In a world where online forums and social networks are flooded with methodologies and frameworks it’s important to understand that, at least on what concerns to UX, there isn’t a perfect process that can be applied to every person and project. On the contrary, you should be aware of your project’s needs and think about how well a UX framework (or other) may fit. In the specific case of working as a solo UX Designer, I’ve encountered many opportunities but also many challenges. Here, I point out 8 points that make sense to me in order to keep my day to day process simpler.

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Table of Contents:

1. Choose the best framework for your project;

2. Create and document your own design sprint;

3. UX Research is key!

4. Have regular meetings with your client/team;

5. Try to be part of the main ceremonies, if your team follows an Agile methodology;

6. Embrace the fails and iterate more;

7. Be clear about your own needs;

8. Stay Updated Through Webinars and Events.

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1. Choose the best framework for your project

I believe it’s important to follow a structured approach while working as a solo UX Designer. It’s almost certain that you have already heard about Design Thinking, User Centered Design and so much more. There are tons of UX approaches and you will probably lean towards what you see people using the most. But you should discuss possibilities and really think of what makes sense in regards to your product and current scope. You may find yourself learning about a new approach you’ve never heard of before and finding it fits perfectly within your teams’ dynamics. In the end, the most important thing is that you have a structure for your day, that you’re keeping track of your and your teammates’ work and that you pay attention to if you’re going through the most important topics - even if the names are different from approach to approach: understanding by researching and clear communication, ideating, defining, prototyping and testing what was done. While it is important to work towards a final product keeping business and budget goals in mind, the approach you’ll follow for a design process will always focus on the user first.

2. Create and document your own design sprint

Although sometimes a UX designer is included in the main project sprints and has tickets assigned to them in the board (as in Agile/Scrum) side by side with the developers, there is a small chance that your client thinks you don’t need to be included in this process. If that’s the case, you might have wondered how to organize your day to day work, how to keep track of your accomplishments and also the next steps. A Design Sprint may be the solution for you, as it will organize your path by dividing your tasks by several phases. Design sprints are usually run for 5 days, but I am not extreme here and I don’t think we should follow everything by the book: I believe one can adjust the design sprint to fit everyone’s needs, timeframes and budget. Even though design sprints are most common within a team of several people, you can also run the sprint alone in order to have your days well structured. The important thing is that you can clearly go through every step of the sprint, so that you go from understanding what to solve to defining how to solve it and reaching to a final prototype that’s testable, leading to new insights that can be used for the next steps.

Photo by “Theme Photos” (Unsplash)

3. UX Research is key!

If you think UX research happens one time at the beginning of the product lifecycle and it’s done, you’re wrong! UX research keeps happening in the beginning of every iteration (and in the end too). As a UX Designer, you’ve probably heard several times that you need to have empathy. While this is true — because it’s empathy that will open the way of understanding the users, the client, the stakeholders and the project in general - you will also need to be pragmatic and, sometimes, analytical. If you don’t have a way of speaking to users in the beginning of every design iteration, you will at least and almost certainly gather existing information. This can be information from past KPIs, from books, from online sources and so much more. Anything that can be useful for you to comprehend the users and the main goals but it’s not actually done by you will fit in a secondary research approach. This is very important and, in addition to your primary research, will be key to complete a successful sprint. Primary research is the research you’ve done yourself, either if doing sources check yourself, conducting interviews, creating inquiries or even speaking to field experts. This last one if very important if you want to be sure of who your end users are and what may be some of their pain points, necessities, thoughts and motivations, but also to learn more about your product and product’s sector. I know you want to jump right away into the designing phase…but this is so important!

Photo by David Travis (Unsplash)

4. Have regular meetings with your client/team

One of the things that have been helping me the most is to have a regular scheduled Design Review meeting. Design Reviews are often included in the Agile architecture but you can have them either way even if you’re not included in all meetings, such as dailies, refinements and so on. It’s important to align with your client so that you understand not only the overall goals but also the current priorities and what stages of the development is the team going through. It’s also great to have periodic feedback about your design process, so that you know whether you are ready to move on or if you will need to iterate on something again.

5. Try to be part of the main ceremonies, if your team follows an Agile methodology

Even if you’re not attending every meeting — because, let’s be honest, some meetings are just stealing us time — you can suggest the team to invite you to the main ceremonies. This means it can be extremely useful to be part of the Sprint Plannings, in order to keep track of the main sprint challenges and goals, as well as it can be of extreme importance to participate in retrospectives. Retrospectives are a great way of discussing about what went well or not, so in case you’re included you will also have the opportunity of showing your voice and listen to others’ feedback in a proper way.

Photo by Sebastien Bonneval (Unsplash)

6. Embrace the fails and iterate more

Getting to a design that doesn’t work is part of the process. No one will ever have the right and perfect solution the first time they iterate through a design. If you’re going through your own design sprint, you will have to iterate multiple times and test your prototypes repeatedly, until you get to one that really matches your users’ needs and can be viable for release. If your product was already launched, chances are that you will still need to iterate, as you may conduct post-launch research to gather metrics and understand if your users are satisfied with the product.

7. Be clear about your own needs

As a solo designer, you may suffer a bit with tight deadlines and high expectations that don’t match with the time you have available. If you think you’re short on time, try to understand if you’re putting too much effort and trying to tackle too many topics on each design sprint phase. Readjust accordingly and always communicate with your clients to establish clear needs, goals and deadlines, so both parties can run a successful roadmap, smoothly and effectively.

8. Stay Updated Through Webinars and Events

The design world evolves rapidly — now even more with AI —, and staying informed about new tools, technologies, and industry trends is crucial. Attending webinars, online workshops, and industry conferences (there are plenty of them that are free) not only keeps you updated but also helps expand your network. These events are excellent opportunities to learn from experts, share insights, and connect with others!

“Team Work” by ManyPixels

I would like to point out that these topics are my ideas of what can work better, but they are nothing apart from that: my ideas, coming from my own experience over the years. You will probably think differently and have different insights. I would love to hear your opinions on this and your own suggestions on how you’ve improved/would like to improve/envision a design process as a solo UX Designer 😊