How To Define UI and UX Design Problems In Your App & Avoid Unplanned Changes?

by Chris E. Business Brand Executive

The sole aim of your UI/UX design of an app should be solving the problems faced by the end users and provide them with a hassle-free experience. The real challenge is how to identify and define these hurdles. By following an appropriate process to figure out any problems in design you can provide your target audience with a satisfying and pleasurable experience. They will love to use your app and will definitely invest money in your products or services.

What Are The Two Stages Of Identifying The Problem?

· Empathize With Your End Users: You have to empathize with your end users in order to understand their difficulties. Put yourself in your customers' shoes and analyze all the relevant problems your users can face while browsing and navigating your application. List down all the user cases and note down all the possible issues that users can face, which will be evaluated in the second stage.

· Define The Problem Statement: After analyzing all the possible difficulties faced by your end users now it is the time to define the exact problem. Based on the collated data in the first stage you have to define the precise problem statement. For example, you have a food delivery app. In the empathize stage you realized that users are facing problems in making online payments because there is no proper coordination between your app and the payment gateway. Based on the given insight you can define the problem as, "The app's feature of online payments is not user-friendly." You might have to go back and forth to these two stages in order to get a precise problem statement.

How To Reach The Final Problem Statement?

These two stages can help you in identifying possible difficulties in the user experience design of your app. But in order to find out the precise problem statement, it is essential to work with a dedicated team. Each member of your design team can have their individual analysis and synthesis. You should collate all the data and put it in one place. Before reaching the final problem statement you have to develop several possible difficulties and their respective prototype solutions. Test them in the market before you can come to a problem statement to really hone in on the issue.

What Are The Components Of A Good Problem Statement?

A problem statement guides you how to deliver a useful and improved product. For this reason, it is important to keep your problem statement clear and action-oriented. If we take the example of the above mentioned payment issue, then a good problem statement could be, "Create a simpler UI to facilitate smooth online payments for the users." A good problem statement should have the following components:

1. It should be based upon the issues related to the end users. The sole aim to define a hurdle in the app's UI/UX design is to solve a problem for the target audience.

2. An ideal problem statement should not be too broad or too narrow. It should have a clear and concise description of the issues that need to be addressed by your design team.

How Your Problem Statement Lets You Explore the "Why"?

In the empathize stage you gather data on your end user behaviour. This information helps you in formulating a lot of "why" questions which are mandatory to get to the problem-solving stage. For instance, in the above-mentioned problem statement related to problematic online payments let us answer why the app is not letting users make online payments smoothly. These "why" questions allow you to find their respective solutions in the form of "how" statements. In the case of the given problem, you can figure out how you can make your app's UI/UX design simpler in order to facilitate easy online payments.

If you will follow this proper process of identifying and defining the problems in user experience design of your app you will be able to save a lot of your money and effort. This lets you design your app in a better way which is capable to meet all your clients' specific requirements and solves all their issues. It makes the project less time-consuming and less expensive. If you are looking to develop an influential UI/UX design for your next app, then you should contact an experienced UI/UX design agency which will help you identify and define the prospective design problems. Here is a list of top mobile app development companies in San Francisco, who has a great experience in Mobile UX design.