Being an exceptional UI/UX designer means more than creativity alone – it requires critical thinking, problem-solving skills, and imagination. This article will explore how you can be one of the best UI/UX designers out there and reveal the secrets behind what makes an exceptional designer stand out from the crowd.
Use Wireframing as a Foundation
Don’t just start drawing in your app. While sketching is important, it can also get out of hand. Take time to lay down a solid wireframe before diving into a project. When you have a visual plan, you’ll be able to tell if something will work or not immediately. Plus, having wireframes means you won’t need much design skill to create something that works well.
Design with Intent
Because you’re a designer, it’s easy to get excited about creating new things. But sometimes, your creativity gets in your way: its default is often novelty rather than practicality. Design with intent by first asking yourself questions like: How will people interact with what I’m designing? What are their goals and needs? Where does it fit into their lives and workflows? By answering these questions before diving into design, you can avoid a lot of wasted time and effort on features that don’t actually help users achieve their goals.
Iterate, Iterate, Iterate…
Iterating a design means building multiple different versions of it and evaluating them based on user testing. It is a core part of creating exceptional experiences for your users, and research shows that even seemingly trivial iterations can positively impact your bottom line. So focus on iterating every aspect of your designs rather than getting fixated on creating from scratch. This will help you save money, time, and resources so you have enough left over to fully test everything out in real life.
Look at UX as a System
There are various elements that factor into UX design. If you want to be successful in your career, it’s crucial that you understand how they relate and how they work together. Don’t think of yourself as just a designer or just a coder; instead, look at UX as a system with many interconnected parts and figure out what makes them work (or fail). It may not seem important at first, but if you pay attention now, it will save you from major problems later on down the road.
Testing is Key
If you want to be a great web designer, you need to understand how users think, what they want and don’t want, and how people interact with design in general. This is where testing comes in: by A/B testing different versions of your site or prototype with real users (via usability testing or eye tracking) you can quickly find out which designs work better for your target audience. If your creativity alone doesn’t make you a great UX designer—testing will.
Research is Good
The best way to be creative is by using techniques that force you out of your comfort zone. One simple technique is called divergent thinking, which means coming up with as many solutions as possible without regard for their quality or their feasibility. Another technique is called convergent thinking, where you focus on one idea and try different ways of making it better.
Don’t Forget About Typography & Colors (and Images, Too!)
Typography is one of those things that might not be a major aspect in web design, but it can drastically change how your audience receives and consumes your content. Typography on webpages is what we call micro-copy. It includes things like headlines, captions, headers, footers and buttons; it’s basically any text you see on a website (besides body copy). Good typography draws attention to important pieces of information and helps guide users through your site. Good typography doesn’t get in your way, either—it serves as a supporting character rather than taking center stage. The same goes for colors: they should serve as accents rather than being used to draw attention away from content or other elements on a page. So before you start working on that next big project, make sure you have some solid typographic skills under your belt!
Wrapping Up
When it comes to generating creativity, it is important to understand that you are not likely going to be able to simply let your imagination run free and throw out whatever pops into your head at random. If you want creativity, you’re going to have to put in some real effort. From logic and reasoning exercises that help enhance one’s ability for abstract thinking, or from utilizing different problem-solving strategies as a way of tapping into new thoughts—creativity is a skill that can be developed with practice.
Also Read:
Why Creativity Alone Won't Make You an Exceptional UI/UX Designer?
6 Well Guarded Secrets About UX/UI Design for IoT Mobile Apps
0
