This website uses cookies to better the user experience of its visitors. Where applicable, this website uses a cookie control system, allowing users to allow or disallow the use of cookies on their computer/device on their first visit to the website. This complies with recent legislative requirements for websites to obtain explicit consent from users before leaving behind or reading files such as cookies on a user’s computer/device. To learn more click Cookie Policy.

Privacy preference center

Cookies are small files saved to a user’s computer/device hard drive that track, save, and store information about the user’s interactions and website use. They allow a website, through its server, to provide users with a tailored experience within the site. Users are advised to take necessary steps within their web browser security settings to block all cookies from this website and its external serving vendors if they wish to deny the use and saving of cookies from this website to their computer’s/device’s hard drive. To learn more click Cookie Policy.

Manage consent preferences

These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work. These cookies do not store any personally identifiable information.
These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. If you do not allow these cookies we will not know when you have visited our site, and will not be able to monitor its performance.
Cookies list
Name _rg_session
Provider rubygarage.org
Retention period 2 days
Type First party
Category Necessary
Description The website session cookie is set by the server to maintain the user's session state across different pages of the website. This cookie is essential for functionalities such as login persistence, ensuring a seamless and consistent user experience. The session cookie does not store personal data and is typically deleted when the browser is closed, enhancing privacy and security.
Name m
Provider m.stripe.com
Retention period 1 year 1 month
Type Third party
Category Necessary
Description The m cookie is set by Stripe and is used to help assess the risk associated with attempted transactions on the website. This cookie plays a critical role in fraud detection by identifying and analyzing patterns of behavior to distinguish between legitimate users and potentially fraudulent activity. It enhances the security of online transactions, ensuring that only authorized payments are processed while minimizing the risk of fraud.
Name __cf_bm
Provider .pipedrive.com
Retention period 1 hour
Type Third party
Category Necessary
Description The __cf_bm cookie is set by Cloudflare to support Cloudflare Bot Management. This cookie helps to identify and filter requests from bots, enhancing the security and performance of the website. By distinguishing between legitimate users and automated traffic, it ensures that the site remains protected from malicious bots and potential attacks. This functionality is crucial for maintaining the integrity and reliability of the site's operations.
Name _GRECAPTCHA
Provider .recaptcha.net
Retention period 6 months
Type Third party
Category Necessary
Description The _GRECAPTCHA cookie is set by Google reCAPTCHA to ensure that interactions with the website are from legitimate human users and not automated bots. This cookie helps protect forms, login pages, and other interactive elements from spam and abuse by analyzing user behavior. It is essential for the proper functioning of reCAPTCHA, providing a critical layer of security to maintain the integrity and reliability of the site's interactive features.
Name __cf_bm
Provider .calendly.com
Retention period 30 minutes
Type Third party
Category Necessary
Description The __cf_bm cookie is set by Cloudflare to distinguish between humans and bots. This cookie is beneficial for the website as it helps in making valid reports on the use of the website. By identifying and managing automated traffic, it ensures that analytics and performance metrics accurately reflect human user interactions, thereby enhancing site security and performance.
Name __cfruid
Provider .calendly.com
Retention period During session
Type Third party
Category Necessary
Description The __cfruid cookie is associated with websites using Cloudflare services. This cookie is used to identify trusted web traffic and enhance security. It helps Cloudflare manage and filter legitimate traffic from potentially harmful requests, thereby protecting the website from malicious activities such as DDoS attacks and ensuring reliable performance for genuine users.
Name OptanonConsent
Provider .calendly.com
