The Manifest Names Create Ape as one of the Most-Reviewed Global Product Design Agencies

Low-effort and high-impact UX improvements sound far-fetched when simplifying an end-to-end experience. But the truth is that minor tweaks can make your product more enjoyable without doing a complete redesign!

You may see many of these simple design elements across websites and apps you use daily. That’s because they enhance what’s already there by helping users orient themselves in the navigation, presenting relevant content, or grabbing their attention with dynamic visuals.

So whether you’re happy with your product’s experience or don’t want to wait until a redesign to start making upgrades, here are just a few low-effort and high-impact UX Improvements that won’t soak up all your budget!

• Populate empty states
• Implement progress bars
• Incorporate localization
• Group users into segments
• Create push notifications
• Customize 404 pages

The Impact-Effort Matrix

Have you ever prioritized your daily to-dos by how easy or difficult each task is? You’re not the only one, which explains why the impact-effort matrix exists.

The impact-effort matrix is a top-down view of all the work your product team has to do to improve the user experience. By breaking this chart down into four different categories (kind of like a political compass test), you can create a scatter plot that helps your team understand how much work each task requires and the effect it will have on the product.

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This model from the Nielson Norman Group illustrates the varying levels of investment and efficiency each task has in the broader scope of the project. When you capture each requirement and place them into their respective category, you and your team can quickly prioritize the best action plan.

Or as some would put it, “Work smarter, not harder.”

The idea behind low-effort, high-impact UX improvements are design elements and strategic effort that fall under quick wins. It’s about creating a win-win scenario for the users and your team: cost-effective, minimally involved features that still engage the target audience.

6 Low-Effort and High-Impact UX Improvements

Let’s face it…building a new platform, improving a user flow, or redesigning an existing product requires a TON of work from both the client and internal team. With as many moving parts as UX has, win-win scenarios are pretty rare. 

But quick fixes aren’t unrealistic, especially if you want to keep optimizing the product post-launch. Iterations and improvements are always possible in the UX design process!

So before you release a new feature or MVP, try implementing these elements to enhance the experience between versions.

Populate Empty States

White space is an easy way to make your product’s interface look clean, sophisticated, and organized…in moderation.

The downside of too much white space is that it can make a design look incomplete. Have you ever seen a website with too much space between elements and thought something was missing? It’s incredibly distracting and breaks up the flow of a scrolling experience.

If you notice too much white space between sections, think of ways to close that visual gap with helpful content for your users. Video tutorials, blog links, infographics, everything’s on the table (as long as it’s relevant to the rest of the page’s content).

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Implement Progress Bars

Whether it’s a kind word from a coworker or a notification from an app you’re using, we all love a little positive reinforcement. But it doesn’t have to stay relegated to email or SMS.

Progress bars serve two purposes in UX: They let us orient ourselves in the user journey and show us how far we are from achieving our goal. They also give the user that little extra reassurance we need to keep pressing forward to the final conversion point.

If your digital platform has an onboarding process or some other multi-step flow, progress bars are a great way to help users gauge how much work they have to do and encourage them to complete their goals. Use this quick fix to give your users the subtle nudge they need through screens.

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Incorporate Localization

Have you ever wondered why some websites have different versions for different countries? That’s localization at work!

Localization is more than just translating your website copy to a different language. It's about adapting your interface to reflect the culture of your users. This is an absolute must if your platform reaches users outside your native country.

If your digital product expands to a foreign location (which is ultimately the goal) or if you’re noticing a spike in users located abroad, think about what’s causing that influx and decide if it’s time to create a new version that represents your international audience.

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Group Users Into Segments

If you’re a frequent reader of our blogs, you don’t need us to go on another tangent about how impactful personalization is (the 75% engagement rate speaks for itself). But grouping users into segments based on their behavior helps you personalize their experience smarter, not harder.

Pretend you’re watching a movie or TV show on a streaming service and you add it to your “Favorites” list. Chances are that the platform will recommend a bunch of new content under a “Because you liked (blank)” heading. That’s because the platform captured your behavior and put you into a segment with other users that took the same actions.

Segmenting your audience saves your users time by finding content that’s relevant to their tastes. Plus, digital marketing platforms use audience segments to help businesses be more strategic with their campaigns, rewarding engaged users and incentivizing casual users.

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Create Push Notifications

Some digital products don’t warrant everyday use (appointment booking platforms, travel apps, and online shopping are a few examples). So it’s on you to remind the user of your existence and alert them to new products or deals they wouldn’t see if they’re not a daily visitor.

Push notifications are super simple to set up and are extremely effective in customer engagement (about 88% of mobile users are likely to interact with them). With some good timing and clever copy, you can grab your user’s attention whenever and encourage them to revisit your product.

Whether you're using them to provide real-time updates about your product or retain your customer base, push notifications should always have a home in your marketing strategy.

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Customize 404 Pages

No one likes running into an error page, but they’re a fact of life. Links break, pages disappear or move to new addresses, and users type the wrong URL all the time. But that doesn’t mean your 404 page should look as bad as it makes the user feel.

Instead, think of your 404 page as an opportunity to lead your user somewhere else. You can use them to provide helpful links, display your products, or redirect them to your support portal. Couple those elements with some fun graphics or animation, and you can make more tolerable errors.

There’s a world of possibilities with your 404 page. If you need some ideas, check out our Creative 404 Page Designs blog for some inspiration!

