Introduction
“An hour of planning can save you 10 hours of doing.” These famous words by Dale Carnegie still ring true in any situation today, even after 67 years of his passing.
An action well-planned is an action well-executed. The most useful application of this quote can be seen today in the way UI UX design studios apply it to their process of designing graphics user interfaces.
Especially today, when the consumer expectation from an interface is extremely high, the developers can’t afford to slack off while designing. The writing is on the wall: a Forbes article has published that every dollar that goes into UX design brings back $100 – that is an ROI of 9,900%!
Developing user interfaces isn’t a one-person job. It is a multiparty, interdepartmental deal with a lot of stakeholders involved in between. In all likelihood, there would also be outsourced UI UX design studios involved, making project communications more elaborate.
This situation calls for a UX research plan – a guide-like tool that helps organizations keep the project’s development on track. It also enables you to deliver better efficiencies while designing, which is a plus. Let’s learn a little more about UX research plans.
What is a UX Research Plan?
A UX research plan is basically a set of guidelines that sets the UX UI development expectations and establishes a channel of communication between the stakeholders involved in the project.
But why is this important?
Over half of users leave a website if it takes longer than 3 seconds to load.
Developing an efficient UX research plan has the potential to solve this problem. User experience is an essential part of designing a front-end interface. It needs to be planned meticulously and must be flawless.
The results from a well-designed user interface are tangible, which is what makes the developmental process so critical.
Improving process efficiency and collaboration between various departments involved helps create a great end-product – and a UX research plan is a means to achieve that.
Let’s explore 7 simple ways that a UI UX design company can use to create a highly effective UX research plan.
7 Simple Ways to Create a UX Research Plan
The human brain can process visual data at a speed that is 60,000 times faster than processing text. While this is a good thing, it also makes the tiniest of UX errors in the design stand out like sore thumbs.
This is why the UI UX design companies in India leverage the power of a UX research plan to minimize errors and maximize fluidity in design. Here’s how:
- Define the Problem Statement
Every design begins with the inspiration to fix an existing problem. By sitting with all the stakeholders and openly exploring the problem, the teams are able to evaluate the situation better. The action plan can then be based on available knowledge, which forms the project’s foundation. - Define the Objectives
The objective of your UX project is something that will solve the problem that you identified in the first step. For example, to overhaul a slow-loading website, your objective would be to incorporate elements in the UX with low latencies and faster loading times. Ensure that all the stakeholders are in the loop and contributing to the objective. - Choosing The Right Research Method
User experience design companies employ various research methods at multiple levels of project development to ensure that the information they are working with is accurate. For example:- The initial stages require survey-based (generative) research
- The progress stages require usability tests and statistics research
Ensure that you select the right method.
- Onboard Contributors
Participants who give a UI UX design agency the insight needed to improve UX are an asset to a project. If your brand has a social media following, see if you can initiate a Q&A for information gathering or if you have volunteers willing to participate in the project. - Compose a Brief
A brief is a document that contains all the details and questions of the surveys you would be undertaking for the project – the interviews, surveys, Q&As, one-on-ones, etc. The brief needs to cover everything you need to know to create a great UX. - Create a Timeline
Remember: “A goal without a timeline is just a dream.” (Robert Herjavec)Every stage in your UX research plan should have a feasible deadline. The resources you mobilize must align with the timelines you set. - Present Your Findings
In order to ensure that all the efforts poured into creating a research plan turn into motivation and action to create a great end-product, you need to present your findings in the right manner. Decide on a meeting time and gather the stakeholders for a detailed discussion to generate insights.
Wrapping Up
A good UI UX design studio knows the value of keeping the design process neat and sorted. It knows the value of first-hand information and how it can help transform the product into something great.
A well-structured UX research plan can be pivotal to achieving a successful design.
