Brand-specific, user-friendly, fun, memorable.

Whether we are creating an app, a website, a marketing experience, these are the words we should use to describe a users experience.

UX Design is a weapon. Or at least, we can weaponize it. But the users we target with clever design shouldn’t be aware of this; what they are experiencing should seem simple, seamless, engrossing.

The best journey for your users is a journey they don’t even realise they’re undertaking.

So, consider UX design your secret weapon, a weapon to be wielded with empathy and discipline.

What do users do and why do they do it?

Research is the first step in good UX design. Who are your users/consumers? Why are they your users/consumers? What context do they use your product in? What do they need? What do they want?

Ask what objectives you’re trying to achieve, and how you can align your goals with the goals of your users.

Design with empathy.

UX design is a rare opportunity in today’s digital landscape, an opportunity to design for the needs of someone else.

Designing with empathy helps you and your team, it creates a cohesive vision. No longer are you designing for yourself and trying to sell your team on your vision. You only have one vision, that of a happy user, a satisfied user, a user who will return to your platform.

You might have an ingenious, innovative idea. But if it’s an idea that doesn’t fit your vision, doesn’t benefit your user, doesn’t make the overall experience better, it’s an idea that isn’t worth implementing.

Trends aren’t rules, style guides aren’t a substitute for good design.

Test, test, test again.

Anyone can imagine a great app. Visualise a user journey. Prophecise becoming the next Uber, the next Instagram. But ideas are worthless if you can’t put them into practice. Even more worthless if your user can’t put them into practice.

Does your design look good? Does it feel good? Does it enhance the experience of your platform? Will your audience enjoy using it? Does it add value to your brand? Does it communicate your message effectively?

Test every step, every aspect of your design. It only takes one dead link for a user to quit your platform in frustration.

Creating a positive user experience isn’t about having the most aesthetically pleasing design, the most well-crafted code. It’s about having the right tools available to be used by the right audience at the right time.

How do you make this happen? With UX design, your secret weapon, carefully honed, and swung with precision.