Retention period 1 year
Type Third party
Category Necessary
Description The OptanonConsent cookie determines whether the visitor has accepted the cookie consent box, ensuring that the consent box will not be presented again upon re-entry to the site. This cookie helps maintain the user's consent preferences and compliance with privacy regulations by storing information about the categories of cookies the user has consented to and preventing unnecessary repetition of consent requests.
Name OptanonAlertBoxClosed
Provider .calendly.com
Retention period 1 year
Type Third party
Category Necessary
Description The OptanonAlertBoxClosed cookie is set after visitors have seen a cookie information notice and, in some cases, only when they actively close the notice. It ensures that the cookie consent message is not shown again to the user, enhancing the user experience by preventing repetitive notifications. This cookie helps manage user preferences and ensures compliance with privacy regulations by recording when the notice has been acknowledged.
Name referrer_user_id
Provider .calendly.com
Retention period 14 days
Type Third party
Category Necessary
Description The referrer_user_id cookie is set by Calendly to support the booking functionality on the website. This cookie helps track the source of referrals to the booking page, enabling Calendly to attribute bookings accurately and enhance the user experience by streamlining the scheduling process. It assists in managing user sessions and preferences during the booking workflow, ensuring efficient and reliable operation.
Name _calendly_session
Provider .calendly.com
Retention period 21 days
Type Third party
Category Necessary
Description The _calendly_session cookie is set by Calendly, a meeting scheduling tool, to enable the meeting scheduler to function within the website. This cookie facilitates the scheduling process by maintaining session information, allowing visitors to book meetings and add events to their calendars seamlessly. It ensures that the scheduling workflow operates smoothly, providing a consistent and reliable user experience.
Name _gat_UA-*
Provider rubygarage.org
Retention period 1 minute
Type First party
Category Analytics
Description The _gat_UA-* cookie is a pattern type cookie set by Google Analytics, where the pattern element in the name contains the unique identity number of the Google Analytics account or website it relates to. This cookie is a variation of the _gat cookie and is used to throttle the request rate, limiting the amount of data collected by Google Analytics on high traffic websites. It helps manage the volume of data recorded, ensuring efficient performance and accurate analytics reporting.
Name _ga
Provider rubygarage.org
Retention period 1 year 1 month 4 days
Type First party
Category Analytics
Description The _ga cookie is set by Google Analytics to calculate visitor, session, and campaign data for the site's analytics reports. It helps track how users interact with the website, providing insights into site usage and performance.
Name _ga_*
Provider rubygarage.org
Retention period 1 year 1 month 4 days
Type First party
Category Analytics
Description The _ga_* cookie is set by Google Analytics to store and count page views on the website. This cookie helps track the number of visits and interactions with the website, providing valuable data for performance and user behavior analysis. It belongs to the analytics category and plays a crucial role in generating detailed usage reports for site optimization.
Name _gid
Provider rubygarage.org
Retention period 1 day
Type First party
Category Analytics
Description The _gid cookie is set by Google Analytics to store information about how visitors use a website and to create an analytics report on the website's performance. This cookie collects data on visitor behavior, including pages visited, duration of the visit, and interactions with the website, helping site owners understand and improve user experience. It is part of the analytics category and typically expires after 24 hours.
Name _dc_gtm_UA-*
Provider rubygarage.org
Retention period 1 minute
Type First party
Category Analytics
Description The _dc_gtm_UA-* cookie is set by Google Analytics to help load the Google Analytics script tag via Google Tag Manager. This cookie facilitates the efficient loading of analytics tools, ensuring that data on user behavior and website performance is accurately collected and reported. It is categorized under analytics and assists in the seamless integration and functioning of Google Analytics on the website.

