What is User Experience Engineering?
In fall 2016, I started my first work experience as a front-end engineer trainee, the path that probably every computer engineering student will take sooner or later.
Gradually, when I entered the job market, I learned more about the field of user experience design and got interested in it. The topics and attractions led me to distance myself from programming and step into the field of design. I chose design as my only specialty and made it the highest priority in my career path. Through each problem, new challenges, products, and diverse ideas that I worked on as a designer, there were points where I had to refer to my technical knowledge. Having insight into new design systems, different frameworks, new implementation methods, technical limitations in web application development, etc, made me never separate myself from programming until I entered the hiring process at Divar for the position of User Experience Engineer (UXE). I wouldn’t be wrong in saying that I had no idea about it before that. But when I saw the job description and the task I had to do for the second interview stage, I realized that this was exactly what I was sometimes doing, but I didn’t really know about it. As a UXE at Divar, I have to apply my technical knowledge to designing and developing a bridge between designers and developers across different Divar teams. This article is not simply about my path to this position and my personal experiences. And it is a window into this role and the process and cases that occur in it. A job that I consider to be one of the few with a variety of challenges and new experiences daily.
Who is a User Experience Engineer? From Design to Development
A typical UXE is a designer or developer who collaborates between engineering and design. They bring together technical knowledge, problem-solving skill, and aesthetic design. The prototyping process combines the engineering language and design and leads quickly to a final result. The ultimate goal of a user experience engineer is to minimize guesswork and improve the effectiveness of the design process.
Where is the User Experience Engineer located?
Since UX engineers, just like UX designers, seek to transform problems into practical solutions, they need to understand the full scope of the projects and all the factors affecting the users to achieve their goals. They should be familiar with the basic user experience guidelines and the technical terms of building a digital product. Also, due to the interdisciplinary nature of this position, their executive decisions affect the product (or the business), and that’s why they must be close to the product team and stakeholders.
What do I do as a User Experience Engineer?
As I mentioned, one of the most fascinating aspects of this position is its wide range of tasks and challenges. In short:
- Designing, developing, and maintenance of the design system
- Assessing design development
- Design and implementation of micro-interactions
- Ensuring accessibility
- Providing optimal solutions for responsive design
Why do we need a User Experience Engineer?
A UXE provides technical recommendations regarding what is feasible. Their job includes understanding developer needs, defining and designing animations and micro-interactions, and preparing assets for programmers using high-fidelity prototypes and a ready-to-use, detailed design. So development time will be decreased, and with the validation of design and evaluation, refactoring will be reduced.
What skills do we need as a User Experience Engineer?
If we assume that design and engineering are two ends of one thing, the UXE connects these two points like a bridge. Therefore, we must obtain the necessary skills for both points at an optimal level such as :
- Understanding design patterns
- Understanding user-centered design
- Working with design tools such as Sketch and Figma.
- HTML, CSS, and JavaScript experience
- Responsive programming experience
- Experience testing and understanding user scenarios in design
- Experience with version control and working with tools like Git.
- A systematic view of product development and design
- The ability to quickly switch between various tasks
- Identifying design limitations based on product technical infrastructure
Finally
To become a UXE, you must practice and gain experience as in any other profession. You should learn the skills listed above, stay current on technology trends, and keep your technical knowledge up to date. Get to know the challenges that programmers face from the design point of view. Have a portfolio that showcases your work in various areas. Learn how to create ideas and share your thoughts and concerns with others. Developing communication, problem-solving, and proactive skills help you as a UXE. Along with independence in your work, you also need to work well with multiple teams.
