Start your next UX project with this checklist and don't forget anything!
See how others solve similar problems and try to not reinvent the wheel.
Do you have all the useful data you need? Try to have a look at funnels, clicks, page views, performance...
Always speak with the Customer Care team! Don't have one? Check your old surveys or videos. What do your customers say? What do they actually do?
Have you done personas yet? If not, DO IT NOW. Ok, now use them to write down user stories and scenarios.
Create your user's flow based on the scenarios you created; you can use it later to review the journey and create wireframes on top of each step.
Define red routes for your product and you’ll be able to identify, prioritise and eliminate any usability obstacles on key user journeys.
Find a war room, fill it with markers and drinks, get together and sketch, discuss, vote, disrupt, have fun!
Add some details and structure to your ideas, reuse patterns and create pages on top of your user flows so you'll not leave anything behind.
You can start creating paper prototypes and continuously iterate to more functional ones. Use sketches, HTML pages or static images, then just get some people and test.
Understand your users, your data structure and your channels. How can you organise your navigation and content in a clear and consistent way?
Follow your brand personality, keep in mind users' culture and language, the context of your product and make sure they understand you.
You don’t need to add extra functionality or to duplicate any content. The key is simply to assess the requirements of those with different skills and limited devices.
Reuse elements and patterns, follow your style guidelines. Don't have one? Create your guidelines. Start small, then create pages.
So you have a swipe slider? Tell me more about pinch, drag, zoom, rotate, shake, six-inch smartphones, left-handed people, mouseover, kinect, motion detection...
Can I see it on my mobile? Oh wait, what about my smart-watch which works as a remote for my 50" TV? Bonus: remember cross device experience.
If your users have to wait ages for the page to load, at least show them a loader, if it takes longer why don't you try something more entertaining?
Be clear and specific about what and where a user's error is. I mean your error, because if it's your fault you should say it.
Give immediate and clear feedback of successful actions. Do not always wait for server response, trust your server once in a while!
It's time to let your design shine, make it in the right way, don't stop with the first solution, always ask "Is this the best I can do?"
Use of icons and images is strongly influenced by context, culture and layout. Like icons, test your images, small changes can bring huge improvements.
Use colours and font sizes properly, try to follow your guidelines and keep it simple. The best visual hierarchies lead users to take the action confidently.
Every word is important, and a bit of personality will help your brand.
Trigger, rules, feedback, loop. Details make the product. Bonus: Ever heard about easter eggs?
Motion shouldn't be only beautiful, it should build meaning about the spatial relationships, functionality, and intention of the system.
What you want to achieve? What are your goals? Write down how you define success and failure and check if you have everything you need to collect the data.
Plan your A/B test ahead and, if you can, plan a short roadmap of improvements. Your goal is not just improving KPIs, but learning something.
UX lab, survey, sessions recording... Test, observe, and fix...test, observe, and fix...