Why is design drafting like building a house?
Imagine you are building a house. To ensure that the final product doesn't collapse on you and that you live comfortably in it, it's necessary to follow a certain sequence of tasks during construction. The same applies to creating a new website.
UX design as a rough construction
First comes UX design. In construction terminology, you can think of it as rough construction. It tells us how big the house will be, how many rooms it will have, how the rooms will be arranged, or where the hallways will lead.
The architect bases the design on information about who will live in the house, how they will use it, or why they want to build it at all. We can probably agree that the character of the house will be different if a family of five with two dogs moves in, or if a retired couple buys it.
Both houses may have the same number of rooms, yet they will likely be quite different. In the first case, a large portion of the space will be taken up by children's rooms and a generous living room that accommodates the whole family, while in the second case, the stars of the project will be two bedrooms for greater comfort, a spacious pantry behind the kitchen, and perhaps even a smaller workshop.
It's the same with websites. You can have two comparably robust websites, but they will end up being different. Why? Each will target a different type of user and have different goals. One focuses on selling children's clothing to mothers on maternity leave, while the other aims to gather inquiries from IT directors of companies.
Therefore, the UX designer asks the same questions as the architect. They are interested in why the website is being created, what plans the client has for it (does the client want to sell children's clothing worth a million crowns every month, or obtain a hundred inquiries from the form?), who will use the website, and what needs these people have. Once they gather enough information, they begin to design the structure of the website (just as the architect starts working on the floor plan).
What does the designer think about during this process? That visitors can easily navigate the website, always find what they are looking for (you wouldn’t search for a bathtub in the kitchen, that’s common sense) and do everything you want them to do (order a product, send an inquiry, or perhaps subscribe to a newsletter).
If the website is designed so that visitors feel good on it, generates conversions, and meets set goals, then you have succeeded. You have a website that is a pleasure to use (and a house that is comfortable to live in). Or is that not entirely true?
