UI & UX Design
Designing interfaces around what people are trying to do: research first, flows before screens, and prototypes tested with real users before anything is built.
Overview
Interface problems are usually not interface problems. A confusing screen is generally a symptom of a flow that was never mapped, or of a product decision that pushed a difficult choice onto the user. Redesigning the screen without fixing that moves the confusion somewhere else.
So the work starts with what people are actually trying to do and where they currently get stuck, then designs the flow, then the screens. Prototypes get tested with real users before development, because that is the last point at which changing direction is cheap.
Who this is for
- Products with high support volume around a specific step
- Companies whose users complete a task in an unexpected way
- Teams about to build something with no research behind it
How we approach ui & ux design
The specific pieces of work a typical engagement covers. Scope is agreed up front — nothing here is a surprise line item later.
User research
Interviews and observation with real users. A handful of sessions consistently finds most of the significant problems.
Flow design
The sequence and decision points before any screens, which is where most usability problems are actually created.
Interface design
Screens designed to your system, with the states people forget: empty, loading, error, partial and too much data.
Prototyping
Clickable prototypes at the fidelity the question needs, so direction changes cost hours rather than sprints.
Usability testing
Watching people attempt real tasks. Almost always uncomfortable and almost always the most valuable session in the project.
Accessibility
Keyboard operation, contrast, focus order and screen reader behaviour designed in, not audited afterwards.
From first call to measured result
The same sequence every time, so you always know what happens next.
Research
Understand the task and where people currently fail, from observation rather than from stakeholder assumption.
Design flows
Map the sequence and remove steps before designing anything visual.
Prototype and test
Build a clickable version and test it with real users, then revise and test again.
Specify
Hand over screens, states and behaviour in a form developers can build from without guessing.
Outcomes, not deliverables
A pile of artefacts isn't progress. These are the changes the work is meant to produce — and what we report against.
Fewer support tickets
Fixing the step that confuses people removes the support volume it was generating.
Cheaper changes
Testing a prototype costs a fraction of discovering the same problem after it is built.
Designs that can be built
Specified states and behaviour mean developers are not inventing the edge cases themselves.
Accessible by default
Designed in rather than retrofitted, which is both cheaper and considerably better.
Common questions about UI & UX Design
The things people ask before they get in touch. If yours is not here, ask us directly.
How many users do you need to test with?
Five to eight per round finds the large majority of significant usability problems. More rounds with fewer people beats one round with many, because you want to test the fix as well as find the fault.
How is this different from website design?
Website design is for marketing sites, where the job is communicating and converting. UI and UX design is for products and applications, where people are performing tasks repeatedly. Different research, different success measures, different craft.
Can you work with our development team?
Yes, and it works best when they are involved from the flow stage. Designs produced in isolation and handed over reliably contain something expensive that could have been avoided with an early conversation.
Do we need research if we know our users?
Teams close to a product consistently know what users should do and are consistently surprised by what they actually do. Even a short round of observation usually changes something in the design.
Thinking about UI & UX Design?
Tell us what you are trying to change. If we are not the right fit we will say so, and point you somewhere better.
Looking at the wider picture?
UI & UX Design usually sits alongside other work in Branding & Experience Design. Browse the full area to see what it connects to.