1. Concept
Write down what the product is for, who it serves and what success looks like, in a page. Then sketch the main screens on paper or a whiteboard. The goal is shared understanding, not pretty pictures. Free tools: FigJam or Miro for the whiteboard; a Google Doc for the brief.
2. Research
Talk to five to eight people who match the intended users. Ask what they do today, what frustrates them, what they would need to switch. Look at competitors with the same lens. Read support tickets and analytics if the product exists. Free tools: Google Forms for surveys; Google Meet to record interviews; a spreadsheet to tag what you heard.
3. Define
Turn research into decisions: the user flows, the information architecture, the list of screens and what each must contain. This is where wireframes happen, deliberately without colour or fonts. Free tools: Figma's free tier for wireframes; Whimsical or FigJam for flows and sitemaps.
4. Prototype
Apply the visual design and connect screens so a person can click through the main tasks. Mobile first. This is the deliverable clients comment on in every GoDesign project; the S-Line platform was refined entirely in a live Figma file before a line of code. Free tools: Figma's prototyping, which is enough for almost every website.
5. Test
Give five people a task and watch. Note where they hesitate and what they say. Fix the prototype, test again. After launch, keep testing with real data. Free tools: Maze's free tier for unmoderated tests; Google Meet for moderated ones; Google Analytics 4 and Microsoft Clarity for post-launch behaviour, including free session recordings.
| Step | Output | Free tool |
|---|---|---|
| Concept | One-page brief, sketches | FigJam, Google Docs |
| Research | Interview notes, competitor audit | Google Forms, Meet, Sheets |
| Define | Flows, sitemap, wireframes | Figma, Whimsical |
| Prototype | Clickable mobile-first design | Figma |
| Test | Findings and fixes | Maze, Clarity, GA4 |
Common questions
- Do small websites need a UX process?
- A short one, yes. Even a five-page site benefits from a written brief, a wireframe and one round of testing with outsiders. Skipping those is why so many sites are rebuilt within two years.
- Is Figma free for UX work?
- Figma's free plan covers design, prototyping and a limited number of files, which is enough for a single project. Teams working on several projects at once usually move to a paid seat.
- How many users do I need to test with?
- Five per round finds most usability problems, as Nielsen Norman Group's research has shown for decades. Two rounds of five beat one round of ten.
