Sometimes things just aren’t coming together for a design team, and iit can be difficult to figure out why because the team members are too close to the situation. That’s when companies often call in a UX Consultant. Consultants have the experience, training, and creativity to identify issues and offer solutions and often save a company.
What Is UX Design?
To understand what a UX Consultant does, you need to understand what a UX Designer does. UX design stands for user experience design.UX designers do a variety of tasks depending upon the situation. UX designers need to find out what users what, then create a design that meets the needs of the users and the business or client the designer is working for. Designers create personas of users and mockups of products or websites. They analyze data they have collected, and they also give presentations and workshops to other members of the design team and to clients. Finally, designers test the product or website to see if it works the way it was expected to, and the process begins again. Designers are always looking to create the best user experience possible.
The UX Design Process
The UX design process is based on the questions why, how, and what. The process starts with research to discover why the user experience is what it is. The goal of this phase is to understand what the user wants from the experience. The designer conducts surveys and interviews to discover the motivation and goals of users.
The definition phase involves using the data collected along with analytics to create a detailed description of the user experience. This phase involves creating user personas, flowcharts, and mapping to uncover patterns and trends.
Once the patterns emerge, design enters the third phase in which team members generate ideas about how to solve problems and improve the experience. A rough sketch of the product is developed, and from that come wireframes and prototypes.
The next phase is testing the product or website to see the user experience is what was expected. Depending upon the test results, there may be a redesign phase to improve the experience further.
What Is a UX Consultant?
A UX Consultant is a professional who has significant experience in UX Design. This gives the Consultant the ability to step back from the product and take in the big picture, from the way the team works together to the entire company ecosystem. The Consultant focuses on the business aspects of the project and how that may be causing problems for design.
The most common problems for businesses in the areas of design are focussing on the product rather than the users, a cumbersome design process, and difficulties leveraging digital technology. A Consultant can observe how the team works, how the business supports the design process, and what kind of environment the culture of the organization creates. The Consultant can also interview members of the design team and other relevant employees and then make recommendations for changes according to their research.
What Does a UX Consultant Do?
A UX Consultant is good at spotting the problems in product design and tracing them back to issues with the business. For example, a company may be relying on a clunky, outdated, linear design process. The Consultant will recognize this and recommend a more agile, iterative method. Or perhaps the team is too enamored of their own ideas and not focussing on the users’ pain points and journey. The Consultant may recommend more user research to collect data to drive design decisions. Often, a Consultant is brought in as part of the team to represent the business view of the design. It all depends upon the situation.
How to Become a UX Consultant
If you think you might like to pursue the UX Consultant career path, there are two common ways to get there: freelancing and joining a consulting firm. Both assume you will have several years of design experience beforehand.
Freelance Consulting
If you happen to have experience as a freelance UX Designer, you will be further ahead on the road to becoming a UX Consultant. You will already have the entrepreneurial mindset necessary to find clients, follow leads, manage your time, and run a business. You will already have a list of clients to market to, although the focus of a Consultant is different from what they were used to with a Designer.
Joining a Consulting Firm
There are many companies that offer consulting services for which they hire experienced Designers. This can mean a more consistent and steady workload than freelancing, although you will probably not earn as much as someone in private practice. One way to work into becoming a Consultant is to start part-time. Offer to do a few jobs at a reduced rate to get used to this new way of thinking.
Where to Learn UX Design
Before you can start consulting, you need to become a UX Designer. If you would like to learn more about UX design in order to switch to a new career, one of the best ways to do that is to sign up for classes. You can choose classes that meet in-person or online to learn design software and other applications. Some people prefer to attend brick-and-mortar sessions when learning new information, but that isn’t always available. Live online classes have a similar set-up with a real-time, remote instructor who can answer questions and take control of your monitor—with permission—to show you how to do things. Training is part or full-time and available weekdays, weeknights, or weekends.
The best way to prepare for a career shift to a field like UX design is to enroll in a bootcamp or certificate program. These are intensive training courses that run from a few weeks to a few months and another plus of training is that you will leave class with a professional-quality portfolio that you can show to prospective employers.
It’s easy to learn UX design and start a new career. Check out Noble Desktop’s UX design classes. Choose between in-person sessions in NYC at Noble’s location or sign up for live online UX design courses and attend from anywhere. Use Noble Desktop’s Classes Near Me to find other UX design bootcamps in your area.