What is User Experience (UX) design in simple terms?
User Experience (UX) design is like being a chef for digital products such as websites and applications. Instead of cooking food, UX professionals work to create products that are easy and enjoyable for people to use. There are various specialised roles within this field, all focused on understanding and meeting the needs of the users.
A User Experience Researcher is like a detective for products. Their main goal is to understand who the users are, what they need, what their problems are, and what they hope for. They achieve this by conducting research, such as surveys and interviews, to gather feedback. They then analyse this data to identify key trends in user behaviour and present their findings to the team. This research is crucial for making informed design decisions and ensuring the product truly meets user needs.
A UX Designer, described as a "mockup and prototype creator", takes the insights from UX Research and translates them into visual concepts. They develop mockups and prototypes of new products and features, using specialised tools to create these interfaces. They then conduct tests with these prototypes to gather user feedback and iterate on the design. Their focus is on the functionality and user flow.
UI (User Interface) Designers, on the other hand, are the "artists of the digital world". They focus on the visual appearance of the interfaces, paying close attention to elements like colours, typography, and layout. Their aim is to create interfaces that are not only aesthetically pleasing and consistent with the brand but also enhance the user experience. They work closely with UX designers to ensure the design is both beautiful and functional.
A Usability Testing Specialist acts like a "taste tester" for digital products. They are responsible for checking how easy and intuitive a design is to understand and use. They conduct usability tests to observe how users interact with a product, analyse the results, and then provide recommendations for design improvements. Their work ensures that the product is convenient and effective for users.
Accessibility Specialists play a vital role in ensuring that digital products can be used by everyone, including people with different abilities and disabilities. They evaluate products against accessibility guidelines (like WCAG), implement features that support assistive technologies, conduct accessibility audits, and provide recommendations for improvement. Their work makes digital products inclusive and ensures that no user is excluded due to accessibility barriers.
A UX Writer is responsible for all the text that users encounter within a product. This includes everything from labels and button text to instructions and error messages. Their goal is to make the information clear, accessible, and helpful. They work closely with other UX team members to ensure consistency in language and tone and often use testing and research to understand how their writing impacts users.
The increasing prevalence of AI is expected to create new specialised roles within UX design. These potential future roles include AI-UX Integration Specialists (focusing on seamlessly adding AI features), AI Interaction Designers (designing intuitive interactions with AI systems like voice interfaces), AI Ethics in UX Consultants (ensuring ethical AI implementations), AI-Assisted Design Coordinators (optimising workflows between human designers and AI tools), and Adaptive Interface Specialists (creating interfaces that dynamically adjust to individual user preferences using AI). These roles will require a combination of traditional UX skills, AI knowledge, and a strong ethical understanding.
