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Carving out the lifespan of any project is always best done with a stable structure to lay its foundation. Many digital design agencies navigate their strategies and workflows in a variety of ways that work best for them. However, one method that many UI / UX firms have adopted, including our own design agency, is the repetitive design method.
Itarious design involves a much more flexible and dynamic mode. It intersects nicely with a fast-paced workflow as it rotates between design, prototype, and testing until over-the-counter goals are achieved. Generally operated in Sprint, repetitive web designers reduce productivity, overhead costs, and work to keep the user at the center of any design.
However, repetitive methods can only be achieved through the best practices that are as efficient as the team that applies them and embodies these flexible techniques.
Focus on the user
The user experience design constantly develops new approaches that center the user around his or her design decisions. User Experience Design works in conjunction with a repetitive web design approach. It focuses on how a design can be improved later as a project timeline rolls out. When incorporating repetitive design techniques, the emphasis on the user should never be obscured or lost in the process.
Repetitive workflows work best when they constantly scrape design elements that can cloud the experience of cognitive friction. Although collaboration and feedback with a company / client acts as the backbone of repetition, being aware of the need to align design with a brand identity also reflects the overall user experience.
In the iterative cycle, the elements of the design that need to be adjusted should focus on how to eliminate design clutter. Collaborative cycles in repetitive design can ensure that there are no visual disturbances. Clear on navigation because the journey leads to relevant expectations and the content is not abstract. These can be refined and improved through a repetitive version of the design, aligned with a company’s branding for visual classification, user mapping and consistency. Focusing on these key points can eliminate cognitive friction because repetitive design is constantly improving along the way and can correct errors before the development process.
Related: 5 Tips for Creating an Innovative UX Design
The response is an openness
A design tool that can often be overlooked can be something as simple as feedback. Whether it arises from collaborating with a client to reorganize the internal team or to demonstrate a work design, feedback really informs the design if the procedure is repetitive. Reconstructing repetitive methods as a philosophy helps design agencies integrate it more seamlessly until it becomes second nature.
Thus, once embodied as a philosophical framework, there is an openness for feedback from clients. This helps ensure that their target audience can feel a recognizable interface with the brand to ensure that their brand is consistent with the design. Acceptability of feedback strengthens team collaboration internally as project opportunities become much more targeted. It also encourages the notion that rejecting an idea or design is simply a redirect to something larger. And, it can be achieved with a repetitive mindset and openness to change the process without thinking too much.
Related: Design thinking is not a process, it is a mindset
Repetition continues even after development
When incorporating iterative design into an agency’s work policy, one should understand that pushing a website or mobile interface live does not simply end the iteration cycle. Rather it will continue much later. The purpose of repetition is to ensure that there is a continuous stratification of improved changes that can continue even after the completion of a project. A key component is through usability testing to ensure that repetitive design continues after development. Part of the test repetition cycle as development occurs. However, since repetitive design can capture any stage of development, testing can occur at any stage – including post-development.
Usability testing is essential to ensure that web design, functionality and user reception can be combined into a connection between an enjoyable experience and innovation. The analysis is conducted through analysis and evaluation of data, heat mapping or UX heuristics. Repeated testing can ensure that all pain points have been alleviated and that any improvement needs to be met to promote a stronger user experience.
Clear communication is essential
As with any collaborative project, clear communication is a must. Communication allows the composition of a website to come into full view with purpose, efficiency and clarity. This is true with repetition because it opens up opportunities for web design agencies to assign tasks internally within a team based on skills and the work that needs to be done. Communication within a repetitive framework also collectively reveals which areas of design worked and which did not. It incorporates a collaborative approach to re-routing towards improvement. Understanding which design area to cycle to can be strong only when communication is clear to keep a team on the same page across the scope of a project.
Again, communication with a client or company is paramount. Allowing a client to associate with a design such as the design agency itself removes any unwanted surprises at the end of the development. This will reduce the chances of starting an interface design. Therefore, invite a working client to feel a part of the team by updating the changes based on their feedback. Or, as your team works through it, update them in the project process.
Gate-to-client engagement also drives productivity and trust. It shows initial progress such as site mapping, design concepts and even a list of possible questions to ask to ensure complete alignment. When a client / company feels involved, it encourages a sense of ownership of their digital interface and builds a bonding relationship.
Related: How (and why) collaboration brings stronger, more creative web design
Repeated design can work to get an accurate description of any UI / UX development project. Web design techniques such as iterative functions are best when its framework is used correctly to drive efficiency, productivity and most importantly, an unforgettable user experience.
