You cant ignore UX Discovery Phase
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Great product needs to solve a problem and satisfy the users need. Most product fails or don’t do well purely because there was no need of that product for the intended audience, the product was made. A lot of time, resource and money is invested to create a product and it is disappointing if the product doesn’t fares well as intended.
UX Discovery phase helps us to minimize the risk of our product not doing well in the market. UX Discovery phase is the early stage of UX cycle and is also known as research phase. It is during this phase, when you get a clear understanding of the product’s business goals, your users and the problems you intend to solve for them. Below are few points that will help you do good with UX discovery phase.
- Never ignore the UX Discovery Phase.
You have to plan well and dedicate a decent amount of time for UX discovery phase. If planned right, this phase can help you reduce the timelines of your project with exceptional results. Simply plan what sort of research methods you would do during this phase and block your calendars. - Stakeholders interview.
Talk to your product owner and understand why he wants to create the product. Product owners are one who wants to create the product and can be anyone from founders, top management or business lead. Make sure you understand his vision, products business goals, why the product will be good for intended users and what will make the product successful.
Useful Links
How to understand your clients? Guide to Stakeholder Interview
Stakeholder Interview Template
The General Stakeholder Interview - Understanding Users.
Post stake holders interview, you should move towards understanding users. Try to learn as much as possible about the actual users. Ask if there is any existing user or customer data available. Information like their demographics, challenges they face and how the product would help them, will help you build a good product experience.
Useful Links
Understanding the User in User Experience
Free Online Course from EDX.org — Understanding User Needs - Competitive Analysis.
Find if there are any competitors to your product. Make a list of all your direct competitors. Populate the list with all their features to make a comparison chart. Common features that are available in all the product are your primary features and in most case should be a part of your product plan. You also check to see how each product is uniquely different than others. Keep a regular check on your competitors so that your product stays with the competition.
Useful Links
How To Do A UX Competitor Analysis: A Step By Step Guide
Competitor Analysis - Create a Persona.
Persona are a fictitious representation of our users. With your research in understanding users, you will get to know what segment of users would be mostly using your product. Create a persona for user segments that would be mostly using your product.
Use persona in your customer journey and user flow analysis while planing a features. Walking in your users shoes while designing a product would help you see problems with their eyes and provide a better solution to the problem.
Useful Links
Putting Personas to Work in UX Design: What They Are and Why They’re Important
How To Create UX Personas
Once you have researched, you should synthesize the information to find deeper analysis on the product you are creating. With this, you can confidently identify real problems of the users and develop a product that solves this problems and delivers a better experience.
Discovery phase helps us to set the right tone and direction of our product and should be a part of every UX process.