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Hitting The Sweet Spot Between Low-Effort & High-Impact

Low-effort and high-impact UX improvements don't have to be daunting (heck, that defeats the purpose if they are). It’s all about being strategic, examining your product, identifying pain points and opportunity areas, and finding quick improvements that don’t sacrifice the user experience.

With a few tweaks here and there, you can enhance your product without a complete redesign. These simple design elements can help users navigate the platform, find relevant content, and engage in a more meaningful way.

These improvements offer cost-effective solutions for optimizing your product after its launch. So why not start implementing these elements today? Your design team will thank you (and so will your users)!

Speaking of your design team...Our apes love optimizing products to their absolute peak. If you want us to find low-effort and high-impact UX improvements, start a project with us today!

Let’s face it…You NEED a UI/UX Design Strategy to create a digital product in this day and age. You don’t want to invest time and money on a project that didn’t have a chance.

A UI/UX design strategy is an essential bridge between your business and the end-user. Without validation from the right people, you’ll find your business caught in a loop of misguided designs, frustrated users, and disappointing results.

Our UX design strategy blog discusses the value of UX for both the business and the user. We also point out the components that make a strategy successful. But, if you’re still not sure where to start, aren’t confident in your research skills, or just too busy, we’ve got you covered.

CreateApe’s Jungle Guide is all the power of UX in a single document. Whether you’re a startup bringing a new digital product to market or an established company needing a redesign, we’ll give you all the tools and insights you need to make your project a success!

Behold The CreateApe Jungle Guide!

• Research
• User Interviews
• UX/UI Evaluation
• Product Solutions
• Development Solutions
• Full Project Estimates

Why do You Need a UI/UX Design Strategy?

We hope this isn’t news to anyone, but there’s a lot of risk in running a business—especially in the digital space where there’s a lot of competition.

An effective digital product has three things behind it: research, feasibility testing, and business strategy. Without these things, your investment is one big guessing game. You need a solid base of qualitative and quantitative metrics to create solutions that actually work.

Getting the big picture of what you’re up against will help you shape your business strategy, but how exactly do you find that out?

When you get a Jungle Guide from CreateApe, you get a team of design industry vets that’ll know what to do. We’ll know what to research, what questions to ask your users, and how to take those metrics and build a viable digital product.

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What We’ll Figure Out for You

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What do You Get in the Jungle Guide?

The Jungle Guide is here to protect you and your business from the pitfalls of poor planning. We’re also here to help you come up with ideas and prepare you for any curveballs we may encounter along the way.

Jungle Guide Contents

• Research:
  You would never write a paper without hours of research to support your hypothesis. So why create a website without that foundation?
  
  The Jungle Guide takes care of the preliminary research for you. Whether we’re brainstorming or reviewing analytics, we make our decisions based on evidence (either from case studies with measurable KPIs from our own past projects).
  
  We start by establishing all the important stuff (Who is the company? What do they do? Who are their stakeholders? Who’s their biggest competition, etc.) Then, we dig a little deeper to discover business opportunities and suggest new ideas to bolster the brand.
  

• User Interviews:
  UX is about more than just turning a profit (although it never hurts). It’s about creating long-lasting value for the business through positive experiences. Making that good first impression is everything so the brand can keep growing and improving on its digital products.
  
  The user is at the core of everything we do, so we go straight to the source of what makes or breaks the business. Their honest feedback, good or bad, tells us everything we need to know about making the product work for them. We also talk with internal stakeholders to ensure we’re supporting the business as much as the user.
  
  We do our most valuable research here by finding out who exactly the user is, what they want to do, and how we can help them accomplish their goals. Then we take their feedback and use it to guide us through the project and validate design decisions.
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• UX/UI Evaluation:
  Our research and interview findings guide our heuristic evaluation as a whole. They help us figure out what to fix on an existing product or how to fill a market gap with a new product. 
  
  With an existing digital product, our goal is to bring the major design problems to the surface. The business needs to put themselves into their user’s shoes and empathize with their frustrations related to the product. We also pick out quick fixes to improve the experience piece by piece. 
  
  With a new product, we show our clients how they can get ahead of their competition from the user’s point of view. We help them decide what features will help them stand out and how to tackle the large-scale project.

• Product/Development Solutions:
  Here’s where UI/UX design strategy comes in. Our product design and development solutions in the Jungle Guide lay out specific actions for the business to take in order to improve their user experience.
  
  This usually begins with us breaking down the project piece by piece. We take our ideas from brainstorming sessions with the client and determine what will work best based on the user’s feedback. Then, we propose our recommendations and break down how they’ll help the user.
  
  We also take a look at the web development solutions that will make the final product function as it should. This includes evaluating the code quality, site speed, and platform integrity—or choosing the right framework for a new product.

• Full Project Estimates:
  Once our UI/UX design strategy is in place, the only thing left to do is map out our timeline. We’ll break down how long it’ll take us to complete each part of the project. Since the Jungle Guide takes care of the initial research and evaluation, we show the client how long the actual design and development process will take.
  
  We start by picking out the low-hanging fruit—or small tasks that can be fixed and implemented quickly. Then we provide a low and high-range estimate of how long each phase of the project will take. This gives our clients a good idea of when the final product will launch and how involved they’ll be throughout the project.

Is it the Same for Every Project?

Well…yes and no. We need to get the full picture of you, your brand, and your market. We look at the same things in every Jungle Guide, but on a different scale depending on the project. Every project is different, so we adjust our hours to accommodate project size.

• 1st Tier: Small-scale projects (informational sites, landing pages, etc.)