What does a UX designer do during the product development lifecycle?

  • 6285 views
  • 15 min
  • Jul 01, 2021
Maryna Ch.

Maryna Ch.

Copywriter

Ivan M.

Ivan M.

UI/UX Designer

Share

Startups have an unstable position in the market. While strong brands have solid reputations, loyal customers, and huge credits of trust, new companies have to build it all from scratch. The slightest misstep in a new product can lead to negative reactions and customer churn. Considering the high competition and the rise of new companies, startups must pay close attention to every detail before launching a product.

Design plays a crucial role in shaping first impressions. If a user launches a product and feels confused about the next steps, they will be unlikely to use it again. Hence, a valuable feature set is not enough to keep customers engaged. You need to take care of how the software works to push users to keep interacting with it. 

A UI/UX designer will assist you in this matter. UI/UX designers build software with users in mind and want to deliver a positive experience to them. In this article, we’ll take a closer look at their responsibilities and answer the question What does a UX designer do in a digital startup?

Why you need a UX designer on your project

A UX designer takes care of delivering a positive user experience. They contribute to brand development by forming a positive attitude among customers through high usability and attractive UI. The importance of a UX designer on a project is hard to overestimate. UX designers engage in the development lifecycle from start to finish and design product interactions with the user in mind. You can see the true value of having a UX designer on your team in the following ways:

Cost savings. With a UX designer, you’ll spend less time and money on rework since the software concept is well thought out from the beginning. Besides, designers often cost less than programmers. Therefore, it’s better to invest in UX design and plan the user flow wisely than to waste money fixing mistakes.

Cross-platform development. UI/UX designers work with interfaces on various types of devices. For example, they think about how everything will look on laptops, phones, and tablets. This umbrella approach lowers the overall development costs because the team has a strict vision of what to do next and avoids many mistakes. Besides, with responsive design, users feel equally comfortable interacting with a product on any platform.

Timely product launch. Having a designer at hand significantly speeds up the product launch. UX designers work at the pace of the rest of the team and can quickly resolve any blockers such as the unclear purpose of a certain element or feature. If programmers get blocked because the interface isn’t ready, designers can create it and remove the blocker immediately.

Systematic product promotion. UI/UX designers contribute to a comprehensive approach to audience engagement. They prepare design materials in a single style and supervise the developers’ choices to ensure the development process goes as intended. UX designers are responsible for harmonious product evolution and developing new features based on the client’s needs.

Enjoyable user experience. Designers translate the product’s central message into suitable interactions. They select images, develop product styles, and create user paths based on a general product idea. The UX designer’s goal is not to create a beautiful picture but to communicate the app’s concept to an audience through a suitable interface and a positive user experience.

UI/UX designer role description

What a UI/UX designer does may be described as interface development. The user interface (UI) component is responsible for the visual part of the software, and the user experience (UX) is responsible for the functionality and navigation. Even though the UI and UX represent different aspects of the application, they are most often designed by one person — a UI/UX designer. This specialist is in charge of creating a positive impression from interacting with the product. Their primary task is to produce an easy-to-follow interface to help users achieve their desired goals with minimum effort.

The daily routine of a UI/UX designer involves research, analysis, data collection, wireframing, and prototyping. These duties overlap with those of business analysts and marketers and require a deep understanding of processes and proactive analytical thinking. At the same time, UI/UX design is a creative profession that pushes people to think outside the box and look for non-standard solutions for the best results. A UI/UX designer accompanies users from the moment they launch an app till the moment they close it and makes sure their path is clear. Below, you can see what a UI/UX designer does in terms of the user experience and user interface.

In terms of the UX:

  • Selects suitable UX tools to achieve goals of product implementation
  • Makes the product easy to use for the target audience
  • Analyzes whether the product meets customers’ expectations
  • Makes edits/changes based on results

In terms of the UI:

  • Creates a concept for each page and screen
  • Creates visual components for each page and screen
  • Aligns graphical elements with the corporate identity
  • Adapts the design for different screen resolutions

What does a UI/UX designer do?

The UI/UX designer is part of the product development team. They are directly involved in all stages of the product lifecycle including planning, development, testing, release, and maintenance. In addition to basic functions, the designer takes on the role of intermediary between developers and users. While working alongside developers, they act in users’ interests, implementing user wishes by applying UI/UX best practices and techniques. At the same time, the designer is always guided by business interests. Before implementing a certain feature, UI/UX designers think about the potential benefits for the company and how they will fit with the overall product idea.

The main job of a UX designer is to make sure the user flow goes logically from one step to another. Product creation starts with a sketch and gradually results in a tangible product in users’ hands. As part of this process, a designer performs a wide variety of tasks. Let’s see what a UX designer does and what their responsibilities are in a software development project.

Product research

Product research includes studying the market, users, and competitors. It is the designer’s starting point, from which the designer begins their journey to create a valuable product for both stakeholders and customers. The main goal of this stage is to see the product from the user’s point of view.

Product research consists of two parts: collecting data and systematizing information. At the start of the project, the designer aims to decide who needs what. They do this by conducting surveys, collecting facts, looking at potential or current users, browsing the literature, considering data and analytics, etc. This process is iterative, and designers can return to specific studies as the project progresses.

