Business Analysts: Synergising with UX Design
Much of the product development world understands the importance of user centric design in their solutions. The UX design team often gets handed the laurel for this. However, the truth is that business analysts (BAs) play a crucial, indispensable but often unseen role in shaping the success of UX design initiatives. If you look deeper, both disciplines aim to understand user needs, optimize processes, and enhance customer satisfaction. Though there is no doubt that UX designers bring customer centric logic into the fold, we must not forget that business owners and their team of workers are customers too. This is where business analysts get the lion’s share of the credit.
Business Analysis: Understanding the Business Process
I recall an experience I had when developing a website for a business owner in the FnB industry. He basically had an idea for a spinoff of one of his services and was excited to see a website happen. It had quite a complex offering. As I developed the website, however, I came to realize that the full business process of his offering lacks clarity at some points. In the end, the final solution was way different from what I had previously designed.
This is where business analysts would come in. They play a critical role in the pre-development stages, gathering data requirements, analyzing processes, and developing the strategies to optimize business operations, in a way that can seamlessly be translated to an online process. The development process as a whole might take a little longer, but the thrust forward has more significance and is more productive.
Putting A Roadmap for the User
If we look at the relationship between business analysts and ux designers in crafting a user journey as a road map, you can pinpoint the role of each discipline. The business analyst pinpoints the important buildings and cross junctions the user will come across. The UX designer then plans the route that allows for the most seamless journey possible. Both have eyes on the end goal, the user interaction that they aim to accomplish.
The roadmap, however, cannot be accomplished in one sitting. Hence, the relationship between business analysis and UX design is iterative in nature. It stays throughout the development lifecycle, both disciplines continuously refining their understanding of user needs, market dynamics, and business objectives. This iterative feedback loop ensures that the product evolves, addressing emerging requirements and staying aligned with user expectations.
Conclusion
The collaboration between business analysts and UX designers is a powerful alliance that drives the success of product development initiatives. By integrating their perspectives, organizations can create products that align with business goals while delivering exceptional user experiences.
Understanding this relationship has brought a significant degree of success for Aria Data Labs. As such our service offering often utilises this relationship to ensure the success of your business development projects. Get in touch with us to know more about what we can offer you!
Armen R Rahman
Design & Communications
With nearly two decades of experience in the creative industry, Armen's skill and talent covers a wide scope of endeavours; online and offline design work, film making, music production and writing are just some of his forte.
He considers good design as part of good communication (and vice versa!) and that the satisfaction can and should be derived at every point of the user experience, from the outreach messaging, the tech solution itself and the human touch at points of need.
In his spare time, he actively participates in foam dart flinging as a sport and music production as a downtime hobby.