• 2nd Tier: Complex websites (e-commerce sites, web applications, etc.)

• 3rd Tier: Complex, large-scale projects (software, native applications, etc.)

How Does This Help My Business?

UI/UX design strategy might seem like a big investment of time and money, but creating an excellent experience right out the gate is more than worth it. The word about digital products gets around quickly, and a strong first impression will give you a better starting point for new services and features down the line.

You may also think that your business doesn’t need the Jungle Guide because you haven’t heard any negative feedback from your users. But in this case, what our clients don’t know could potentially hurt their business. 

In fact, only 1 out of 26 customers complain about bad UX according to this blog from uxcam.com. 91% of unsatisfied users will just leave instead of leaving negative feedback.

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The same blog also shows that 13% of users will tell 15 or more people about a bad experience, versus the 72% of users that will tell 6 or more people about a good experience. The user may be more reluctant to give negative feedback to the business, but they’ll be less shy talking to their friends and family about it. 

We’re here to help you impress that 72% instead of unknowingly driving away the 13%. Our client’s success is our success, and our goal is to establish positive, long-term relationships. The best way we can do that is by fostering a strong client-user relationship.

What Happens After the Jungle Guide?

You have two options after we give you your Jungle Guide. You can have us take care of the rest of the project, or you can take it to your internal design team and use it to guide them throughout the project!

We have a team of 40+ designers, developers, and project managers that can turn our UX design strategy into a fully-functional product. We also have visual designers and content creators who will make the product look and sound as good as the user experience.

But if you’d rather have your internal design team, we’re happy to provide our UX insight so they can work their magic. You can call on CreateApe any time your business needs an all-in-one resource for user experience.

Get a Jungle Guide Today

Your market is a jungle, with tons of twists, turns, and hazards along the way. But with CreateApe’s Jungle Guide, you don’t have to go it alone!

Our combination of research and UI/UX design strategy will show you everything you need to know about the end-user and how to create solutions to keep them coming back for more. Bring us your idea and we’ll show you how to be the king of your jungle.

Need a Jungle Guide? Begin your expedition here!

Want to see our apes in action? Download a sample Jungle Guide below.

andros Jungle GuideDownload

We’ve explored AI in UX design from technological capabilities to helpful tools, but we haven’t touched on workflow impact and best practices yet.

If you’re a frequent reader of our blog, you already know we’re pro-AI because of its potential to streamline our work. However, there’s still growing concern among creatives regarding the quality and ethicality of its output.

Listen, we’re just a small, award-winning UX firm. We know we’re not going to single-handedly shift the global perception of AI in a few simple blogs. But we can share tips and tricks to help designers embrace these new technologies without disregarding creativity or innovation!

How To Use AI In UX Design Workflows

• Divergent Thinking
• Expanding Services
• Idea Evaluation
• Challenging Biases
• Team & Stakeholder Collaboration
• Data Analyzation
• Quality Control

How Is AI Evolving In The UX World?

With all its speed and convenience, it’s fair to say that AI is more efficient than the average human. It can process vast amounts of data within seconds from relatively simple commands, helping us automate tasks, identify patterns, expand on ideas, and even predict behaviors.

Still, AI is far from flawless. Need some evidence? Well…take a look at this uncanny horror courtesy of Adobe Firefly.

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This is why AI won’t replace UX designers anytime soon — it’s not a cut-and-paste solution. Many designers use it as a jumping-off point, letting the algorithms connect the dots so we can get those strategic and creative wheels turning.

That being said, it’s still an uneasy feeling when products like Relume or Uizard come along and automate a process that normally takes you hours. It’s on us to master these systems, utilizing the algorithms to boost our quality and productivity (instead of relying on the machines and turning in sub-par products).

It’s a fine line to balance, especially when caught between multiple projects and tight deadlines. However, a strategic approach to AI in UX design guided by ethical best practices will help you find seamless ways to integrate it into your workflow and enhance your creative output.

7 Tips For Working AI Into Your UX Design Process

With every new AI-driven platform, there’s always a bit of a learning curve before you get comfortable with the system. Some will also prove more useful to your process than others. The most important thing to do is play around with a few different products and features until you find the ones that benefit you most.

By following these strategic AI methods and keeping an open mind around new technologies, you can quickly adopt these game-changing solutions to become a more productive and indispensable UX designer.

Embrace Divergent Thinking

Brands typically start with lots of ideas and assets. It's difficult to narrow things down into one viable idea in a few brainstorming sessions. This is where AI visualization and iteration come in handy, providing multiple proofs of concepts, giving your clients more options, and inspiring confidence for the project going forward.

Divergent thinking (in this context) is how AI pulls together remote (and sometimes discordant) ideas into one entity. Art generators with text-to-image algorithms have the power to detect resemblances between objects or images, combining them into one concept or elaborating further.

Think about when AI art tools first gained popularity. Maybe you had a friend on social media creating or sharing the most outlandish mash-ups they could think of (stuff like Shrek dressed up as Thor or Garfield hacking the CIA). That’s divergent thinking at work.

But it goes beyond generating low-tier memes. These divergent capabilities are instrumental when creating logos, color palettes, stylescapes, and page templates. By spotting similarities between objects utilizing AI, you can create a foundation for your design efforts and flesh out some details before you start working.

Looking at this example from the Harvard Business Review, there are no physical similarities between an elephant and a butterfly. But by recognizing the patterns between the wings and the ears, Midjourney grouped them to create a stunning image (which we think would make an awesome logo, by the way)!

