How Do We Convey UX to Muggles

Oftentimes when I say I work in UX, I get a blank stare followed by the question: “What does UX mean?”

It’s user experience.

“Okay, what does that mean?”

I design the layouts of things you interact with on screens. This dumbed down answer seems to appease some muggles, but oftentimes, they get more confused. Worse, if I am speaking to someone in the industry, I receive the response, “You can just say UX. I know what it means.”

Okay. Where is the middle ground? How do we as designers and developers bridge the gap?

First we must learn how to convey what we do for those who have no idea about our industry.

I use the analogy I used with my father. He is 72 and has no idea about anything technological. He comes from the generation of “Phones should only be used to call people. Why do they need to do anything else?” Multifunctional purpose is lost to him, and it takes him a very long time to adopt new technologies.

Dad, I say, think of design as a painter. The painter uses tools such as paintbrushes, canvases, and paint, but she does not build her own canvas. She uses products other people have created to make her masterpiece. The painter is the designer. The paint and paintbrushes are front end developers. The canvas is back end developers.

He gets it. How do we make everyone else get it?

Time

Computer coding has been around since the invention of Charles Babbage’s difference engine in 1822. You would program the machine to compute a certain task. In order to change the calculation the machine made, you would manually have to switch gears.

Then in 1949, Short Code appeared. It was the first code for electrical machines. Short Code used binary code and the industry changed. Nevertheless, the coder had to transform their code by hand into zeros and ones.

In 1957 FORTRAN was created. It was a widely adopted computer programming language and humans were able to complete tasks faster through the punch card method. As so happens with the rapidity of technology, the punch card method was made obsolete by disks and terminals.

In the 1970s, C was created. In 1983, C++ was released to enhance C through faster computing times but with more capabilities. C++ is primarily used for gaming.

Flash forward to now and we can see that coding is booming. Galvanize and many other coding bootcamps are making fortunes by rapidly teaching students how to code. Galvanize and programs like it incentivize prospective students to change their career based on coding salaries of $90,000–$100,000. People are willing to invest $16,000 or more to make 6 figures.

Additionally, many affluent parents I have spoken with want their kids to learn how to code. They put their 8 year-old in coding camps over the summer and have after school coding tutors for their 10 year-old. “My son is a coder” now carries the same weight as “My son is a lawyer.” It is respected.

How do we get designers to be grouped in there as well?

Advertising

The other day I watched an ad on television that claimed, “Beautiful user interface!” I found it to be quite odd since that is not only a big advertisement to live up to but also the target audience was not the tech industry. It appeared as if their customers would have no idea what they marketing. If their customers did, does marketing a beautiful interface set your company up for failure?

I think so. If the interface fails at least one time, the customer is less likely to trust that brand. In addition, UI is subjective. If someone doesn’t like the UI because they don’t like blue, then again they won’t trust your brand.

Market to the needs of your users, not what you think your user needs.

Branding

I have found that tech savvy people enjoy networking and the interconnectedness of the industry. We have to keep abreast of newly released technology and updates to succeed.

As an industry, we should use that love for social connection and meet some non-tech savvy people. Happily explain to them about the painter, the paintbrushes, and canvas to promote understanding. The more we can brand ourselves as an industry, the less likely we are to experience the user who doesn’t know what UX or UI is. The more informed our muggle friends are about us, the more we can grow as an industry.