A Guide to the UX Design Process

Learning about the user experience (UX) design process benefits anyone hoping to enter the UX design field. Whether working on a digital or physical product, a UX designer focuses on making the user experience easy, comfortable, and pleasant. 

Find out what UX design is, why it's important, what steps the UX design process involves, and how you can get into this field.

What is UX design?

UX design focuses on more than a product's features by considering the consumer's experience while using it—from start to finish. Blending various disciplines, including market research, psychology, and technology, UX design helps address any pain consumers might have when using a product or service. 

For instance, when considering the design of a physical product (like a vacuum cleaner), a UX designer often asks questions like:

• Is the product aesthetically pleasing?

• How easy is the product to operate?

• Can users solve problems they have with the product quickly?

When considering the design of a digital product (like a smartphone app), a designer might ask:

• Is the layout of the product attractive and readable?

• How easy is the product to navigate?

• Is the product easy to access?

• Does the product provide usefulness?

Why is UX design important?

UX design benefits both companies and their customers. It makes companies happy because better-designed products equal higher profits, and UX design makes customers happy because it focuses on meeting their needs and providing a pleasant user experience. 

Steps in the UX design process

Companies may have slightly different strategies for the UX design process. However, most follow several key steps. 

1. Define the project goal.

Defining the project goal usually involves conversations between company heads, stakeholders, and the design team. To start the UX design process, it's important to ask questions like: 

• Who is the user?

• What is the user's problem?

• How does the product design solve the user's problem?

2. Conduct research.

To ensure a product meets a user's needs, designers should conduct UX design research. A deeper understanding of product users requires a few different types, including qualitative and quantitative research: 

• Quantitative research: User behavior, demographic profiles, market trends 

• Qualitative research: Ethnographic studies, focus groups, interviews, and surveys

3. Design and create prototypes.

After defining project goals and conducting research, it's time to design and create prototypes—or models of the prospective product. Prototypes allow sample users and company stakeholders to get an idea of what the product will look like and how it will function before it goes into production. Creating prototypes saves a company time and money by allowing designers to identify and fix design flaws before product development.

4. Perform usability testing.

Usability testing involves testing a prototype to ensure it meets a user's needs. Usability testing can include the following processes:

• In-house prototype testing by members of the design team and stakeholders

• Prototype testing by sample members of the target audience

• Qualitative testing, such as taking surveys 

• Quantitative testing like identifying the time it takes to use the product for its intended purpose

5. Iterate and finalize the design.

With your qualitative and quantitative data in hand, you can make changes to your design to improve user experience and repeat the UX design process. Once you have a product you are confident your audience will love, you can pass the prototypes off to the production team and prepare for a live release.  

Read more: UX Design: Between Subjects vs. Within Subjects

How to start working in UX design

To start working in UX design, you need a blend of education, experience, and skills. Knowing how much education and experience you'll need and what skills you'll use can help you decide if this career is for you. 

Education

A bachelor's degree offers a strong foundation for a job in UX design. You can either get a degree specifically in UX design or get a degree in a related field like:

• Computer science

• Design and visual communication

• Graphic design

• Computer applications

• Fine arts

Skills

UX designers usually benefit from various skills, including technical and workplace skills. Good workplace skills to have in this role include:

• Ability to collaborate well with others

• Attention to detail

• Comfort with public speaking

• Communication skills

• Creativity

• Organizational skills

• Problem-solving skills

• Research skills

• Time management

UX designers also need technical skills to research accurately and design effective products. You can build relevant technical skills by getting experience with:

• Adobe Creative Suite software

• Information architecture

• Interaction design

• Javascript

• Process design

• Prototyping

• Usability testing

• User interface (UI) design

• User research

• UX wireframes

Read more: 9 Essential Skills for UX Designers in 2024

Entry-level UX design careers

Certain entry-level jobs provide a good place to start on your road to a UX design career. Consider these positions:

Junior UX designer

Average annual US base salary (Glassdoor): $70,403 [1]

Job outlook (projected growth from 2022-2032): 25 percent [2]

In this role, you would likely assist a UX designer or team of designers in various tasks. These might include enhancing current features, collaborating with senior UX designers, and other design duties.

UX researcher

Average annual US base salary (Glassdoor): $80,092 [3]

Job outlook (projected growth from 2022-2032): 25 percent [2]

A UX researcher conducts research and shares results with the UX design team. Typical duties include identifying research objectives, defining target users, recruiting research participants, designing surveys and questionnaires, and conducting user interviews and research sessions.

UX designer

Average annual US base salary (Glassdoor): $80,092 [4]

Job outlook (projected growth from 2022-2032): 25 percent [2]

As mentioned, a UX designer works to create accessible, user-friendly products and services by engaging in all steps of the UX design process.  

*Note: All Glassdoor salaries are accurate as of October 2024 and include average annual base pay, excluding additional earnings.

Who hires UX designers?

As a UX designer, you can work in a variety of industries. Some industries to consider who hire UX designers include:

• Banking and finance

• E-commerce

• Education

• Gaming

• Government

• Health care

• Insurance

• Retail

• Technology

• Travel and tourism

• Public utilities

• Arts

Read more: 4 UX Careers Beyond Design You’ll Want to Explore

Getting started with Coursera

Following the UX design process helps to ensure a high-quality final product that satisfies the wants and needs of the end consumer. With skills such as user research, prototyping, and wireframing, you can help contribute to this process.

To start a career in UX design, consider getting the Google UX Design Professional Certificate on Coursera. Recommended for beginners, this seven-course series provides knowledge of UX design principles and concepts and an understanding of the UX design process. You'll learn about defining user problems, conducting user research, building wireframes and prototypes, conducting UX design testing, and more. After completing the series, you'll earn a shareable Professional Certificate from Google.