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Consider Expanding Your Services

We discussed using AI in UX design to fill in skill gaps in the blog about our favorite AI tools. But they can also be leveraged to your business’ advantage (or your own if you’re a freelancer).

Between product design, animations, written content, and development, UX projects are hectic by nature. We don’t recommend going over a specialist’s head and trying to do something out of your skill set. However, you can significantly streamline the process by using AI to create an example of your vision, leading to a clear and accurate execution.

AI’s collaborative benefits are readily apparent, but they’re also an excellent professional development tool. With all the new platforms and plug-ins being introduced, you can train yourself in a whole new UX discipline.

Let’s say you’re a UX designer who’s not a skilled copywriter. You’ve spent plenty of time interfacing with your client’s brand and familiarized yourself with their voice and tone. You can enter a prompt into Jasper.ai or ChatGPT to cover all the crucial points you’re trying to convey, then tweak the AI’s output to reflect their brand identity from there.

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As you’re familiarizing yourself with the AI’s suggestion and expanding your writing style, you’re nurturing a whole new skill set that helps you deliver a cohesive product that’s true to your vision. 

Just don’t forget that practice makes perfect. Always do a few trials before charging your clients for additional services.

Evaluate Your Ideas

Whether you’re narrowing down an artistic direction or measuring KPIs post-launch, there are a plethora of AI tools that gather relevant data insights to streamline decision-making.

Through automated user testing, A/B testing, and heatmapping, we can reduce the time it takes to set up user trials and process data — giving us a clear-cut path to our goals and eliminating personal biases.

Of course, these tools are more helpful when evaluating an existing digital product or testing a new flow. There’s no way it could give you insights into the viability of your proposed solution, right?

WRONG! There are a ton of systems that can gauge the feasibility of ideas and help you weigh the pros and cons. In fact, the authors of the Harvard Business Review article we mentioned earlier did a short experiment with ChatGPT to explore different solutions for eliminating food waste.

Beyond ChatGPT, tools like Checkmyidea-ia and Test & Start can perform foundational market research, provide technical MVP proposals, and generate recommendations from technology stacks to startup names. These tools are a lifesaver for research teams with limited timelines and resources!

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Challenge Your Biases

While AI’s output can be skewed depending on user entries, it’s still valuable in evaluating high-quality data for objective insights.

Designers can utilize AI systems that incorporate ethical guidelines and principles, helping them avoid inadvertently reinforcing biases within their designs. AI can flag potential bias issues and suggest alternatives to maintain fairness and inclusivity.

If used correctly, the algorithms can identify bias in data, content, or design elements — highlighting areas of concern and prompting designers to address biases proactively.

Think the benefits of AI in bias evaluation stop there? Nope, there’s also a significant advantage in the large pool of diverse data the system gathers. 

Algorithms can access vast datasets from various sources, including user feedback, demographics, and behavior. This diverse data provides a more comprehensive understanding of user needs, preferences, and behaviors.

HOWEVER (and it’s a big however), it's essential to research and utilize AI systems that are developed and trained with ethical considerations to prevent bias propagation. By actively seeking out and leveraging tools that promote fairness, diversity, and inclusivity, we can work towards creating more equitable user experiences.

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Collaborate With Teams & Stakeholders

If you’re a remote team of international UX wizards (like us), you know how difficult communication can be. Even though collaboration tools like Figma and Slack help us keep in touch throughout the day, AI tools can help us close gaps and enhance productivity.

Beyond automated testing and data insights, AI in UX design enables team members and stakeholders to work together on projects in real time. This reduces communication barriers and ensures visibility throughout the design process.

It also helps you make quick fixes to a design (CTA color or text alignment adjustments) when you’re presenting your work to a client, expediting approvals and minimizing back-and-forth emails for edits.

Plus, if interpersonal communication isn’t your strong suit, there are plenty of presentation and note-taking tools that can read your tone and detect filler words (like Poised) or produce transcripts and sum up key takeaways (like Fireflies.ai). These systems can help you passively improve your communication skills on the fly and gain the trust of your clients and colleagues.

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Analyze Data Accurately

UX is primarily a creative field, but the numbers matter if we want to create impactful user experiences. We rely on validated and accurate data to hypothesize, innovate, and execute our solutions — and AI can assist us in making connections with the numbers!

While we just discussed the potential biases of AI in UX design, it still processes numbers faster and with fewer errors. By identifying patterns, trends, and anomalies within the data, AI helps designers make more informed decisions based on objective insights.

By automating data collection, the algorithms can spot abstract or incomplete feedback, prioritizing high-quality, relevant information for analysis. This automation saves designers time and minimizes the inaccuracies of manual data handling.

Additionally, AI can perform complex statistical analyses and predictive modeling tasks beyond the average designer’s capabilities. With these advanced analytics, we can uncover hidden insights, anticipate behaviors, and make adjustments throughout the design process.

So, even if you're blessed with both creativity and an AP understanding of math, the speed and precision of AI algorithms can help any designer double-check their work and expand their ideas with validated data.

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Enhance Quality Control

User testing is our main quality control strategy, but once our prototypes are assembled and coded, we still need to guarantee everything’s bug-free and behaves as intended before launch. Enter the QA stage — an absolute must before users interact with the MVP.

Luckily, AI algorithms are useful throughout the entire design process (both pre- and post-launch). They can significantly enhance quality control efforts by processing functions and providing data-driven insights to meet our high standards.

