How to design from your mind before diving into Figma

Users First

People have been designing long before fancy design tools came into existence, but it has become so easy to design today. What is happening is that someone who wants a design just grabs a template from somewhere, drops it in Figma, and customizes it to become his. This fast process is really good for business, as the startup world demands fast moves here and there, but this same process is dangerous in the long run.

Replicating is good if there is clear intent; the problem comes when you just replicate and customize without proper thought. You have to always think of the end user because people are different. I usually tell people that even placing yourself in the test participant’s shoes alone can be a very good starting point for testing.

Molding what you are doing around a human being is better than building out of thin air. Be the first tester, and ask yourself, if at all I were the actual user of the thing I am trying to build, how would I feel while using it? Most designers and developers skip this step with great hope that the testers will test the product.

Always think of users, even while selecting that bright color. Don’t forget that some people have sight problems and others hate noise, especially visual noise. Once you do that, you will stop surprising test participants and focus on other things, like product strategy.

How you experience your users

You can’t take your test participants or users everywhere you go in order for them to test your product as you are building it. Even if they are readily available, it will take you time to prepare what they have to test and also organize for the testing process. That means you have to shorten the process of getting to your test participants and users in order to do product iterations faster.

One of the ways that I save time is to keep the users in mind. I use my mind a lot because I realized I have plenty of time before sleeping and early in the morning. I usually see someone interacting with a feature I just designed, and I envision them going through the different screens trying to accomplish something. In the process, I can also envision the missing states and what else I can improve on.

I believe you have thought of someone using your product somehow, and I am sure you still do, because how do you know what will really work? Always think of different people using your product, and if you already have user personas, then well and good. Use their images to visualize them using your product, and you will realize what is missing or needs attention before the final testing.

Visualizing experiences

If you can visualize your test participants and users using the product you are working on, then you can get to know the kinds of experiences that they might need. You can test out multiple experiences in your head and also compare them to see which one will eventually suit your users.

Remember that experiences are built using user interface elements, and once you settle down to a specific experience, that experience will contain the different properties that you can use to build it. From envisioning your users using your product in your head to now visualizing how those experiences will come together, you are able to also construct the designs from your head first.

You can use this technique at every stage of the design process to move faster because you will be able to do multiple iterations. Once you have visualized the designs from the experiences, you are free to open Figma and start designing.

Thanks for reading 👏🏼