What Is User Experience Design?

User experience design is a vast, multidisciplinary and fascinating field. It shapes the products and services we use on a daily basis, and can make or break the success of a business or brand. We’ll provide the ultimate introduction to UX design and tell you everything you need to know about getting started in this exciting industry.

User experience design

Difference between UX and UI design

It’s important to outline that user interface design is not the same as UX design. UI refers to the actual interface of a product the visual design of the screens a user navigates through when using a mobile app, or the buttons they click when browsing a website.

History of UX design

On a mission to make human labor more efficient, Taylor conducted extensive research into the interactions between workers and their tools just like UX designers today investigate how users interact with products and services.

UX design disciplines the quadrant model

UX is a broad umbrella term that can be divided up into four main disciplines: Experience Strategy, Interaction Design User Research and Information Architecture.

Experience strategy

UX design is not just about the end user; it also brings huge value to the business providing the product or service. Experience strategy is all about devising a holistic business strategy, incorporating both the customer’s needs and those of the company.

Interaction design

Interaction design looks at how the user interacts with a system, considering all interactive elements such as buttons, page transitions and animations. Interaction designers seek to create intuitive designs that allow the user to effortlessly complete core tasks and actions.

User research

UX design is all about identifying a problem and designing the solution. This requires extensive research and feedback from existing or potential customers.

What does a UX designer do?

Design thinking process

The designer then uses this feedback to identify the user’s goals, emotions, pain-points and behaviors. The designer considers information architecture and uses various techniques, such as card sorting, to map out user flows.

What tools do UX designers use?

UX designers rely on a number of different tools as they go about their work. At the research and inspiration stage, they will use survey and polling tools as well as video chat software to interview users and gather as much information as possible.

What kinds of projects do UX designers work on?

As the tech industry grows, the field of UX design is becoming increasingly varied. UX designers can find themselves working on a wide range of projects within various contexts.

Value of UX design

Among the many UX myths and misconceptions is the erroneous assumption that UX design is just a fad. From a user perspective, good UX design ultimately enables us to go about our daily lives as effortlessly as possible. From setting an alarm to chatting with friends online, listening to music or using a calendar app, the ease with which we complete these actions is the result of good design.

Conclusion

It’s important to do plenty of reading and research, to get to know the UX workflow, familiarize yourself with industry tools and build up a solid design portfolio. The most effective way to prepare for a career in UX is by taking a structured course and working on practical projects.