What is UX design, and why is it important?
What is UX Design?
UX is another one of those most heard buzzwords in today’s tech industry, but what is it? It’s essential to start by stating there’s no commonly accepted definition for UX design. User experience (UX) design is the process design teams used to create products and services that provide purposeful and pertinent experiences. UX design focuses on the interaction between users and everyday products and services, such as websites, mobile apps, web apps, and even a household appliance (perhaps a coffee machine with an LCD). Holistically, a UX design concerns itself with the entire process of acquiring and integrating a product’s branding, design functionality, and usability (all the precursors before the product reaches a user’s hands). You can imagine that designing interaction for many different users might be a challenge, emphasizing the importance of UX designs and UX designers.
The goal of UX design in business is to “improve customer satisfaction and loyalty through the utility, ease of use, and pleasure provided in the interaction with a product.
— Oxford Journal of Interacting With Computers
In other words, excellent UX design increases the user’s perception of your product’s value by optimizing for user-friendliness in all aspects of the design.
UX History
The term user experience was first coined by Don Norman in the early ’90s (in his book “The Design of Everyday Things”). Norman was an electrical engineer and cognitive scientist at Apple before becoming the tech giant it is today. While working as a user experience architect, he developed and promoted a “user-centered design process” that placed the users’ needs at the forefront of product creation — a unique concept at the time. Think of UX designers as advocates for their users, researching, iterating, and testing various design solutions.
UX Fundamentals
UX Designers make products and technology usable, enjoyable, and accessible to users. They must consider the “Why,” “What,” and “How” of a product’s use cases. The ‘Why’ involves the users’ motivation for using a product or service, whether they relate it to a task, wish to perform with it, or value and views that users associate with the ownership and use of the product. The ‘What’ addresses the things people can do with a product, primarily the functionality. And last, the ‘How’ relates to the aesthetic design of the product.
A user-centered design is an iterative process where a UX designer understands the users and their context as a starting point for all design and development. To design for human users means that you have to work with a heightened scope regarding accessibility and accommodate many potential users’ limitations, such as reading small text. UX designers are advocates for users’ and must keep the users’ needs at the center of all designs and efforts while bridging the gap between the users, the development team, and key business stakeholders.
What makes a UX good?
There is no single definition of what is considered a good user experience. Instead, a good UX can be regarded as one that meets a specific user’s needs in particular contexts where/when they use the product or service.
Final Words
UX design is not limited to technology companies. Businesses from every industry are starting to realize the difference they can make in their products and services with proper UX design. UX designers help businesses create products that solve problems for their customers. UX design helps people solve problems through an empathy-driven approach that makes the world a more user-friendly place by removing obstacles and friction from a user’s desired goal and outcome.
We’re Here to Help
At M&S Consulting, we understand that UX design is essential to the success of technology products or projects. Our team of world-class technologists and UX Designers can help you create the optimal experience for your users. Whether you’re looking to take the next step, ask questions, or want a general consultation, we’d love to help! Visit our website (www.mandsconsulting.com) to learn more today.
