UX role in product life



    In the last couple of years, hardware and software developers have begun to pay great attention to UX. But often this aspect sticks out unnecessarily, becoming widely known in many development teams. Such a “fashion on UX” even leads to the fact that someone deliberately understates the role of the study of user perception of the product. However, UX must be treated as a certain stage in the life of a product, no less important than everyone else.

    Perhaps the most well-established Russian-language translation of the term UX can be considered "experience of interaction." This comprehensive concept includes many aspects of the user's perception of a product, from packaging to the operation of a support service. The desires and expectations of the user, the appearance of the product, the interface, functionality, ease of use, reliability, qualitative and quantitative characteristics, the degree of demand, methods of use and much more - all this must be taken into account when developing UX.

    When a person is responsible for performing a task, he often considers it more important than many other tasks. The same thing is observed in the development teams, when different employees are responsible for different stages of the product's life. And it doesn’t matter at all whether it is about software, a web service or some kind of gadget. People always believe that it is their area of ​​responsibility that is one of the most critical and important. Especially this is facilitated by the fragmentation of departments existing in the company.

    Product life cycle


    Most products go through the following life cycle stages:
    • Concept idea
    • Study
    • Development
    • Filling content
    • Prototyping
    • Testing
    • Test Corrections
    • Usability improvement
    • Final design
    • Introduction into production
    • Marketing promotion
    • Sales
    • User Installation
    • Support
    • Training
    • Upgrade / repair or completion of the life cycle.

    Of course, depending on the product, the sequence of stages may change, something is excluded, something is added. For some stages, different departments / employees may be simultaneously responsible, depending on the size of the company and the specifics of the product. This pattern of product life does not necessarily reflect the process of its creation. Some stages can be passed at the same time, some can be repeated several times in connection with market conditions, corrections of deficiencies, delivery features, etc. Life cycle vision may change as the product creation process progresses. In some companies it is considered that some stages of the cycle are absolutely necessary, as well as the corresponding costs for them. But such a position is rather risky.

    As noted above, in many companies different departments and employees perceive as more important the stages for which they themselves are responsible. They do not perceive this life cycle as a chain of interdependent stages. And as you know, the strength of any chain is equal to the strength of the weakest link. But personal ambitions and corporate orders do not allow many to realize this. A large role is played by such personal qualities as a sense of superiority over colleagues, a desire to gain more power in one's own hands, and other features manifested in collectives.

    As a result, such an attitude to different stages of a product’s life often leads to a disproportionate distribution of efforts, resources, and personnel, and not in the best way affects the success of the product. If, for example, the product turns out to be bad, then no marketing tricks and budgets will not allow you to occupy a significant market share. The same can be said of any other stage in the life of the product. Surely for most of you all this is obvious, but nevertheless, it is found in companies all the time.

    Most often, an uneven perception of the stages of the life cycle arises from the dependence of the work of some employees on the data provided by others. For example, engineers to develop specific TK require an analysis of statistical studies performed by marketers. Of course, no one has canceled creativity, but acting in complete isolation from the market would also be reckless. And so the idea of ​​yourself arises: "What would you do without us?"

    On the other hand, the same graphic designers create images based on their own experience and sense of taste. Among other things, experience and taste are formed under the influence of the response of society to various design decisions. Such things are difficult to measure and formal evaluation, and the designer has to quickly make decisions when creating the interface or appearance of the gadget. Designer and engineer are two antipodes, if we compare them according to their approach to work: one creates thanks to inspiration and intuition, the second is guided by formulas and algorithms. Therefore, techies tend to be condescending to the work of creative people, because it is "unscientific" and "depends on a whim." However, the designer doesn’t do at the behest of a whim, he relies on the behavior of people, their habits and desires, cultural characteristics and many other things.

    Mistakes in understanding UX tasks


    Ideally, a UX professional should have a vision of the entire product life cycle. Unfortunately, many companies still do not have an exact understanding of what a UX specialist should do. Often they are either used wherever possible, or they are treated condescendingly. It happens that the list of responsibilities of the UX specialist is more consistent with the graphic designer, as if UX is only needed to work with the interface or the shape of the buttons. Or it seems like UX means web development: they require a high level of knowledge of HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript, etc. It is unlikely that a person who knows these skills well has time to think over UX, because creating a good code requires a considerable amount of time, and you need to take care of many other things. It turns out

    Someone mistakenly believes that the development of UX is akin to creating a design, that this is some kind of intuitive process based on a "sense of naturalness." Of course, intuitive approaches are used here, but the concept of “naturalness” can change very much depending on how and for what certain products are used. When developing UX, it is necessary to take into account the user's expectations, his cultural characteristics, level of education, age, environment and many other things. Each decision must be carefully analyzed and tested, especially if the idea of ​​a product is sufficiently innovative or touches upon the existing ideas about something in society. Yes, the task of the UX specialist is to guide the user, help him, but first you need to build on something familiar, accessible.

    It is important to understand that UX development is not a separate stage in the product life cycle. UX must permeate all stages, helping the product find the way to the consumer’s heart, become desirable and useful for it. How to overcome the first fears and mistrust, how to achieve a good first impression, how to facilitate the acquisition process, how to help you start using the product faster and more comfortable, how to increase the frequency of use of the product, how it is the least tiring for the user to solve problems arising with the product - the answers to these and many others questions affecting different stages of a product’s life are sought by a UX specialist. Underestimating the role of UX leads to the fact that they begin to think about it only when it is necessary to fix some of the most noticeable problems, when the development is already nearing completion. And it happens

    UX in product life


    From the very beginning, a UX specialist should work closely with engineers, marketers, sellers, support, and other departments. You can’t just one day get a job on a product by relay, twist it with UX and pass it on. It is necessary from the very beginning of the development to exchange information with all those involved in the creation of the product.

    The UX specialist should think about all stages of the product’s life, offering suitable solutions to emerging problems, evaluating the impact of the results on all other stages. But this does not mean at all that the UX specialist is responsible for the entire product, the ultimate scapegoat. For example, he should not catch bugs or find out from clients in what situations failures occur. Instead, the UX specialist should consider how possible disruptions will affect user attitudes towards the product. Obviously, there is no single answer and it all depends on specific situations.

    No stage in the life cycle can be regarded as more important than all the others. However, a product may fail at any stage if it has not been given enough attention and resources. Ideally, a UX designer should predict potential problems before a product hits the market. And if his warnings and suggestions are not heard, then it is no longer his fault.

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