Visual Research
Conceptualizing your design is a difficult, yet rewarding process. In order to figure out what elements you want to be included, visual research must be conducted. This is basically when you observe different ideas that have already been created and compile the ones that pertain to your design’s overall image. This can help visualize what you truly desire for your official design, or at least help you figure out potential options. Once this has been completed, color palettes and fonts should naturally be selected. Depending on what your design’s subject is, the types of colors and fonts should also be specific. Since my partner and I are designing Dare, an anxiety app, we chose cool tones and pastel colors rather than aggressive tones like reds. The actual app itself focuses on purple tones with a white background, but this didn’t seem like a complete and refined color palette. We want to make the user feel good when using our app, so the redesign should reflect this.
“For us— creative creatures inspiration is like fuel to our brains, so that’s why you need to stay inspired on daily basis in order to become more productive. You need to train your eye for good design every single day” (Tomczyk). One of the easiest things we can do as designers is observation. There’s always a change in our industry because of the constant evolution of technology. We have to take this into consideration while designing because this means that users are also changing in terms of their needs and desires. Getting familiar with this aspect is vital in realizing what our capabilities are as designers.
After the ideas have been figured out, it’s time to begin the actual designing part. UX design can be done in a few different ways, but it’s recommended to design in black and white first. “Start with the harder problem of making the app beautiful and usable in every way, but without the aid of color. Add color last, and even then, only with purpose. This is a reliable and easy way to keep apps looking ‘clean’ and ‘simple’. Having too many colors in too many places is a really easy way to screw up clean/simple. B&WF forces you to focus on things like spacing, sizes, and layout first. And those are the primary concerns of a clean and simple design” (Murphy). As Murphy states, designing in black and white can diminish any distractions. This can help the designer create a flawless layout that the user can easily navigate through. For me, I approach the design in a minimalistic way so there isn’t too much on each screen.
Visual research is an important step in the UX/UI design process because this can help conceptualize and visualize what you truly want for your design. Although tedious, it can also be fun because you’re exploring your creative outlet and figuring out potentially successful ideas. My partner and I are excited to see what Dare ends up looking like by the end of this process!