There are automated tools for AI user testing that can simulate design interactions and provide objective feedback. However, we'll accept biased feedback from our users to understand why something doesn’t work for them. So we don’t recommend using them to replace testing with real users.

Instead, AI-driven testing tools for accessibility, cross-device performance, security, and bug detection help us evaluate our work and pay close attention to the details.

Along with content and SEO optimization platforms, there are also tools designed to spot inconsistencies in visual designs — giving us a chance to fine-tune branding elements and ensure the consistency our users want. Whether you’re a designer, developer, or a little bit of both, the benefits of AI in UX design processes are unignorable.

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Best Practices For AI In UX Design

To some, AI is a magical solution for all their design shortcomings. To others, it’s the boogeyman coming to take their job. Whatever your viewpoint is, it’s important to approach your AI uses with some ethical best practices (whether you’re using it enthusiastically or begrudgingly).

• Understand the Problem Before Implementing AI: Thoroughly comprehend the problems you’re trying to solve before consulting the algorithm. AI should complement your design process, not be a solution in search of a problem.
  
• The User is the Focal Point: Keep users at the center of your design process. Continuously gather and incorporate user feedback to stay focused on user needs.
  
• Lead with Ethics: Follow the news and updates associated with AI to remain aware of ethical concerns as they arise. Always use your best judgment and weigh your options before utilizing a system.
  
• Test, Test, Test!: Regularly conduct usability testing, even when AI is involved. Test how users interact with AI-driven features and assess whether they enhance or hinder the user experience. Use the feedback to make improvements.
  
• Prioritize Safety & Security: Safeguard user data and adhere to relevant regulations, such as GDPR or CCPA, when implementing AI-driven data.
  
• Evolve with the Technology: Stay updated with AI advancements and emerging technologies in the UX field. Keeping your knowledge current ensures you can leverage the latest tools and techniques.
  
• Be Prepared to Pivot: Don’t despair if your AI system encounters issues. Instead, explore different platforms or provide feedback to improve the algorithm.

Put Your Creativity Front-and-Center!

We know AI is the future of design, and the future can be scary! But it’s neither a cure-all solution to your work woes nor the decline of human creativity as we know it. Instead, we see it as the helping hand all designers need every now and then.

Whether working solo or collaborating with a trusted team, AI can be your secret weapon to enhance quality control, analyze data accurately, and take your designs to new heights. Or it can help you through a dreaded brain block or tight timeline.

With the right balance of technology and human-powered ingenuity, you’ll become a more productive and well-rounded asset to your design team.

Remember, AI isn't here to replace your creativity; it's here to supercharge it! So embrace these AI-powered strategies, experiment with new tools, and let your UX skills shine.

If you’re looking for a UX job where you can explore this new AI frontier, we may have an opening for you. Check out our positions and apply today!

So, you’ve just begun your startup. You have an innovative new B2B platform, SaaS (software-as-a-service) system, or E-commerce product, and you’re ready to take the market by storm. It should be an exciting time for you!

Startups have the potential to change industries for the better. Like with any business venture, there are also plenty of risks. It’s incredibly competitive with new startups seemingly springing up from the ground overnight.

Don’t let this discourage you. The failure rate for startups is high, but most fail because there simply isn’t a market for their product. Market research and understanding the needs of your future customers are just as important as the product.

Most people think UX only exists in the digital space, but its best practices apply in multiple aspects of running a business. Following the fundamentals of UX may benefit your startup in more ways than you think.

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We’ve mentioned how important research is, right?

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UX research gives us insight into what we don’t know and validates what we do know. It helps to navigate uncharted territory and is incredibly valuable when starting a new business.

90% of startups fail. That’s an unfortunate statistic, but knowing what you’re getting into will save you time and money in the long run. The research will help you gauge the overall interest in your product, so spend plenty of time with it and make sure it’s an ongoing process. The more research you can gather, the more polished the final product will be.

When you fully understand the space you’re operating in, you’ll be more prepared for the unexpected. Study your market, competitors, and future users:

• Who is your product for?
• Who would be your biggest competition?
• Why have they been so successful?
• What features have been most helpful to their users?
• Why is your product better?
• How will your product change the industry going forward?

Solidify your UX approach

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UX best practices serve as a guide for designers, and they heavily influence your approach to projects — especially with digital products. Once you know your idea is viable, spend plenty of time planning your UX approach.

We built our UX process at CreateApe around the idea of user empathy. We decided that the best way to improve the user’s experience was to put ourselves in their shoes to create solutions that answer their needs. We spend much of our time with research and analytics, and by creating user personas, we put a “face” to our data to make a more human-focused space.

Establishing your UX approach will give you a sense of organization for the often hectic startup world. When figuring out your approach, consider how much focus you need on each aspect of UX:

• How much time are you spending on research?
• How are you getting to know your potential users?
• How will you incorporate your findings into the product?
• How will you validate your creative choices for the design and branding?
• What will you do for quality control?
• How are you going to generate excitement for your startup?

Learn to love iteration

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No one gets a design right on the first try, and that’s not a bad thing! The nice thing about UX is that you can go back to the drawing board and tweak everything until it works as it should. Negative feedback is still usable feedback because it shows what needs fixing to improve the overall experience.

You will likely need to do multiple rounds of iteration and testing until you reach an MVP, so don’t be afraid of failure. Your users will tell you everything you need to know about the success of your product, so their feedback is the most valuable to the UX process.

