-centred design: Human-centred design is the principle (people at the centre); UX design is the practice that applies it to digital products and services.

Next step

If you’re new to UX, run one full cycle on one flow: user research → problem statement or persona → wireframe and prototype → usability testing → refine. If you already do UX, add or strengthen one of: research cadence, usability testing, or accessibility in your process.

Related Terms