UX research methods can be divided into two groups: quantitative and qualitative.

Quantitative research results in numerical values. It answers questions such as How many people clicked here? and What percentage of users can find the call to action? Quantitative indicators help designers learn statistical probabilities and what is happening on a website or in an application.

Qualitative research analyzes users’ intentions. It helps designers understand why people do what they do and what motivates them to act. Qualitative research often takes the form of an interview or conversation. What a UX designer does at this step is find answers to questions like Why don’t people see the call to action? and What else do people notice on the page?

Persona development

Creating personas is essentially part of product research, and a user persona is one of the main artifacts received by designers upon completion of the product research stage. During interviews, user analysis, and immersion in the product environment, the designer realizes who the program is meant for and what problems it aims to solve. Their understanding takes the form of a portrait of a real user, otherwise known as a user persona. It describes key characteristics points of this target user, including age, occupation, and marital status.

Personas help UI/UX designers better understand the product’s target audience and identify critical problems, needs, and pain points. Ultimately, this leads to a better user experience, making the product more valuable and attractive to prospective and existing customers. Well-thought-out user personas promote informed decisions. As a result, a UX designer does what clients expect and gets higher engagement in return. For example, UX designers know what features are helpful to users, which logos they react better to, and which text they understand faster.

As a rule, one project is not limited to one persona and typically has several user groups. They may differ in ethnicity, socioeconomic status, interests, daily activities, and other characteristics. Moreover, they may seek different things while interacting with your app. Therefore, it’s crucial to work out all types of personas and cover the needs of each. You can see an example of a banking app persona below.

User persona example

Information architecture setup

After developing personas, the designer starts building the product’s information architecture (IA). This involves organizing content so users feel confident when navigating the app or website. Defining the information architecture is an essential step in product development that lays the groundwork for building features and creating the UI. The result of the IA stage is a sitemap/app map and defined key user flows. The main output is product wireframes. They provide a low detailed visualization of the user interface with the main groups of content (what exactly will be on the screen) and information structure (where it will be placed on the screen).



UI/UXnformation architecture template

Here’s what a UX designer does to create the information architecture:

User research. User research is carried out through communication and analytics and results in detailed user personas.

Content sorting. This includes creating headings, subheadings, media files, documents, links, etc. The designer’s task is to break content elements into screens, sections, and topics. Next, they should add these elements to the content template.

UI/UX content template

Navigation building. Regardless of where users appear in your app, they need to know how to find the information they came for. For this, the UX designer builds a hierarchical structure, develops design patterns, and creates a complex navigation map.

Wireframing

With the software structure in place, it’s time to proceed with screen development. A UX designer does this through wireframing, which is essentially roughly sketching every page. The main purpose of creating wireframes is to depict the product’s overall functionality. Wireframes demonstrate a product’s display navigation, data visualization, primary actions, and general layout, schematically showing how users will see the interface elements on the most important screens.

Wireframes help define the product’s fundamental structure, including the architecture and hierarchy of the content that will be displayed. They answer the following questions:

  • What are the elements on the page?
  • Why are they there?
  • Where are they located?
  • How do they work?

The designer presents wireframes at scheduled demo meetings to confirm they’re moving in the right direction. The main benefit of wireframes is that those viewing them focus on functionality rather than aesthetics. The lack of visual design allows people not to be distracted by an unnecessary level of detail and make quick changes. It means the designer can prioritize tasks through the workflow and be productive at every stage of the design process.

what does a ui ux designer do when creating wireframe

Prototyping

The next step in design development is to make a clickable prototype based on the wireframes. A clickable prototype is still a grayscale product, but it’s interactive. This means users can press buttons, scroll pages, move from screen to screen, and perform other actions that are not possible in a static wireframe. A clickable prototype is usually less detailed than the final product. It may be missing some elements and lack color. However, it shows essential functionality and provides insights into users’ interactions with the product. Designers present the prototype to stakeholders, developers, and end-users. After studying it, they give designers feedback for possible changes and improvements.

