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UI/UX, User Experience Design, User Interface Design

How to Enhance creativity in UI UX Design

Posted by Ravi Talajiya on 30 Aug, 2023

Are you a UX designer? Do you sometimes feel exhausted? Do you sometimes feel like you need more creative ideas to work on? Do you need more imagination sometimes?

Well, you are not alone. It has happened with many UX designers who feel like it sometimes, and it is a perfectly normal situation.

However, user experience plays a huge role in software or web development. Without a seamless user experience, your visitors will abandon the website and not return.

For each dollar you spend on UX, you will get $100 in return.

Not just that, research reveals that 88% of visitors will only come back to your website if they have a good user experience.

Hence, it is essential for UX designers to beat creative blocks.

Fostering creativity is essential, so you need to think out-of-the-box. There are various ways you can develop exciting and creative ideas to design the best user interfaces that offer an out-of-the-world experience to your visitors.

Today, in this post, we will discuss creative ways to foster creativity while designing UXs for your website or software.

Improve collaboration between teams.

You need to have a good working relationship with your colleagues. This is the first and foremost requirement for creative UX design. It will be challenging for you to create an outstanding UX if you don't collaborate with your teammates.

Here, I am talking about other UX designers in your team and other stakeholders, such as developers, quality analysts, project managers, and others. You can share your ideas with them and get genuine, productive feedback. It will help you work towards the same goal.

Try to listen to more of what they have to say about your ideas. Have the right attitude, and they will feel free to share their opinions and suggestions with you.

Think like your target audience.

Being a UX designer, you must research your target audience. If not, it will be difficult for you to design user-centric UX. This is an interesting step to follow for overcoming creative block.

Research their likes, dislikes, interests, age, gender, and other aspects to design the best UXs that cater to your target audience.

You need to know what your target audience is to avoid ending up going nowhere.

Also, when you know your target audience, you can put your foot in their shoes. You will be able to think like your target audience. It will help you develop various ideas that might work for them. Understand their pain points, and you will know how to address them.

Recreate UI

Recreating existing UIs can also be an excellent option to work on. Many expert designers do that. However, we are not encouraging you to design a replica. We can take inspiration from the existing UI and bridge the visible gaps.

For example, if the existing design is cluttered, you can use the same design with some modifications that address the cluttered ness. Work on spaces and other minor details and let the creativity flow with some new changes in fonts, layouts, and other micro-details.

Recreating UIs is an excellent idea to make sure you are manageable with a completely new design from scratch.

Embrace uncertainty

Treat uncertainty as an opportunity to come up with something meaningful and creative. You need to change your perspective, and you are good to go. Following the same design routines will make you static. Don't fall into this trap. Choose a new clean canvas to draw a painting, and you will have the sky to experiment with.

Stay updated with the new design trends and refer to new websites and mobile apps for inspiration. Uncertainty will come, but use it to go beyond your imagination.

Entertain crazy ideas

If your teammates have crazy UX ideas, don't just laugh them off. Instead, think about whether the idea is worth the shot or not. A great idea looks like a crazy one when we hear it for the first time. Encourage new ideas amongst the team and let the creativity blossom.

You can develop exciting games to foster creative ideas among the team, such as a paper game. Ask each team member to draw a sketch for a creative UX design on paper. Let them come up with crazy, even unrealistic ideas. Who might come up with a tremendous game-changer idea?

Being a UX designer, you need to act like a problem-solver. When you understand the people's needs, limitations, and problems, you will be able to come up with high-quality and creative UX designs. Let the ideas flow on your floor, no matter how foolish they seem!

Follow the latest UI UX design trends.

What are the latest design trends that you should follow? You can find design ideas and trends on various online forums and websites. These design trends will help you stay updated with what other world-class designers are doing.

Explore different design disciplines.

Though you are a UX designer, you should look beyond traditional UX designs. Checking out the latest trends in graphic design, architecture, fashion, etc., can help you draw some inspiration.

Expanding your horizons can help you experiment with colors, fonts, layouts, and shapes. You can develop fresh ideas and perspectives by diversifying your inspiration sources. It will take you a long journey.

Break away from traditional approaches.

Being an innovative UX designer means breaking away from traditional approaches and developing new concepts and ideas. You can also use this when you hire UX designers for your team. Do they have something new to try on, or are they happy with traditional design approaches? It will tell you a lot about the candidate.

Keep a design journal.

Do you have a design journal or library with stored UX design ideas and concepts? If not, have one. The human mind tends to forget things easily. If you come across an idea for your next creative UX design project, note it in a design journal. If you are surfing the internet and come across some fantastic color palettes or UI elements, save them for the future: Bookmark various design pages you like and store images on your computer. Also, you can write down your ideas, sketch concepts, and design solutions for future reference.

The next time you face a creative block, you can get help from this library or journal.

Understand and address pain points.

This is a very crucial point to remember. No matter how creative an idea is, it is only helpful if it addresses the issues. An ideal UX designer always keeps the needs of users in mind. Addressing their pain points is your priority. Learn their expectations and desires. Design your UX accordingly, and you can justify the task excellently.

For example, if your target audience likes fewer login steps, you must develop social media login options to complete the login process with a single click. You don't have to be a creative person there. All you need to do is cater to the needs of your end-users, and you will have a great UX design that your audience will love.

If you are designing a website for startups, they have other expectations. On the other hand, when you are designing a website for an enterprise, they have different sets of expectations. You can address them seamlessly once you understand their expectations and pain points.

Don't go for a cluttered design.

Do you like uncluttered design? You know the answer. No one likes it!

Design a user interface that looks clean, uncluttered, and simple. Sometimes, simple things look beautiful and enticing. On the other hand, an uncluttered design will confuse your audience. They will only abandon the website if they take action. It is your loss.

Use Storyboards

Though script writers or directors mostly use storyboards for movies, you can also go for them to draw inspiration. You will come to know what the user's journey will look like. It might give you some valuable insights that you can work on to derive a perfect creative UX design.

Many UX designers have now started using storyboards. It gives them a real-time update about how a particular design will look like.

Experiment with each idea before abandoning it.

Keep an idea even if it does not look realistic and practical. Instead, brainstorm with your team before you abandon the idea. If the idea has a spark, it might catch your attention while discussing it. Remember, unique ideas look crazy when you hear them for the first time. So, please don't take chances and work on ideas before you feel it is better to drop them off.

Conclusion

It is vital for UX designers to beat creative blocks and come up with highly original and trendsetter ideas. Fostering creativity is crucial in any department, especially the design one. Keep hope and keep things we discussed in this post, and you will have the best design ideas to entice and woo your audience.

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