Key Methodologies of UI/UX

Benjamin Odoi-Lartey
odlabenonline@gmail.com
0244361636

Benjamin Odoi-Lartey

Benjamin Odoi-Lartey

@odlabenonline
 Lecture Objectives
• Introduction to Design
Methodologies
• Key Methodologies in UI/UX
• Key Terminologies
 Introduction to UI/UX Design Methodologies
• Design methodologies are systems or models that offer structure or
consistency to focus on problems and drive success within a design process.
• Methodologies help align all stakeholders within a project, an organization, or
an industry.
• Some popular design methodologies include the product development life
cycle (PDLC), double diamond diagram, design thinking, and user-
centered design (UCD) etc.
• These processes often emphasize an iterative, cyclical approach to design,
incorporating user research to drive decisions from defining a problem to
building a solution.
 Introduction to UI/UX Design Methodologies
• Notable organizations constantly defining UI/UX methodologies
 Design Methodologies
Design Sprint:
• Design Sprint is a user-focused
methodology used to solve design
challenges quickly.
• It is a way to design prototypes, and
test solutions with real users for a
problem in five days.
• This methodology was developed by
Jack Knapp from Google Ventures.
 The Five Phases of Design Sprint
1. Understand: Define and/or understand the design challenge as well as business goals, user
needs, and technical deliverability related to the challenge at hand.
2. Ideate: This phase focuses on creativity and imagination to generate different solutions using
methods like Crazy Eights and Storyboards.
3. Decide: Select the most promising ideas for further exploration and create for them low-fidelity
prototypes.
4. Prototype: Create realistic working high-fidelity prototypes for the solutions.
5. Test: Observe users interacting with the prototypes and record their feedback.
 Design Methodologies
Design Thinking:
• Design thinking is a design methodology that puts people at the center of every
process and encourages designers to set aside assumptions.
• This formal methodology has developed across multiple disciplines since the
1960s and is commonly associated with the design and consulting firm IDEO and
the Stanford School of Design (the d.school).
• Design thinking is a non-linear, iterative process that teams use to understand
users, challenge assumptions, redefine problems and create innovative solutions
to prototype and test. It is most useful to tackle ill-defined or unknown problems
and involves five phases: Empathize, Define, Ideate, Prototype and Test.
 The Five Phases of Design Thinking
Design thinking’s core activities are ideation, inspiration, and implementation,
which occur across the five stages of the process:
1. Empathize: Understand the user and the landscape.
2. Define: Define the problem and align with business goals and user needs.
3. Ideate: Generate a range of ideas for possible solutions, emphasizing creativity.
4. Prototype: Explore potential solutions by creating prototypes of the product to
gather feedback.
5. Test: Test the best solutions developed during prototyping.
Prototyping or testing may lead to redefining the problem altogether. As with the other
processes we’ve covered, this is an iterative cycle.
Design thinking is said to live at
the intersection of desirability
(people), viability (business), and
feasibility (technology).
 Design Methodologies
Double Diamond Diagram
• The double diamond diagram is a structured design methodology that
differentiates between divergent and convergent modes of thinking and when
they occur during strategy and execution in the design process.
• The four phases of the double diamond process are: Discover, Define,
Develop, and Deliver.
• This process is often used in fields such as product design, engineering, and
user experience design. The Double Diamond process helps designers to
understand the problem, come up with creative solutions, and then refine those
solutions to create a final product or service that meets the needs of the user
Design Methodologies
 The Four phase of the Double Diamond Diagram

• Discover (divergent strategy): Explore the problem and landscape, and learn from
users and the market through user interviews, surveys, and other research.
• Define (convergent strategy): Sort and analyze the information gathered during
the discovery stage and home in on the problem we’re trying to solve.
• Develop (divergent execution): Generate a range of ideas for possible solutions
through brainstorms, workshops, low fidelity prototypes, and other ideation methods.
Test different ideas with users or within the company to see what resonates.
• Deliver (convergent execution): Home in on, develop, and deliver the solution.
Continue evaluating and testing the developed design to ensure it meets user
needs.
 Design Methodologies
Five Elements of UX Design
The five elements of UX
design, from abstract to
concrete, are strategy, scope,
structure, skeleton, and
surface. This model was
created and defined by
designer Jesse James
Garrett.
 The Five Elements of UX Design

• Strategy: What problem is this product intended to solve? (User needs & Business
Goals).
• Scope: What is the product that will be created to solve the problem? (Functional
and Content Requirements
• Structure: How is the design organized and how do interactions work? (Information
Architecture and Interaction Design)
• Skeleton: How is information presented and arranged? (UI design, Navigation
design, Information Design) this is achieved via Wireframing
• Surface: How does the product look and feel to users? (Visuals design, typefaces
etc)
 Design Methodologies
Product Development Life Cycle
• The Product Development Life Cycle (PDLC) is a cross-functional, iterative
process with stages that include brainstorm, define, design, test and launch.
• The PDLC usually involves many stakeholders across an organization.
• This process starts from a problem or pain point to ensure that product
development meets a real user need and that the whole team is aligned around
the same goals.
• UI and UX designers can use the stated goals and definitions from the PDLC to
ensure their work meets the captured requirements and to facilitate smooth
collaboration with other stakeholders.
 The Five Stages of
Product Development
Life Cycle (PDLC)
 The Five Stages of Product Development Life Cycle

• Brainstorm: Starting from a defined problem or pain point, the team brainstorms all
possible solutions. Market or user research can help inspire ideas.
• Define: The team aligns on specifications for the product by defining the vision, goals,
target users, features, benefits, and success metrics.
• Design: The product is designed from low-fidelity to high-fidelity, starting with sketches and
wireframes and moving to prototypes and a completed interface.
• Test: The product or prototype is tested to ensure it works as intended. Testing can range
from informal internal testing of low-fidelity prototypes to usability testing of a high-fidelity
prototype or final product by external users.
• Launch: The final design is released to the public, but the cycle doesn’t end here. Typically,
testing continues even after the product has launched, and the cycle continues.