A Little Goes A Long Way
An Interview with a UX Designer
Why UX Design Matters to an Industrial Engineer
Industrial Engineers learn how to improve processes and systems to make them better and more efficient. I am specifically interested in the human factors/ergonomics aspect of Industrial Engineering (IE). This means I like to solve problems for the good, comfort, and safety of people. As an IE student, I don’t have much exposure to UX design. However, I had the opportunity to take a course in Human Centered Design and Engineering, which focused on the design process for products and services. While a student in the class, I chose to interview a UX designer to learn how inclusive design impacts a working professional in the context of interfaces. Alongside, I wanted to understand how the process of UX design considers its users. These insights, I believed, would help me find ways to improve processes and systems because I would have a better understanding of the people involved — designers and users alike.
The following conversation details one UX designer’s perspective on inclusive design and how inclusivity influences her workspace. This designer is a graduate of the University of California in San Diego who majored in Communications and minored in Economics. She currently works as a designer at a private agency, focusing on a range of UX work from research and wireframes to usability testing and prototyping.
Why did you go into the design industry?
I was previously a Business Operations Analyst at a startup. My team was part of a round of layoffs, so I decided it was a good time to reevaluate and reflect on my career goals. I identified the parts of my previous jobs that I did and didn’t enjoy. Through research, I realized I had been doing a lot of work that involved UX thinking without knowing anything about UX. Those were the parts of jobs that I enjoyed most. I wish I had learned about it earlier! I decided to pursue UX Design and enrolled in a certificate program.
What does the term ‘inclusive design’ mean to you?
“To me inclusive design is a design that considers diversity whether it’s gender, age, language, culture, ability, goals etc. Not only considering this in the end product, but also in the design process itself and the people involved in designing/building it. By understanding many different perspectives, the design would hopefully improve ease of use to as many people as possible.”
How do you incorporate inclusivity in your work? Within your company?
“The most direct experience I’ve had with inclusive design is with the accessibility aspect. There are technical criteria for making a website accessible — to follow and meet certain guidelines. For example, it’s often a requirement to provide image ALT text for users with disabilities, but how can that ALT text be written to communicate information to users in the most helpful way?
I try to bring a user-focused mindset to this work by not only meeting criteria, but advocating for the full accessibility potential of a design. I also try to keep my personal biases in mind when thinking about solutions, especially when we’re not able to do a full research process and talk to users.”
What did you learn about ALT text?
“It should be to the point, but also describe the context and function of the image. For example, describing ‘Search’ instead of ‘Magnifying glass’ for a search button. ALT text that’s written simply as duplicate of text that’s already in the content or including ‘image of’ in the ALT text usually isn’t necessary, as this will result in a screen reader reading out repetitive content.”
How do you advocate for the full accessibility potential of a design?
“By having discussions about it, even if it’s not explicitly a requirement.”
Where do you believe the future of design is going?
“The current COVID-19 pandemic has forced a lot of teams to adapt quickly and provide solutions and designs for new and evolving user needs and goals. I think the future of design will involve considering the changes of users after the pandemic. I think it’ll be interesting to see what the long-term psychological/behavioral changes of users will be and how those changes will affect products and experiences, digital and otherwise.”
It’s All in the Details
It goes without saying that making a design inclusive is not simply a one-and-done process; there is far more thought behind successfully integrating inclusiveness and function to create a cohesive and accessible user interface. My conversation with a UX designer greatly helped me appreciate the value of UX design. There are nuances and subtleties in the design process that can be easily seen as an instinctual choice.
For example, it would make sense to input ‘image of magnifying glass’ with ALT text because that’s exactly what it is. However, as I learned, that would be redundant. ‘Search’ would be more accessible because it effectively describes the function of the search button.
Small details like this make or break an accessible design. The more thought put into a design, the more inclusive it can be. And the more inclusive we can be, the better the world can be.
Further Reading
Be sure to check out the article that inspired my interviewee’s thoughts about the future of design here!
Sources
https://www.hfes.org/about-hfes/what-is-human-factorsergonomics