UX prototype

UI design

When creating a product’s visual design, the biggest challenge is adhering to the brand identity. Whether the product’s style is trendy, boring, futuristic, or something else, the UI/UX designer can consider their work to be of high quality if the chosen style awakens the right emotions in users. It’s also vital to distinguish your product from competitors’. Understanding the brand and offering the right colors may not be enough if your product looks similar to others. A UI/UX designer needs to find fresh solutions that harmoniously fit the app idea and distinguish your solution.

At this step, the UI/UX designer visually organizes the contents of each screen in the most convenient way. They also create a stylized and responsive design of screens with all necessary states and scenarios previously implemented in wireframes. The designer evaluates if all interactive elements are easy to scan, if visible elements appear at the right time, and if users feel comfortable reading the page and absorbing information. Also, the UI/UX designer takes care of elements’ behaviors and states.

During the UI design stage at RubyGarage, our designers follow the Atomic Design methodology. It helps them create interfaces from small to large and think out each component in detail. Using design components, the designer can create mockups in the future. Such an approach helps the designer maintain consistency throughout the project, quickly change interface elements, and scale them on demand.

At the final stage, the UI designer creates a UI kit and style guide for developers. By adhering to them, the team speeds up development and stays on the same page throughout the project.

Usability testing

Usability testing helps the team evaluate the effectiveness of software design. Initially, it’s carried out by the development team members themselves. But the most relevant results come from real users who interact with the product for some time and then share their impressions. As part of usability testing, designers use various techniques to collect and analyze data. Usability testing methods are divided into:

  • moderated and unmoderated
  • remote and in-person
  • explorative, assessing, and comparative

The designer selects the most appropriate method based on the project’s size and nature. Also, a designer can't adjust the testing progress during the implementation of the progress.

what does a ux ui designer do|usability testing methods

UI/UX designers’ areas of responsibility

The main responsibility of a UI/UX designer is to create a positive user experience and brand-related visuals. A designer accompanies the project from start to finish, actively participating in the product’s planning, implementation, and support. During design development, a UI/UX designer interacts with other team members, communicates with stakeholders, and monitors results. Here is a list of what a UI/UX designer does on a project:

  • Cooperates daily with stakeholders and team members 
  • Conducts in-depth user research by communicating with users and studying their behavior patterns
  • Creates wireframes and prototypes for responsive web and mobile apps
  • Develops UI design concepts to reflect the brand identity
  • Makes independent design decisions and justifies them
  • Ensures the quality of interfaces implemented by developers
  • Reviews the work of other designers and gives feedback
  • Conducts usability testing and gathers feedback

Development teams often use a RACI matrix to set areas of responsibility. This handy tool shows what the UI/UX designer is responsible for and is not responsible for in the current workflow. A RACI matrix is usually created for every stage of the project’s implementation: planning, development, release, support, etc. At each of these stages, the designer’s activities are distributed among four groups: responsible, accountable, consulted, and informed.

Responsible: a person who does work.

Accountable: a person who approves or denies decisions.

Consulted: a person who needs to express an opinion about decisions being made.

Informed: a person who needs to know about the decisions being made.

UI/UX designer hard and soft skills

The UI/UX designer plays a key role in creating a quality product that keeps pace with users’ needs and business goals. A skilled UI/UX designer knows the best design techniques, understands how to use advanced tools, and has a creative mind to offer non-standard solutions. Therefore, when hiring a UI/UX designer, you need to pay attention to hard and soft skills and consider hands-on experience. Below is an example of a profile of a good designer. You can use it as a guideline when selecting candidates for your project.

what does a ui ux designer do

Conclusion

A UI/UX designer solves two types of tasks: functional and aesthetic. The former shapes the user’s journey and experience; the latter creates a visual concept that follows the brand’s intentions. A well-made design is already half the battle. It sets the tone for a successful product launch through understanding clients’ and users’ needs. A professional designer translates the client’s idea into a high-quality product. Their role on the project is invaluable, and their contribution is enormous.

CONTENTS

Authors:

Maryna Ch.

Maryna Ch.

Copywriter

Ivan M.

Ivan M.

UI/UX Designer

Rate this article!

Nay
So-so
Not bad
Good
Wow
6 rating, average 4.83 out of 5

Share article with

Comments (0)

There are no comments yet

Leave a comment

Subscribe via email and know it all first!