Consider how the user feels in every aspect of testing. If you answered no to any of these, revise until you get it right:

• Do your digital solutions help users easily accomplish their goals?
• Do your branding elements speak to them?
• Does your communication style inspire loyalty?
• Do they feel good when they use your product?

Don’t try to reinvent the wheel too much

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Your ideas are cutting-edge and innovative, but your product should not be complicated. Iron out all the details and don’t try to get too fancy with the design or features. At the end of the day, if it distracts the user from completing their goal, you can probably live without it. Your MVP doesn’t have to be the final version of your product, so don’t be afraid to simplify things as you go.

Think about the startups that changed the game in their industry. PayPal makes safe online purchasing a breeze. Uber makes finding a ride convenient. And how easy is it to book a cheap room for the weekend on Airbnb? They’re groundbreaking ideas with relatively simple processes.

The user doesn’t want to jump through a million hoops to complete their goals. Find the best way you can help your user solve a problem in just a few quick steps.

The value of collaboration

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Starting a business is a big investment and quite intimidating! The good news is that you don’t have to do it all by yourself.

UX is best when it’s a collaborative effort. Open your mind to suggestions from your target audience or sessions of brainstorming with other UX professionals. Getting help from an agency is worth the investment because you’ll have an expert in every area to help you fully realize your vision. They will already have a solid approach to UX and an understanding of what makes a startup successful.

In the ideation phase, there is no such thing as a bad idea or a stupid question. An agency will take your ideas and refine them into a solution that works. From concepts to execution and user testing, you’ll get a fully functional final product ready for the market!

So why is this important?

Some of the most creative and original products have come from startups, but many of them struggle to get off the ground. Use UX best practices to develop a solid plan of attack before you invest your time and money. Spend plenty of time exploring ideas and refining your choices, then don’t stop testing until your product is the best it can be!

Do you have an idea for a startup and need someone to bring it to life? CreateApe helps companies big and small grow with UX. Contact us today!

We know we got you with that tagline. As we celebrate St. Patricks day you might all be going out to explore the luck of the Irish, but this is how we get lucky in the jungle. This St. Patricks day, we want to say a big thank you to our clients over the years who have expressed how lucky they feel to have found us in this massive corporate jungle!

We all have different expectations of what’s at the end of the rainbow. For us, our pot of gold is hearing impactful and positive feedback from our clients. This year, we’ve been feeling the luck with Clutch.co. In 2019 alone, CreateApe has been featured as a top UX/UI leader in Orange County and Los Angeles. The companies featured are chosen for leadership, technology, and marketing expertise and we’re elated to be among them.

Getting Lucky In The Jungle 

Voted as one of the top agencies for creative and design, our feedback from Clutch reflects our success that’s all due to our clients! Although we love the creativity and challenge that’s involved in flushing out a project, there’s nothing more rewarding than seeing the benefits of our work coming to life and hearing positive feedback from our designs.

As we look back on all of our favorite projects, we can’t help but look at the results too. Not only do our clients feel the benefits of fully robust new designs, but the numbers don’t lie. Increased conversion rates, visitations, and page impressions are all a product of the design work our team creates and we couldn’t be prouder.

Clients Getting Lucky

CreateApe was rated as a 5-star service by a client of ours who provided feedback on a Clutch.co. In this case, the project was for a real estate management company and involved a full-size digital rebrand. The activities ranged from web development, an overarching website redesign with various landing pages, and email design.

Their VP stated, “CreateApe is now a trusted, long-term partner thanks to their constant drive towards innovation and the conscious effort they make to provide top-level communication. They use an iterative approach to hone a brand’s core message, and never lose sight of a projects ultimate goal.”

We pride ourselves in being intuitive and adaptable, and our clients think so too. One of their team members also commented, “We can give them a skeleton model and they come back with an incredible representation of what we’re seeking.”

Getting Over the Rainbow

Some of the challenges we overcame with this project? We wanted to create a more cohesive brand for their online presence. To ensure that, whenever a user went to their site, everything was consistent and clear in terms of visual and content. We also wanted to add ingenuity and innovation- but just enough it wouldn’t distract and deviate from their brand vision. Ultimately, leading to higher conversion.

Another project we did for an AI Marketing Company was raved about on Clutch.co. At the time, the company was going through a complete rebrand that included renaming and repositioning themselves. That’s where we came in.

After we helped brainstorm ideas, we redesigned their website from the ground up. We were able to develop a whole new look and feel of the site and assisted in transferring the backend to WordPress.

Not only did their internal team appreciate the new design, but investors and the in-house sales team found the website easier to navigate. They reviewed, “CreateApe went above and beyond to meet all needs, while their expertise and exceptional communication skills helped them deliver a top-notch product on time.”

“The website was part of our rebrand campaign, so the design was very important to us. CreateApe understood exactly what our CEO and our team wanted. They were able to interpret our ideas even when we weren’t articulating them clearly.”

We love when our clients lean on us for expertise and knowledge. Even better, we love it when we see our customer’s reporting increased results. Want to get lucky in the jungle with us? Let our CreateApe expert team be your jungle guide. We will help you traverse the wilds as we take your project to new heights.

We’re not going to sugarcoat it…the market for a junior UX design job is ROUGH! Between stiff competition and unrealistic experience requirements for entry-level gigs, saying that landing your first junior designer job will be difficult is like saying water is wet.

But, that’s not to say there’s NO hope. Many budding designers have landed junior positions after finishing college or a Bootcamp. 

