What I Learned From My First Commercial Project As A UI/UX Designer |
Posted: April 30, 2024 |
UI/UX Design is a field that I just knew around mid 2019. At that time I was just an ordinary staff member in a private company who wanted to jump to another career. I searched for any topic that is related to a career as a UI UX Design services , then I found a lot of helpful videos and articles that made me want to go into this design world. Two months before the end of 2019, I resigned from my office and took a course in the UX Design program. Yes it only had “UX” in the title of the program, but I also learned the UI side of the story. I learned a lot at that course, both from the lecturer and some new friends there. I also got many insightful contents on the internet. But the experience that I got in the real project is another thing that I can only get in the real project itself. My first real project was initiated at the end of February 2020. There was my client as the Stakeholder, a Developer who built the program, and me as the only UI/UX Designer in that team. I was fully responsible for all design aspects, from the research to the prototype. Then I began the design process with the first step in Design Thinking as we already know: empathize. By letting my client intervene in the design process, while I know that he is a non-designer, I believe that I did not sacrifice the design. I only sacrificed my ego. Empathy and Ego In Design Thinking, designers start the process through empathizing as the first step. Designers empathize with clients to know what they need and to solve the problem they face. Designers try to understand the underlying objectives in the project. Then I realize, if we define “empathize” as an effort to understand the problem, I also need to empathize with myself as a Designer before I empathize with my client, or do both simultaneously. Perhaps it sounds odd, but I think it is necessary to understand the problem I have. Especially when the problem is related to my professionality as a designer. A question that sometimes emerged in my mind: how could I solve my client’s problem if I became the problem itself? Well, what does it mean by “became the problem”? I could be a problem, if I did not communicate nicely to the developer or give him a prototype that is almost impossible to be made. I become the problem when I put my ego over what the client really needs. I need to make a boundary between when I could be a visual lover and when I should be a problem solver. I told myself that “I design an application to solve my client’s problem, not to make a portfolio”. This is what I always emphasize in my mind. I know that I can use the design as a portfolio and I already cited the design usage for my portfolio in the contract. But what I mean is that as a designer, I have to prioritize what the client wants first. The interface could not be as good as I expected because of what the client required. But the goal of creating an application is to solve the problem and reach the client’s expectations, not to fulfill my ego by forcing my subjectivity as a designer. Notably when my position is a beginner who is trying to make a beautiful portfolio.
By letting my client intervene in the design process, while I know that he is a non-designer, I believe that I did not sacrifice the design. I only sacrificed my ego. Sometimes I think about changing and reshaping the way I see a term called “beautiful” that is related to design. What is a beautiful design? Is it wrong for a client to ask the designer to prioritize the UX aspect over the interface? I was a photographer and I had a hobby in making photo manipulation. I love architecture and seeing beautiful buildings. I also love to enjoy great cinematography. In sum, I love many things that are visually magnificent. I am not a person who will easily sacrifice the beautifulness of a visual. But on the other side, all those biases and personal subjectivities are no longer relevant when I have to solve my client’s problem. I need to make a boundary between when I could be a visual lover and when I should be a problem solver. Of course I can be both at the same time, but oftentimes, circumstances forced me to prioritize the second one. Yes it is easier to say it than to do it. In fact, I once forced my client to not use his idea. Fortunately, I realized immediately that what I just did was probably wrong. Then I tried to be more cooperative and to understand more about what my client’s needs. I am not trying to be apologetic to my client. I also conveyed my objections to his other requests and ideas, but he was fine with it. I understand that not every application is okay to have a not-so-good interface. In my case, where the application is used for internal activity in the company, I just need validation from my client and the employees as the users. After finishing the design process and usability testing, I found that no one complained about the interface. They all focused on the features and contents. We all know that in making a product, UI and UX aspects are equally important. A great product is a result of combining a beautiful interface with a good flow as the underlying system. But in this case, my client prefered to prioritize the second one without overlooking how the application will look like. After that I realized, it was a right decision to not prioritize the interface even though it is still important. If I pushed my ego in designing the interface, I only wasted my time for something that is not essential for my client and the users. Or even worse, the relationship with my client could be worse. No matter how good a designer could be, imperfection is an inevitable thing. The Imperfection How I design this application is the same with the common design process that exists. I started the project by having a meeting with my client. Talked about the objectives of this project, then decided the features and contents for the application. After that, I made the information architecture and the flow of the application. Given that the application I designed is for internal usage in a private company and it is related to confidential data, I cannot explain the details. I got permission from my client to upload the design after I gave him a confidential report that was filled with a checklist about contents and design elements that cannot be shown in public. Fortunately 90% of the complete design is not listed as confidential.
But I always think that the design I created is far from great and there are so many improvements that I should do. I do not know if it is just related to my perfectionist-side that often emerges or it is the application which was not designed well enough, although my client likes the application and it has already been built by the developer. I am also aware of my position as a beginner in this UI UX design services . Therefore I will not expect myself to build a sophisticated product, although I will push myself to always learn and improve my skill. Then one day I watched John Maeda’s interview. In a part of that interview, he talked about how designers should embrace imperfection. What he said opened my mind about imperfection. No matter how good a designer could be, imperfection is an inevitable thing. There is always a shortcoming that can be improved in the applications we make. That is why there is Iteration in Design Thinking. In the end I know that there are a lot of things which I could learn from this project and I should learn continuously irrespective of this project, both soft skill and hard skill. It is also important to realize that designers solve the problem by making a relevant product, not a perfect product. Because the perfect one does not exist.
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