UX, or user experience, is a crucial aspect of most digital products these days, but there is often some confusion over what it actually is, and what a UX designer does.
What’s the difference between UX and UI?
User experience (UX) is essentially focussed on the overall satisfaction someone has with a product, along with continuous improvements, for example making it faster, more intuitive or more interactive (say with gamification). This can extend beyond the physical product itself, into how easy it is to purchase, access and put together.
Complementary to this is the user interface (UI). UI is tasked with taking the UX directives and laying out the details in a visually pleasing way. UI designers tend to be more creative – there are elements of graphic design to this kind of role, but they are layered and more complex.
Generally, most businesses that are well versed in UX and UI will start with UX as the foundation and UI as a vital process that builds upon it. UX understands how the human mind works and designs to make a process intuitive, while UI makes it visually appealing and helps users stay on track.
So, what does a UX designer do?
There is a need for some analytical and technical skills for people to choose to work as UX designers, and they must have a deep understanding of the overarching principle that this is very much human-first design.
The role of a UX designer is varied, and their knowledge needs to be broad. Principles of psychology, marketing and development are essential, as is understanding how people in these roles work so that their design can be translated into a workable solution that can be adopted across the business.
UX designers and technology
It’s common for UX designers to work as part of a fairly technical team – be it within an agency or a large organisation, and because of this, it can be easy for people to fall into the trap of assuming that all people in UX are technically savvy. But that’s an unfair belief.
Much like most digital marketers aren’t equipped to fix an organisation’s software bugs just because they work ‘on the internet’, a UX designer shouldn’t be expected to have an in-depth knowledge of all software being used by their business.
Often, working for a small business (as most agencies are), it can be impossible to employ a full-time resource for IT, much less a team that can keep up to date with the ever-changing world of cyber security.
That’s where we come in – we’ve got solutions to fit every business. And taking the pressure off which tools to use to protect your work, means you are free to do what you do best – designing the best experiences for your customers. If you want to chat all things technology, reach out today, we’d love to help.
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