I recently finished reading Introduction to design thinking by Uijun Park. So here is a detailed summary!

This book talks about the 5 steps to design thinking, that any UX designer must follow, and also explains some design principles. So let's get to it!

5 steps to design thinking

Step 1. Empathise

UX design is about solving problems that users experience, so you need to understand your users to discover what problems they are experiencing.

• User demographic research: to define the target user
• In-depth interviews: to learn what problems users are facing with the product
• Usability test: to understand which part of the product is difficult to use
• Analytics: use user traffic analytics to see which parts of the product need improving

Step 2. Define

"Finding a good problem is more complex than coming up with a good-looking design result." - Uijun Park

• Prioritise which problems to solve
• Let the whole team participate in choosing which problem to solve first

Step 3. Ideate

"It’s more likely that a better idea comes up when multiple people with different perspectives having a deep discussion, and validation with users and market, and refinement." - Uijun Park

• Derive various diverse ideas that could potentially solve the problem
• Can be useful to have other departments participate (like developers, sales...)
• Brainwriting: writing down ideas on a piece of paper within a set time, then have everyone share their ideas
• Sketch workshop: participants sketch ideas in a set time, to come up with creative solutions
• Vote to select best ideas

Step 4. Prototype

"Now, you will need to create a prototype of ideas to test with the user or to simulate with an internal team member." - Park, Uijun. Introduction to Design Thinking

• Low-fidelity prototype: Sketch
• Mid-fidelity prototype: Wireframe
  • User-flow: defines a user's steps to complete a task on the web or app.
• High-fidelity prototype: UI design

Step 5. Test

"The test in design thinking can be done before and after release. You don’t need to have a fully functioning product to get user feedback." - Park, Uijun. Introduction to Design Thinking

• Pre-development test: saves time and money
  • Usability test: let users test the prototype
• Post release test: measure user traffic, conversion rate, and other metrics to evaluate whether your product has achieved initial goals
  • Analytics: compare to the data you gathered in step 1

UX design principles for beginners

PRINCIPLE 1. CONSISTENCY

• Creating a consistent and predictable user experience across all aspects of a product, such as the layout, visual design, and interactions.
  • Following established design patterns and guidelines,
  • Using consistent language and terminology,
  • Maintaining a cohesive visual style

PRINCIPLE 2. AFFORDANCE

• Making it intuitive for users to know how to use a product just by looking at it.

PRINCIPLE 3. MENTAL MODEL AND CONCEPTUAL MODEL

• Mental model: expectations that users have for a product, based on their experience, training, and knowledge
• Conceptual model: the experience or interface that a product provides
• Aim to strike a balance between users' mental model and the conceptual model

PRINCIPLE 4. MAPPING

• Designing interfaces or displays that make the results of operating the control device predictable for the user

PRINCIPLE 5. INFORMATION ARCHITECTURE

• Organizing and structuring digital content to make it easier for users to find what they need
• Organising content in a logical and intuitive way.

PRINCIPLE 6. USER INTENT

• High user intent: the user knows well what they want to do and can follow a specific procedure to complete their task when they enter a website to buy a product.
• Low intent: users have a rough idea of their goal but do not know what specifically they need to do to achieve it.
• Important to consider both high and low user intent and design to satisfy both types of users.

Here it is guys! I read this book wanting to improve my design skills, and it did not disappoint. Again this is only a detailed summary, and the book contains so much more, with case studies and lots of tips and examples, so if you liked this post, I really recommend that you get the book!