What is UX design?

If you keep up with the tech space, you have probably heard the term UX Design before. Some people usually lump it together with UI (User Interface Design), hence the common term UI/UX. However, they are different.

So, what exactly is UX design?
UX design is short for User Experience Design. Do you remember that app you find extremely difficult to navigate? That happens when a user experience designer does a poor job.

User Experience Design deals with designing the user’s experience when using a product. The goal of UX design is to meet the needs of the user.

Users who enjoy their experience when using a product are likely to keep using that product. On the other hand, if the experience is not worthwhile, the user will likely stop using the product, especially if there are better alternatives. And trust me, in the increasingly competitive business world, there are always alternatives.

We can apply UX Design to anything with the ‘experience’ factor. It could be an app on your phone or your favorite convenience store. As long as there is an interaction between a user and a particular product or service, User Experience Design is crucial.

So how exactly does one go about designing the user experience?
UX design involves a lot of research.
The designer has to understand the target user. What are their goals? What are their pain points?

After identifying a problem the target users face, the designer then solves it with the product. The UX Designer also has to visualize how a user might use the product. For this, a low-fidelity prototype or sketch is used. After that, the UI designers can then work on high-fidelity prototypes.

UX designers test these prototypes to validate their ideas and test for possible usability issues. If there are any problems, they return to the drawing board and redesign the experience until they get it right.