And no, we’re not talking about the guy on LinkedIn that did it by pulling himself up by his “bootstraps.” Don’t listen to him when he tells you to send thousands of unsolicited emails or show up at the office uninvited (P.S. DEFINITELY don’t do that).

The good news is that while the pool of new designers is saturated, the demand for UX designers is still high. In 2022, the Bureau of Labor Statistics projected that the UX design field would grow by 27%. And that number is still increasing in 2023.

On top of the high demand, UX design jobs usually come with job security and solid starting salaries. Entry-level gigs can start anywhere around $65,000 a year, with more senior positions entering the six-figure territory.

It’s easy to see why UX newbies want a slice of that pie. But how do you get your foot in the door in such a competitive market when most entry-level jobs require 3-5 years of experience?

Luckily, our design team has plenty of experience in the job market. And now, we’re sharing our tips on landing a junior UX design job with you!

How To Land Your First Junior UX Design Job:

• Choose your “niche”
• Create a sample project
• Take a volunteer job
• Cruise freelance job boards
• Practice different design software
• Find an internship/mentor
• Build your professional network
• Master common interview questions

Choose Your “Niche”

We’re not just talking about choosing a specific industry to specialize in (although learning the ins and outs of B2B, healthcare, or e-commerce is never a bad idea).

The saying “It takes a village” definitely applies to UX design. A fully realized, user-friendly digital product involves multiple creative, strategic minds: UX designers, researchers, marketing specialists, and so on.

Let’s take a quick look at some of the fields you can specialize in under the UX design umbrella:

UX Research:

If you’re a numbers person, then UX research may be right up your alley.

Outside of interviewing users, customers, and stakeholders, UX research requires a lot of data gathering and analysis. Your metrics and user feedback will show clients exactly what they need to do to give their users the best experience possible.

Branding and Marketing:

You’re probably familiar with these terms, but identities and campaigns built around robust user research take them to the next level.

Helping companies understand their core audience and what inspires them to act gives layers and complexity to their marketing efforts. This UX-focused strategy for branding and sales adds a much-needed personal touch to something that’s primarily profit-driven.

UX Design:

Obviously.

A UX designer takes complicated digital product ideas and makes them make sense. This means constructing an information architecture that flows logically and a navigational experience that eliminates friction in achieving a user’s goals.

UI Design:

Nailing down the product story is paramount, but who makes that design “pop” in the eyes of the user?

UI designers take the branding defined by internal creative teams and work it into the design to amp up the visuals. The goal is to create a unique look and feel that represents the company and supports the user through conversion.

Product Development:

Creating an easy-to-use product with an inspired visual design is only half the battle. The product has to work the way it was intended with quick loading speeds, functioning buttons and links, and smooth interactions and animations.

Developers are the final puzzle piece that brings the product to life. They’re the ones who create the codes that link everything together and make sure every component functions as it should. 

In short, a game-changing digital product is NOTHING without a web development team putting all the nuts and bolts in place.

And Much, Much More!:

This isn’t the definitive list, of course. As the UX design industry grows, so will the need for experts in engineering, writing, interaction design, video production, editing, QA, and much, much more!

So if you want to get involved in the user experience field but aren’t sure if design is right for you, keep your eyes peeled. You never know just how many ways you can get involved.

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Create a Sample Project

We’ve all seen a post on LinkedIn for an entry-level position where you could get some great hands-on experience and really flex your design chops. The only problem is that they’re asking for a Master's degree in UX/UI design with 7-10 years of experience designing websites for Fortune 500 companies.

(We’re exaggerating for dramatic effect, but you get the picture.)

It’s extremely discouraging when the majority of open positions have the same experience requirements. How do you get involved when seemingly no one wants to take a chance on a hungry newcomer?

Truthfully, the quality of your portfolio matters more than any educational qualifications. But it doesn’t have to be full of client projects. Recruiters just want to evaluate your design chops and awareness of UX best practices.

If you don’t have any official client projects, you can always start by redesigning a digital product of your choice!

Look at a digital product from a brand you know and like. It could be a clothing store you frequently shop at, an app you use daily, an online banking portal, etc. What would you do differently?

Ask yourself:

• “What draws me to this product specifically?”
• “Why do I use this product every day?”
• “What problems do I run into when using this product?”
• “What are the users' goals for this product?”
• “How can I improve the experience of using this product?”

“What draws me to this product specifically?”

“What problems do I run into when using this product?”

“What are the users' goals for this product?”

“How can I improve the experience of using this product?”

Once you thoughtfully answer these questions and conduct some solo research, you can create your version and make suggestions to improve the user experience.

The best thing about a sample project is that you don’t have to get approval from the client every step of the way. It’s your vision, through and through.

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Take a Volunteer Job

Alternatively, if you don’t want to create a website or app that won’t go live, you could always offer your expertise on a volunteer job.

This is a great option if you have a friend or family member with a small business or a personal website. You get the hands-on experience creating a product for a client while supporting a friend in their business ventures!

The added benefit of creating a product for someone you know is that you already understand the brand’s story and their business goals. If their users or customers are also in your personal circle or local community, then you have extra insight into their lifestyles and behaviors.

If you go down this route, take some before and after pictures to show how you improved the design. You’ll also want to take note of some performance metrics. Did the new design help increase sales or account creation? Did it decrease conversion drop-offs? You’ll want to showcase measurable success in creating or redesigning digital products.

