Denis Dyli is the founder of Uncap, a digital agency that specializes in designing and developing e-commerce websites. He has more than eight years of UX and user interface (UI) design and development experience, and most recently delved into customer experience design. We chatted with him about what it takes to be a CX designer and how managers can recruit the right talent for this role.What does your role as a CX designer entail?My main job is to design blueprints including wireframes, roadmaps, workflows, personas and scenarios of websites that have an enhanced customer experience and higher results on metrics such as conversion rates and customer engagement. I analyze the audience, customer behavior and what things affect their decision-making, and then build around these key metrics. In a few words, I am a designer that solves problems.
What path did you take to become a CX designer?
I started my career as a developer. It is interesting because most of the people I know try to move from design to development. I did the opposite. And the reason was because I started seeing development as more mechanical than creative. I found out that most issues can be solved before the development starts, and was very enthusiastic about handling projects in the early stages. For a while, I was doing UX, UI and development. Being a developer is a huge plus for me because I know the potential and limits of applying technology. A lot of that shows up in replatforming work now, like moving a store off Shopware, where the design only works if the technical foundation can support it.
What hard and soft skills do you use regularly?
Besides being creative, I have to listen carefully to the problems our clients are facing. Most of the time, issues get identified after long discussions about whole project workflows. We can't isolate problems and solve them separately. Instead, we have to see the big picture. Communication is as important as the ability to use UX and UI tools.
What tools and platforms do you use in your job?
Mostly, I use the Adobe Creative Suite (Dreamweaver, Fireworks, Illustrator, and Photoshop). Recently, I am using a tool named UxPin, which allows me to create creative dynamic models for web and mobile.
What's the best part of the CX designer job?
First, when you present a new effective and creative idea to the client and you get the "wow" response. Second, when the idea is applied and you see significant results, like higher conversion rates and customer engagement or longer time spent on the site. Those results only hold when the systems behind the store agree, which is why an Odoo integration that keeps inventory and pricing accurate matters as much as the interface.
What's the most challenging aspect of the role?
There are certain practices that work very well for certain industries and others that don't. As an example, in the apparel industry, professional photos and good reviews are essential to improve conversion rates because the shopping process is mostly visual. In the auto parts industry, these two elements have minimal effect. What really matters here is the ability to easily find the exact part for a specific car. If the searching workflow and functionality are simple and precise, you have more chances to earn that customer. So, the most challenging aspect of my job is to identify the best practices of the particular industry and product early on the discovery phase.
Any last tips for CX designers?
You have to stay up to date with the most recent design and technology trends. It is also important to follow the leaders of UX and UI blogs to see what is new out there. Last but not least, keep apprised of updates from popular web giants such as Google, Facebook and Amazon. They do tons of research, tests and analyses when they update their platforms. Try to understand why they do what they do and then apply these practices in your future projects. This piece began as an interview with our founder on user experience, and you can learn more about the team behind Uncap on our about page. Original Article
