What the heck is UX Design?

And what does a UX Designer actually do?

These are difficult questions to answer,

because if you ask 5 different people,

you're going to get 5 different answers.

In this talk, I'm not only going to explain

what UX Design is, but also why I believe

you should find out more about it, regardless

of your job.

UX, obviously, stands for

User Experience. And when we say "user experience",

we're referring to the what, when, where,

why, and how someone uses a product, as well

as who that person is. So: what, when,

where, why, how, and who: these cover the

user experience of a product, which is

pretty much everything that affects a

user's interaction with that product.

So as you can imagine, a UX Designer,

which is someone who designs these

interactions, is constantly asking a ton

of questions. If you're someone who

naturally questions things, UX Design

could be a great career for you, because

it's the answers to these questions

that shape a product's design.

Of course it's not all about the

user's needs. UX Designers need to take

into account a business's needs as well.

It's no use having a product that people

love, if it doesn't help a business

achieve its goals. That's not a product,

that's a side project. A UX Designer aims

for that sweet spot where user needs and

business needs overlap. So how do they

do this, other than by asking a lot of

questions? Well, a UX Designer follows

what's called a user-centred design

process. We use a set of tools and

techniques to take the user's needs

into account at every stage of the

product's lifecycle. I'm going to repeat that,

because it's a bit of a mouthful when

you hear it for the first time:

a user-centred design process takes the

user's needs into account at every stage

of the product lifecycle.

I say product, because these techniques apply

to web apps, mobile apps, desktop apps, or

even physical objects.

OK. So that's all well and good, but

why should you care? I'm going to give

you four reasons why I believe this stuff

matters so much, and this list doesn't

include the one, which is the fact that

paying attention to UX results in you

building a product that's awesome, instead

of one that people hate using. Hopefully

that's a given. The reasons why I think you

should learn more about UX are:

1) You're probably doing some of this

already. One thing I've learned is that when

you understand how it is that you do what

you do, you become infinitely better at it.

Like the fable about the centipede who,

when asked how it was that he walked,

couldn't give an answer. But when he

picked himself up, and examined and

flexed each of his hundred legs, he

danced the most beautiful dance in the world.

Here's Number 2: user-centred design is a

process, which means it's practically

scientific! It's like taking the scientific

method, using analysis and measurement, and

applying it to humans and their behaviour.

And that's fascinating to me - this notion

that designers are artistic geniuses with
a

penchant for cutting off their own ear ...

it's nonsense! This is a science! Well, a

quasi-science. Which leads me to the third

reason that UX matters: it's not that hard.

Especially for people who are already

technically inclined. I don't want to go

putting myself out of a job here, but you

know what? This stuff is not rocket surgery,

to borrow from Steve Krug. Anyone can learn

the basics of user testing and card sorting

and writing scenarios and creating wireframes.

It's actually very straightforward.

Which is a good segue to the fourth reason

you should care about UX, and that's that
...

it's fun! This stuff is fascinating! A career

as a UX Designer is interesting, it's challenging,

it's rewarding, it pays well, and there's
a very

low barrier to entry.

A lot of people feel uncomfortable calling

themselves a "designer", because they're no

good at choosing a typeface or a colour

palette. Get over it! UX Design is the

design behind the visuals. Visual design is

just one small part of it. It's an important

part, but some of the best UX Designers I
know

actually aren't that great at visual design,

but they're really good at those other areas

that are so important.

And that's pretty much it. So while you

might hear terms like information architect,
user

interface designer, interaction designer or

usability specialist, these can all be considered

UX professionals. Now they might specialise

in marketing or technology, or maybe they
come

from a user research, social media, or even

customer support background. Either way,

they're all asking a ton of questions, and

following a quasi-scientific process to do

the design behind the visuals.

And they're having a blast doing it!

So that's what I'd like to leave you with:

that if this stuff interests you, you may

very well be well placed to have a promising

career as a UX designer.

Thanks for listening. My name's Matt, and

I've just launched a site called UXMastery.com,

where I blog about UX. If you're interested,

come and check it out!