UX Design Explained

Published in

Rootsly

5 min readFeb 12, 2017

Source: http://www.howdesign.com/featured/ux-design-paradox/

In recent years, user experience has become a popular term in the tech industry, however there are many misconceptions and myths surrounding the field of UX and a general lack of understanding of how it adds value.

Don Norman, often described as the first UX professional defines user experience as “encompassing all aspects of the end-user’s interaction with the company, its services, and its products”. According to Norman the first requirement for a great user experience is to meet the exact needs of the customer. Next comes simplicity and elegance that produce products that are a joy to own and use. To achieve a high-quality user experience in a companies offerings there must be a seamless merging of multiple disciplines, including engineering, marketing, graphical and industrial design, and interface design.

Don Norman gives his opinion on the origin of the team UX in this video.

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9BdtGjoIN4E

Why is UX important?

Many studies have shown the value of user experience and this is reflected in investment in UX by some of the most successful companies on the world today like Apple, Google, amazon, AirBnB to name but a few.

When Google was founded, Larry Page and Sergey Brin wrote down their believes in the form of “Ten things we know to be true”. Number one on the list is “Focus on the user and all else will follow”. They believe in providing the best user experience possible with a focus on serving the user and simplicity.

Steve Jobs introduced a concept of UX design which integrated the needs of the consumer, involved complete satisfaction in using the product, and proved profitable for the business.

“Most people make the mistake of thinking design is what it looks like. People think it’s this veneer — that the designers are handed this box and told, ‘Make it look good!’ That’s not what we think design is. It’s not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works.” — Steve Jobs

The ROI of UX

User experience can reduce development inefficiencies.

Source: http://visual.ly/roi-ux-user-experience-making-strong-business-case-ux

Usability activities help you save making changes later on when it’s too expensive or too late…

5 proven ROI gains from User Experience

User Experience has a long history of building brands

Companies who focus on User Experience perform better financially

The bottom line: Good User Experience is Good for Business

What are the UX Roles Within the User Experience Field?

Source: https://lizjasko.com/2014/04/19/whats-a-ux-designer-to-you/

Matthew Magain, co-founder of UXMastery.com and UX consultant explains that the specific roles on a UX project are defined by many factors including budget, timeframe, the combined experience of the team, organisational culture, support from management, legacy, industry, complexity of the software and personal opinion. Some consistent roles/specialisations for a UXer working on a web project include:

User Researcher: focuses on tasks such as conducting user interviews, interviews, behaviour analysis;
Information Architect: focuses on tasks such as how to organise site content, how search should work, what labels to use on menus;
Content Specialist: focuses on tasks such as copywriting, how to structure content to be deployed on different devices, microcopy on headings & buttons;
Interaction Designer: focuses on tasks such as what screens should go where in an app, and how a user flows through them. Also transitions between screens, often inspired by real-world paradigms (page curls, sliding windows etc.);
Visual Designer: focuses on typography, layout, colour, graphics, visual effects, imagery, texture, mood;

UX versus UI

Source: http://www.uzu-media.com/blog/2016/5/27/ui-design-vs-ux-design

Rahul Varshney, co-creater of foster.fm puts it: “User Experience (UX) and User Interface (UI) are some of the most confused and misused terms in our field. A UI without UX is like a painter slapping paint onto canvas without thought; while UX without UI is like the frame of a sculpture with no paper mache on it. A great product experience starts with UX followed by UI. Both are essential for the product’s success.”

Emil Lamprecht, the founder of CareerFoundry sums it well in his blog post. UX Design is the process of improvement of quality interaction between a user and all facets of a company, while UI Design produces a products:

Skin: visual/graphic representation.
Senses — a product’s reactivity and interactivity in response to a user’s input or different display environments.
Makeup — a product’s guides, hints, and directives that visually leads users through their experience.

Hopefully this article was helpful in providing some clarity to the world of UX Design.