As you are a Junior UX Researcher, it is not so easy to start with a portfolio. Often the problem is: Where to start, how to start and which topic to choose? That could be a quite difficult question. As I was teaching at IU Internationale Hochschule in the UX/UI field I can confirm it isn’t that easy as a student to start in a new project.
The following task is – in my opinion – a good one to think about a user journey.
topic for students: design a healthapp.
People might often forget to eat healthy, drink plenty of water or do exercise in their daily lives. This is a deficiency that can also have negative health consequences.
One possible solution could be an app that tells users how much they eat and drink and how much they exercise. At the same time, this app also could offer a sports program. There are instructions for daily exercises such as yoga, back exercises, workouts, etc.
With this app health parameters can be monitored and improved.
Your task is to elaborate and present in a case study how you approach the research question to develop this app.
Keep in mind the Human Centered Design process and UX Research methods (Personas, Storyboards, Customer Journey Map, Touchpoint Analysis...)
Be creative and think "out of the box".
Visualization of your ideas should be in the form of wireframes / low-fidelity prototypes.
Some hints that may help structuring:
- What is my goal?
- What do I already know about the user?
- What do I need to find out?
- Which method is useful for my research question?
I would start with thinking about, how to find out what the user really needs. I can just start with a health app, but I do not really know, what is useful. Who will be the user?
You need to start in the very beginning and doing some benchmarking and Research for example in Statista to get a feeling, what the people are doing.
Next step could be a short survey to ask more specific questions about. Think about the design thinking process, the 5 steps or phases: empathize, define, ideate, prototype and test.
Your case study should follow these principles:
Phase 1 - Empathize:
When started thinking about users, you need empathy to think about design solutions successfully. To get new solutions, you need so understand consumer/user needs or stakeholders you are designing for. You need to invest in research, observations, and interviews to gain insights into the needs, behaviors, and challenges of the people involved. In the end of this step you should have developed a deep understanding of the problem you are trying to solve.
Phase 2 - Define:
All insights you have collected need to be clarified and defined. You need to analyze the information collected during this phase to identify the core problems or issues. In the end the problem statement should be designed, all research findings considered. The design challenge should be clear in the end.
Phase 3 - Ideate:
In the ideate phase, you as a UX designers should generate a wide range of ideas and potential solutions to the defined problem. Think creative and out of the box. Maybe you could do some creative thinking, brainstorming, and exploration of various possibilities without any constraints. The goal is to generate a large quantity of ideas that can be refined and evaluated in later stages.
Phase 4 - Prototype:
In this phase you should create some prototypes of your ideas. These can be low-fidelity or high-fidelity. The visualization could help to test the concepts and gather feedback from users or stakeholders. This iterative process helps to refine your ideas and identify potential improvements.
Phase 5 - Test:
In the final phase, the prototypes should be tested to get real feedback on the possible solutions. It helps to validate the assumptions, uncover potential issues, and refine the design. The feedback received during testing informs further iterations and improvements, leading to a more refined and user-centric solution.
Don’t forget: Design thinking is an iterative process and these phases are not always linear. As a UX Designer you often need to cycle back and forth between the phases based on the insights and feedback.