Cruise Freelance Job Boards

Once you have a few design examples under your belt, freelance job boards like Dribbble, Behance, and Upwork are a great way to find paying clients and build your professional network.

Most of the listings on job boards are temporary, meaning the company needs to bring on an extra person to fill a gap on their team or take care of a one-off project. 

These aren’t going to be the cushy $60k salaried positions we mentioned earlier. However, these short freelance jobs are a great way to pad out your portfolio with the real client work recruiters want.

In the worst-case scenario, you get to work on a client project and get to know some people in the industry. In the best case, the client is SO impressed with your work that they want to bring you on full-time!

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Practice Different Design Software

About 42% of recruiters agree that the knowledge of UX tools is a major factor in their hiring decisions.

Let’s put it this way: If a company primarily designs products on Figma, they’re more likely to hire you if you have a working knowledge of Figma. If you’ve already mastered Adobe, find employers that mostly design using Adobe.

Try to learn your way around as many design tools as you can while looking for a job and building your portfolio. You can also work on a sample project using a design system for the first time so you can figure out where all the tools, plugins, and keyboard shortcuts are.

Test out a few different tools and software to see which one you feel the most comfortable using. Plus, it’s more work you can add to your portfolio later on!

Find an Internship/Mentor

If the company you’re applying to wants you to have work experience in a specific industry or agency setting, then an internship may be your best bet.

Think of an internship as a rehearsal for your junior UX design job. You’ll probably have to interview with and present your portfolio to a recruiter, but they won’t expect you to have 3-5 years of experience and proven success metrics under your belt.

The whole point of an internship is to learn from the big dogs (or apes, in our case). You get to see a day in the life of a UX designer and understand how your priorities shift throughout the project first-hand.

For example, at an agency, you could build wireframes for an app at the beginning of the day and conduct user interviews for a new SaaS system at the end. Or you could incorporate client feedback to finalize a product and hand it off to the dev team.

At an internship, you’ll learn to be adaptable and flexible to meet the needs of users, stakeholders, and your other team members. You’ll also understand what it’s like to work within timeline and budget constraints to meet deadlines.

When you finish your shadowing period, you’ll have some work experience to list on your resume (as well as some paying clients). And who knows, just like with freelance projects, you could impress them so much that you might score your first salaried gig! Or just get some good references for your resume.
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Build Your Professional Network

We’ve dunked on LinkedIn a little bit in this article, but we don’t hate it at all! It’s a pretty neat platform for showing off your work, finding jobs, and getting to know people in the UX field.

Your LinkedIn profile shouldn’t be a place to flex or brag about your work ethic. Instead, use it to give potential employers a glimpse into your professional life. Post about your work experience (projects, clients, success stories, skills, the works).

You can also join groups for user experience professionals to share your work and digitally mingle with UX designers. Comment on posts, share your insights about best practices, offer feedback, and send a few personalized connection requests while you’re at it.

And, of course, there are job opportunities. On the date of writing this blog (05/16/23), there are 6,000+ open positions for junior UX designers on LinkedIn. That’s not even touching other platforms like Glassdoor and ZipRecruiter!

You can narrow down your choices by preferences like location, remote, etc. When you find a job you’d be a perfect fit for, start sending in your applications! Attach your resume and portfolio pieces so recruiters can quickly evaluate your skills and qualifications.

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Master Common Interview Questions

Congrats! You landed your first interview for a junior UX design job! Pat yourself on the back.

When it comes to prepping for interviews, it helps to practice with a friend or family member to shake off some pre-meeting jitters. But will they ask you the right questions to help you ace your interview?

It’s hard to know exactly what they will ask you, especially if you’re interviewing for a position in a specific industry. We’re not psychic apes, but we can predict some basic questions they might ask you.

Common Interview Questions:

• “Tell me about yourself.”
• Translation: “Do you have the experience needed for this position?”
• “What is UX design?”
• Translation: “Do you understand the value of UX design?”
• “What is the difference between UX and UI?”
• Translation: “Do you know that these terms aren’t interchangeable?”
• “What are some of your favorite digital products?”
• Translation: “Do you understand what makes a good user experience?”
• “What is your process for creating a UX design?”
• Translation: “Do you have an organized, strategic approach to projects?”
• “Tell me about a time you got some negative feedback on a project.”
• Translation: “Can you take criticism and learn from your mistakes?”
• “What are your strengths and weaknesses as a UX designer?”
• Translation: “Will you be successful in this role? How will you continue improving?”
• “How would you improve the UX of (product name)?”
• Translation: “Have you researched the company? Are you thinking ahead?”
• “Do you have any questions for us?”
• Translation: “How interested are you? Do you want to learn more?”

They may have some more questions, but it’s on you to do your due diligence and research the company. Come armed with the knowledge you need to ace your interview.

And above all, BREATHE! You got this!

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Start Your UX Career Off Right

Looking for a junior UX design job is stressful no matter what. Between the competitive market and outlandish experience requirements, it all feels like a little much.

It’s important to remember that recruiters are looking for someone teachable, not someone they’ll have to hand-hold every step of the way. If you come in with some successful project experience, awareness of best practices, and knowledge of design systems, you’ll be a much more attractive candidate.

Finding the right junior UX design job takes time and effort. But with a few solid portfolio pieces and client names for your resume, you can show potential employers that you have the right stuff to make their projects successful.

Think you’ve got what it takes to make it in the jungle? We’re always on the hunt for UX designers to join our shrewdness of apes.

Check out our open positions and apply now!