UX Strategy vs UX Design
With each passing day, users’ expectations of UX designers are growing. As a result, there is an urgent need to establish a UX strategy with a defined goal, a rational path, and necessary guidelines. What does a UX strategy consist of? How does a UX strategy differ from UX design? You will read about this in this post!
What is a UX strategy?
A UX strategy is a plan that determines how the UX team intends to enhance and personalize the user experience to provide a satisfying experience that aligns with the overall assumptions and goals of the company.
Good UX requires a strategy — it is the one that paves the path to success. It is an action plan, an analysis of the external and internal landscape. Sometimes it also involves the reorganization of the entire organization, changing its structure and processes — both manufacturing and communication and thinking processes.
What is UX design?
UX design is the process of designing solutions for specific user problems. These solutions can take the form of products, such as websites, mobile applications, smartphones, or services, such as banking or healthcare.
But UX design is not just about creating solutions. It also ensures that the entire user experience with a given product or service is and will be positive. Remember, UX stands for user experience, and that is why it is important to consider all factors (or touchpoints) that influence the overall experience in the design process.
Let’s take a step back and focus on the most important aspect, which is the goal. What exactly is it? The primary goal of UX is to meet user needs, but it is also necessary to balance them with business needs. The product or service you want to create should contribute to achieving your business goals and evolve in a way that aligns with your brand.
This is where the UX strategy I mentioned earlier comes into play. It encompasses business goals and end-user needs to guide the work of the UX team towards fulfilling both.
Why do you need a UX strategy?
A UX strategy benefits everyone: the end-user, the UX team, and the company. Without it, you are essentially traveling without a destination, not knowing where you are heading, how you will get there, or whether you are making progress.
Create your own UX strategy
Do you know what the most common mistake in design is? Unfortunately, many companies design products that focus more on company profits and stakeholder needs rather than the actual user expectations. Remember that you will achieve high results and revenue only when your product meets and fulfills user needs. That is why putting the user at the forefront of your strategy will ultimately bring benefits in terms of return on investment.
What should a UX strategy consist of?
Components of a UX strategy include:
- Essential user data,
- Current and future needs of your users,
- The value of your brand among users,
- A plan for ongoing user research.
If you understand your users’ needs well, you will be able to align your business goals with their requirements.
Characteristics of a UX strategy
- Long-term horizon in terms of task execution and the appearance of their effects,
- A framework for making multiple decisions of a specific type over time (they must support each other),
- Consistent arrangement,
- Ubiquity — the strategy encompasses a wide range of activities,
- Evaluation through indicators,
- Consideration of competitor resources.
Summary, or what you need to remember
A UX strategy is a plan that determines the approach, while design is the process of creation. Therefore, it is important never to confuse UX design with UX strategy. UX strategy is also different from product strategy — it is a much broader concept focused on building positive experiences in relation to the entire brand, service, and all its products. It is also not directly related to branding strategy, as the latter mainly defines the way, place, and time of brand communication.
