Most website planning tools that use wireframing to create layouts and prototypes combine UX functionality/content with the design. However, this often leads to the project taking longer because the requirements are not finalized. In addition, requests for change can get expensive quickly and be a hassle to manage. So why not get it right the first time by using Claritee’s data-driven wireframes for your visual requirements?
Claritee separates UX functionality/content from the design and development of product creation. This way, you can achieve in-depth visualizations, interactions, and layout your project with ease.
Read on to learn about the many benefits of separating functionality and content from the design.
What is UX Functionality & Content?
Before discussing the benefits of separating UX functionality/content from design, let’s define our terms.
UX (user experience) functionality is the core of a website that is concerned with how the website actually works. It is based on factual data, and it refers to the planning of what content will be included and where it will be laid out. The UX functionality and content are different from the UI (user interface) design since the design is concerned with how the final product will look.
1. Content Shapes the Product
You may have an idea of what kind of design you need at the start of the project. But chances are, your vision and requirements for the product will change many times by the time it goes to production.
This is why separating the content, and the design process is more efficient. By creating the content first at the layout stage, you will know what will be needed by the time you get to the design stage. This results in a more concise product with fewer iterations. Inserting the content early will shape the product and will guide the design and development of the product. This solution is more efficient than inserting the content at the end and having to adjust the design and development in accordance.
2. Start Simple
When you think of how a house is built, they always start with an in-depth blueprint. Before deciding on details such as the color of the house or the type of flooring, you need to lay out the foundation. This is the obvious sequence of events since the house might change before the finished product. It simply wouldn’t make sense to plan the decorative aspects of the house or start building before finishing the architecture blueprint.
The same is true for digital products. It is more efficient to build the foundation of the product and decide what content is necessary before worrying about the visuals. After all, if the product doesn’t offer the user what they are looking for, what good is it if it’s visually pleasing. By separating the content and the design of a digital product, you will be able to focus on what is necessary and not get distracted by design elements.
3. Will Be Quicker
When working on UX and design simultaneously, the process takes much longer and costs more. You will end up having too many factors changing at once and not keeping track of which design worked best with which layout. Starting the UX and design simultaneously causes unnecessary confusion that can be easily avoided. Deciding what needs to be in the product first and fine-tuning the content before moving on to design and development will save you a significant amount of time and frustration.
4. Easier for Collaboration
The team working together to create a product can be expansive, remote, and always includes people from many different departments. It can be difficult to communicate in-depth and stay product-focused. By including the whole team at the concept stage, each department can give feedback from their point of view. When everyone gives their insights at the beginning, you can discuss, bounce ideas off each other and create the best outcome together, in a world where users expect excellent products.
When the design and UX/content processes are combined, communication is harder, and there tends to be less of a collaborative process. Instead, one department ends up ‘winning’ the ‘argument’ and deciding on the product outcomes. Splitting up the process is also much easier for designers since they will know exactly what needs to be designed and why. Guesswork is minimized.
Claritee has also made live collaboration easier by offering a conversation panel where collaborators can bounce ideas off each other. Team members can also leave notes to one another and mention specific people in the comments.
5. More Cost-Efficient
When the functionality and the design are focused on at the same time, there is usually more confusion that causes the project to drag on longer than it should, resulting in many requests for change. The longer the project takes, the more expensive and frustrating it will be.
More issues arise when a project is not organized from the start. These issues end up costing much more money down the road than if the problems were resolved collaboratively at the planning stage.
Why Use Claritee?
Claritee revolutionizes digital product planning by offering data-driven wireframes for your visual requirements so that you can quickly and easily concentrate on what is needed.
This means that Claritee offers the content you might need for your layouts and you don’t need to go and do the time-consuming research yourself.
Claritee also makes product creation more efficient by allowing teams (Research, UX, UI, Content, Marketing, Development, Product/Project management, Clients & Executives) to efficiently work together from the start. Being part of the process from the start limits misunderstandings and mistakes. Your creativity is limitless with drag and drops sections of content, live collaboration, and interactive previews on the play. These interactive previews give you a real-time view of how your product will work.
