How do we create software solutions that fit like a glove? By focusing on business needs and the user experience.

User experience (UX) design is much more is much more than just “beautification”; where optimising processes and user-friendliness significantly improve the way software works for users. Close collaboration between all stakeholders and factoring in users at the design stage are key when it comes to creating a good user experience.

How?

At Ergon, we use what we call a “collaborative UX design process” for our projects, which involves working up the best solution for the user over three phases. These three stages; understanding, investigation and implementation, are negotiated with the client, the development team, the UX specialists and the testing department, as part of a collaborative process.

 

Collaborative UX design process

Understand the business, understand the users

We take a step back and listen to customers and stakeholders, analysing their business environment, challenges and target groups, and canvassing their ideas. This ensures the project is headed in the right direction.

We observe and interview users to identify their needs and get a handle on what makes them tick. We formulate testable hypotheses that will serve as yardsticks for the solution.

Concept design, prototyping, validation

Here, we work up design concepts for functions and content before incorporating these into a prototype. Feedback on the prototype from users and stakeholders can be used to refine the individual designs. This way, we can be sure we are building the very best solution.

Visual design

To us, design means aesthetics, structure and usability that is always pragmatic, prize-winning and precisely calibrated to suit the users’ requirements.

Our toolkit

Lean and collaborative

We take our cue from an approach known as “Lean UX”. In short, we believe an interdisciplinary and iterative approach, based on rapid feedback cycles, is more efficient than holding interminable discussions. This way, we quickly get an idea of how the best solution might look.

Design sprints

Design stripped back to the bare essentials: going from a problem to a tested solution concept in just a week, with all the stakeholders on board.

Prototyping

Prototypes turbo-charge our engine, simulating the finished software without all the expensive programming. They allow us to shorten the time-to-market and create a shared understanding of what is required, following up on ideas or jettisoning those that do not work, with minimal stress.

Minimum viable product (MVP)

Sometimes the final destination of a journey can be a little unclear. In such situations we work with our customers to design and develop stripped-down MVPs that will let them test a solution’s marketability at a reasonable cost.

Targeted, collaborative workshops

Unstructured meetings are ineffective. All our workshops have a concrete objective and a clear framework, bringing people from every role in the project together and ensuring that they are on the same page.

User research

To write good software you have to genuinely understand what the user needs. By conducting interviews and observing how teams operate in their workplaces, we build up a detailed picture of the customer’s needs and work processes, making it possible to precisely target improvements.

Design systems

We build software that brings order to messy realities. Our design systems simplify complexity, create consistency for the user and equip businesses for the future.

User journey maps

We analyse the route a user will take through a digital product and the “pain points” they may encounter. This knowledge enables us to identify and avoid potential pitfalls, and shape processes more efficiently.