To implement UX design thinking, you’ll need more than a room of designers, stakeholders, and users discussing improvements and ideas. Each step in the design thinking process is grounded in research, design, and development, and because of that, we recommend a handful of helpful tools.
Centiment, Survey Monkey, Typeform, Zoom Cloud Recording, Otter.ai Transcription
Empathize
When it comes to understanding your users better, we like implementing a multi-faceted approach, conducting IDIs (in-depth interviews), focus groups, contextual inquiries, and surveys. Video conferencing tools like Zoom Cloud Recording and transcript tools like Otter.ai help ensure we can go back into the interview or focus group conversation and analyze deeper (or include more researchers who weren’t present). Importantly, outside of tooling, assigning a notetaker to each session allows us to capture key details and quickly review them instead of reading through an entire transcript. When resources don’t allow for individual interviews and focus groups or we’re looking at larger audiences capturing feedback and sentiment via survey tools allows us to carefully craft our user research questions and collect user data via Likert Scale questionnaires.
Lookback.io, Maze, Userttesting.com, OptimalWorkshop (Chalkmark)
Empathize, Define
These user testing tools allow participants to click through prototypes so we can see the path and experience they’re taking when using a product, bringing them one step closer to the actual experience. They offer screen recording to watch users’ movements, clicks, etc., and audio recording, which is helpful when making prompts for the user and gathering their feedback after completing a task.
Figjam, Miro
Empathize, Define, Ideate
Utilizing the whiteboarding features of these tools allows you to conduct research engagements like affinity mapping, gamification of research, sailboat exercises, etc. From there, you can synthesize findings, define areas of improvement, and ideate solutions (even mapping out the next steps). Our team relies on these tools heavily when synthesizing and organizing findings into categories and uncovering trends that will inform our design decisions.
Figma
Ideate, Prototype
This powerful collaborative design tool allows designers to collaborate on design ideation and production in one place. Its capabilities enable designers to create shareable assets and styles that are accessible to the whole team. Our designers work through ideation, design, and prototyping all in one place.
Storybook
Prototype, Test, Implement
A favorite of the Think team, this tool allows designers and developers to collaborate in real time. An open-source tool for building UI components and prototypes—Storybook makes it easy for developers to modularize full sites based on Figma designs allowing users to experience a clickable prototype and streamlining the build process from prototype and testing to implementation.
HotJar, UserTesting
Test
These tools allow you to collect data about how a user moves through your product/site. Heatmaps show where they’re clicking, spending more time, not reaching, etc., on a page. They allow for the creation and implementation of intercept surveys or questionnaires that can appear in the live environment enabling you to meet the user where they are and capture real-time feedback. These testing tools are an effective way to learn from users because insights are captured while users are engaging in the actual experience. This data can help ensure the changes that were made are improving the user’s experience and working in the way they were designed to.