What is UX Research and How to Become a UX Researcher
Before you start designing UX, there are several things you should do in order to succeed. UX research is the most important step you should never overlook. The research is necessary as it helps you create UX that offers value to your targeted end users. It involves carrying out a systematic study of your target users and their needs, so that you can have realistic contexts and insight during your designing process. UX research helps you to determine problems and design opportunities that help you come up with an interface that stands out from others you find in the market. This article offers you more details about this research and its process.
What is UX Research?
UX research refers to the process or action in which a designer investigates something in a systematic way. During the process, crucial information that guides designing of a good UX is gathered. It involves collecting data that shows the gaps or the needs if the actual users of the UX. Several UX research methods are applied during the process to collect critical information that guides the entire process. Research is a critical step that helps arrive at new conclusions, find problems and establish facts. Besides, it assists you to know the end users and all the requirements. It helps the designer to make identification of the requirements and features that the UX should have in order to offer value to the end users.
It is good to know that perfect research involves application of the right method at the right time during the UX designing process. In addition, you have to keep in mind that the UX research process has an effect of your whole strategy from the idea conception to the launching of the completed design. Therefore, as a designer, you should never take the research as cost or delay. You should look at it as the foundation or the basis of a successful UX design.
How to Become a UX Researcher and Salary
Like any other profession, there are certain skills you need to become a UX researcher. It is good that you have some background in some relevant fields including psychology, marketing, economics, cognitive science or information science. A good UX research should also have clear analytical mind and understand how to read data. You also need to have soft skills since you will also require knowing how to read people during the research process. This is necessary because the process mostly involves interacting with people who will be using the UX design.
A google UX researcher should be collaborative and know the best way to work well with all types of people. Collaborative skills are also essential since you should know how to work not only with UI and UX designers but other professionals too. The researcher should know how to work with other experts including project managers, engineers, product manager and others. It is also imperative to understand the entire design process. Other skills required include; ability to do research, deep knowledge of UI design, problem solving skills, critical thinking skills, team player and good management skills.
The UX researcher salary is estimated to be $91503. However, this is determined by the company a designer works with and the country also.
UX Research Process
UX research process involves several steps that help a designer be able to gather all the information they require to help create UX design that is valuable. There are five crucial steps that need to be followed. The first two steps involve developing questions and hypothesis, while the other three steps involve gathering knowledge by use of well stipulated UX research methods.
The first step involves creating objectives that involve knowing the gaps that require to be filled. The second step involves focusing on what the designer thinks he or she knows about the end users. The third step involves determining the methods to use to collect information that act as the basis of the UX designing. The fourth step is the actual process of gathering the information using the chosen methods. The fifth step is concerned with synthesis i.e. proving or disapproving hypothesis, discovering new opportunities for the design.
During the UX design research, there are several methods a designer can utilise to gather the information they require. It is good to choose a method that will help offer accurate information. Some of the best UX research methods used include user groups, user interviews, questionnaires, usability testing, online surveys, user personas and others.
The Best Tool for UX Researchers
With the many tools you find online that can help do UX research and design, you should make sure you select the best among them. Wondershare Mockitt stands out from the rest because of its ease of use and many features. The tool helps you to create highly interactive UX by developing the prototypes fast, thus allowing you save a lot of time in the process. It makes creation of prototypes easy by providing you the ability to develop combo and object templates, build in widgets and many others with its simple drag and drop functionality. Designers will low programming skills can use it without the need to create complex codes.
It also allows for real time collaboration. It is easy for you to share your prototypes with other team members or stakeholders. This is necessary in previewing and also getting feedback that can allow to make the necessary improvements to make it more valuable to the end users. In case you just want to get feedback from others without making it possible for them to edit or do any changes, you can create a URL that can be viewed in a browser.
It also generates QR codes that make it possible for you to scan the code by using your Android or iOS camera as you test the UX design. It is also possible for you to showcase its functionality to others and get helpful suggestions or feedback for you to make improvements. The other major feature offered by the tool is that it is possible for you to view your entire design screens instantly in a single place. It makes it possible for you to view the entire workflow and do the editing.
It also has an icon library that has more than a hundred icons you can use for your designing.
