User experience (UX) is the way(s) a person—a.k.a., the ‘user’—feels about using, interacting with, or experiencing a product.
UX designers
- focus on the experience users have while using and interacting with products (e.g., websites, apps, physical objects, etc.);
- help make technology easier to understand and more enjoyable to use;
- use software like Figma and Adobe XD to create wireframes, high-fidelity designs, and prototypes; and
- always prioritize the users’ experiences.
A product is a good, service, or feature (e.g., a physical product (e.g., video game controller, bag of potato chips, etc.), a technology product (e.g., app, website, smartwatch, etc.), etc.
For users to have a good experience, a product should be usable, equitable, enjoyable, and useful.
Usable
UX design improves usability or makes something easier to use. A product’s design, structure, and purpose are clear to everyone (e.g., a glass ketchup bottle replaced by a squeezable plastic bottle).
Equitable
UX design considers the unique needs of many different people who use a product, including people with disabilities or people with different life experiences from your own. Equitable designs are useful and marketable to people with diverse abilities and backgrounds.
Enjoyable
UX design creates a positive connection between users and a product, and UX designers foster that positive connection by taking users’ thoughts and feelings into account when making products.
Useful
A useful product solves a problem.
Benefits of UX
Businesses that focus on good usability and design perform better than their competitors.
Types of UX designers
Interaction designers focus on designing the experience of a product and how it functions. They figure out how to connect users’ needs and business goals with what’s actually feasible to build (e.g., defining users’ experiences for security and privacy related tools).
Visual designers focus on how a product or technology looks (e.g., designing logos, illustrations, or icons; deciding font color and size; working on product layouts, etc.).
Motion designers think about what it feels like for users to move through a product (e.g., how to create smooth transitions between pages on an app or website).
Collaboration
UX researchers conduct studies or interviews that help us learn ways people use a product. They collect evidence on ways users are experiencing that product in real time and ask them about it too.
UX writers ponder ways to make the language within a product clearer to make the UX more intuitive (e.g., writing lables for buttons, adjusting the tone to be formal or friendly, etc.).
Production designers often act as a bridge between interaction designers and engineers; ensuring that first and final designs match in the finished product materials, and that the assets are ready to be handed off to the engineering team. Assets include everything from text and images to design specifications, like font style, color, size, and spacing.
UX engineers translate a design’s intent into a functioning experience (e.g., website, app, etc.).
UX program managers ensure clear, timely communications so that the process of building a useful product moves smoothly from start to finish (e.g., setting up goals, writing project plans, etc.).