Design Strategy & Process
We begin by diving into your specific business goals so that the design strategy supports your wider business strategy. It’s important that we balance this with what your users want to achieve to create a close alignment between your business and design strategy.
We then work in focused design sprints, drawing from proven UX techniques to test new ideas quickly with minimal time and effort – all the time iteratively adding to the value of your digital product.
Information Architecture
The faster you can help your users achieve their goals, the better your return on technology investment will be. We use information architecture to quickly map the entire user journey and ensure the fastest route to the users’ goals. It also makes sure that all of your products within your wider customer journey work together to best support both what your users want to achieve and your business goals.
This helps us to design clever and contextual user experiences that help your users achieve their goals in as few steps as possible and with far less cognitive load. It also eliminates the chance of any frustrating pain points in your digital product experience that may cause users to drop off or disengage. This means that your technology investment will go further.
Wireframing & UX Design
Wireframes are the blueprint for your app. They get rid of any guesswork, create clarity and reduce your risk. We use wireframes in our UX design to bring all your internal stakeholders together and align everyone on how the final product will look and feel as users interact with it.
Wireframes let you focus on what needs to go where on the screen rather than the journey behind it. They also give us something tangible to test with your target audience which helps to highlight any issues with the user flow or journey before we invest into full app design and development.
Prototyping
Prototypes reduce the time and cost it takes to bring your product – the right product – to market.
Remote and AI powered automated tests with low-fidelity prototypes first allow us to establish the most effective layout to help users achieve their goals in a quick and low-risk way. We follow this by observing real-world users interacting with high-fidelity prototypes in person as we refine the user interface. This makes sure that each iteration and every element adds value and removes friction.
User Testing
The faster you can get something into the hands of your users, the quicker you can prove it has value to them and to your business. User testing proves that your digital product solves a critical problem your users are facing. It also makes sure you’re solving it in the most efficient and user-friendly way possible.
We use hypothesis-driven development to test specific ideas in focused user groups for fast feedback. This approach reduces risk and ensures you spend time and resources on the right solution that’s going to deliver the right results.
We also always test how real-world users respond to the user flow behind your UI before dedicating any time or resources to development. By using tried and tested techniques like A/B testing and heat mapping, we can make the right decisions during the design of your product. Doing this early and often continually proves whether we’re solving the underlying problem in the right way – the way that makes the most sense for your users as well as your business goals.
Design Library Creation
With a design library, we can move much faster through the UI design process and build an experience that scales with you. The quicker and more cost-effectively you can add new valuable features to your app, the better. But besides bringing value to your business and your users, these new elements also have to work seamlessly with your existing user experience. Otherwise, inconsistencies in your user interface design can cause friction in your user journey and lead to higher drop-off rates.
That’s why at Sonin, we work with you to establish a Design Library of approved assets and app components. Using the Atomic Design System methodology, we’re able to draw from this library to consistently deliver new components, screens and features at a much faster pace. This unified language ensures a seamless experience across your app and other platforms like your website which increases user engagement and your return on technology investment.
Accessibility & Usability
Expectations among users today are sky-high. If your app doesn’t exceed these expectations in a way that’s intuitive and accessible, then you’ll struggle to drive engagement, revenue, and results. At Sonin, we always consider the accessibility and inclusivity of your digital product as it progresses through our design process – using proven techniques like heat mapping and eye tracking to understand how users will interact with your product.
Accessible UI design is the right thing to do. Not just morally, because it strengthens the business case behind your app. One in five people suffers from a disability of some kind. Seemingly small elements like the size of a line of text or the shade of colour have a huge impact on whether your app helps or hinders your users. That’s why we’ve developed a set of rigorous tests and checks to ensure every app adheres to the accessibility principles. When building an insurance app for esure, we tested its viability and accessibility in a pilot program of over 300 employees.
The more accessible and intuitive your product is, the better the experience is for everyone – not just those with disabilities – and the better your return on technology investment will be.
