As a UX designer my role involves developing products, whether it's an app or a website. The Product Development Lifecycle is the process I use to take a product from an idea to reality. Every task I carried out during this project is linked to one of the stages of The Product Development Lifecycle. There are five stages to The Product Development Lifecycle: brainstorm, define, design, test, and launch.

Brainstorm:

I utilize the first stage as an active discovery phase, my goal is to generate ideas about the user and the potential needs or challenges the user might have. During the brainstorm stage, I generate ideas to solve a problem, understand the user I am designing for, and identify the needs or challenges the user might experience. Research plays a key role in this first stage because I am exploring different ways to get to know the user I am designing for. I apply my UX research and writing skills often and I am deeply involved in this stage, where I might conduct interviews with potential users or conduct other research.

Define:

In the define stage I use the insights from the brainstorm stage and start to narrow the focus. During the define stage, I determine concrete ways that the product being developed will impact the user. I begin to think more about specific details related to the product, who the product is for, what the product will do, and what features need to be included for the product to be successful. Outlining the goals or defining any problems I want to answer with the product design is the focus in the define stage.

Design:

In the design stage, I begin to actively develop ideas, and I also check that all specifications from the define stage are realistic. The first two stages are more about preparation and planning. They give me a clear understanding of who the user is, what the user wants, and which problems or challenges I want to address in the design. Using the insights from the first two stages, I generate designs that keep the user top of mind. I create many different assets, including storyboards, which are sketches that help explore the user's experience, wireframes, which provide outlines of the content layout, and prototypes, which are models that allow me to test the functionality of a design.

Test:

In the test stage, I evaluated the product design based on feedback from potential users. Testing designs with users is really important because it helps me focus on the user first and foremost and the designs second. Testing helps identify areas to refine or improve the designs. It also helps me consider the interactivity of the design. When working for a company this is a stage that involves lots of interaction between UX designers and front-end engineers as they figure out ways to create an end product that satisfies users' needs and is practical and functional. They discuss things like how the color or font can fit the company's brand or whether the prototype designs are easily understandable.

Launch:

Finally, the last stage of the product development lifecycle is launch, which is sharing a finished version of the product with the public. This might involve me listing an app in the Google Play Store or Apple's App Store, making a website go live, or putting a physical product on store shelves. Launching can be very satisfying because I have the chance to understand how the designs will be received in the real world. However, the work on a product isn't quite finished after launch. I may still identify opportunities to improve on the designs or learn even more about the user experience based on feedback. This could involve going back to the design or testing stages and figuring out ways to produce a more enhanced version of the product.

Usability