UX Design Model

Across the industry I’ve seen a range of definitions for User Experience Design and understanding of the disciplines associated with it. The term has become so ubiquitous and varied that, like “branding”, it seems to confuse clients more than benefit.

I believe User Experience (UX) Design is an umbrella term that combines five core disciplines for the creation of interactive systems.

Design Research

The identification, evaluation, and understanding of problems to inform the design process.

Common Activities:

• Business analysis
• Contextual analysis
• Qualitative and Quantitative analysis
• Usability audits
• Surveys and Interviews
• Findings documentation

Information Architecture

The organizational structure of a system of information to facilitate intuitive access to content.

Common Activities:

• Global element definition
• Navigation pattern design
• Application map development
• Wireframe design

Interaction Design

The design of interface elements to facilitate the user’s relationship to the systems functionality and content.

Common Activities:

• User story creation
• Functional inventory documentation
• Component requirement documentation
• Template identification and design
• Wireframe design

Visual Design

The visual treatment of concepts, elements, and components within an artifact.

Common Activities:

• Visual exploration
• Mockup creation
• Style guide documentation
• Key state definition
• Asset development

Development

The functional creation of interactive concepts within a system or artifact.

Common Activities:

• Prototype creation
• Database architecture
• Application architecture
• Front- and back-end development
• Component library creation