What is UX?

Ah yes… the question of all questions, among Earth's greatest mysteries, right up there with “How big is the universe?” and “Why won't Bigfoot just pose for one picture?” Okay, maybe not so much. But I can assure you that the concept of UX isn't as intimidating as it may seem nor is it all that hard to grasp.

This article provides the following key takeaways:

• User Experience (UX) refers to how people interact with a product.
• UX Designers design products with optimal user experience through extensive research and implementation.
• Companies invest in UX to help attract and retain customers in addition to enhancing their brand image.
• Nearly every product ever made was designed with user experience in mind, but the specialized practice of UX has undergone massive growth since the inception of the digital era.

So, what is UX?

UX is short for User Experience, and it really does mean just that. The Nielsen Norman Group suggests that “User experience encompasses all aspects of the end-user's interaction with the company, its services, and its products.” More relevantly, it is the concept of how a user (such as yourself) experiences a product (such as this website you are on).

A good user experience is one that not only meets but exceeds a user's expectations. It evokes positive emotions that both encourage users to continue using a product as well as boost brand recognition and favorability.

While “good” is undoubtedly a subjective description, “good UX” is indeed measurable by user data, which we'll touch on more in a bit. What's important to understand is that UX is an umbrella term that covers so much more than just a single practice or item. Rather, it encapsulates iterations of market and user research and data-driven decisions on every piece of a product's design.

UX Design and UI Design

A term you probably often hear paired with UX is "Designer". A UX Designer designs applications with a heavy focus on the users' journey through the application. A User Interface (UI) Designer, on the other hand, largely focuses on designing an application's page elements and laying them out in consideration to different screen sizes and system constraints.

If you're having trouble distinguishing the differences between UX Design and UI Design, note that you're not alone. Although somewhat controversial, these two practices are frequently morphed together, and you will often come across professionals who perform both under the guise of “UI/UX Designer”, especially in smaller business settings where team members must wear multiple hats.

A Closer Look into UX Design

While UX designers do not have the ability to control a user's feelings, perspectives, or actions toward a particular product, they do have the ability to greatly influence a user's experience through extensive research and implementation. A UX designer aims to make the experience of interacting with a product as smooth as possible.

Take a close look at the words you're reading, the colors you see on your screen, the structure of the paragraphs, the distance of pixels between each line, and the margins between the text and the edges of the screen. These are all decisions that were made with the user (you) in mind, optimized in a way that is meant to improve your journey through this article.

Imagine if I had used an uglier, less readable font with colors that clash and letters that squish into each other. You would probably "Nope" right out of the article and bounce back to whatever social media platform you were just mindlessly browsing.

And who's to blame you?

Why Companies Invest in UX

Social media serves a big purpose to its users, and just like any website or application, these companies are constantly fighting for your attention. These platforms have spent many years and countless dollars analyzing user data, like how often people scroll, how fast they scroll, and how their eyes scan information and perceive it. This is in addition to all of the personal information they have collected about their users over time in order to personalize their experiences even further.

Social media companies compile this never-ending data and iteratively refine their platforms to create a more optimal experience for their users. This keeps them coming back for more, ultimately increasing their conversion rates.

Sound a bit selfish? Possibly even manipulative? Perhaps on the surface. But I see it as a harmonious necessity that mutually benefits both the company and the user. A great user experience helps set the standard for a company's product, overall image, and branding. This is because, above all else, people most remember how a product makes them feel when they use it. A conscious decision to ensure a good experience with their products paves the way for a better buyer-seller relationship.

From a business standpoint, it sounds like a pretty good investment, and that's because it is. Happy customers come back. That's a good thing.

So, if UX is such an important aspect in the product design life cycle, then why isn't it talked about more often?

A New Perspective about User Experience

It's a valid question, and another piece of the puzzle. Believe it or not, User Experience both as a concept and as a practice has been around since the beginning of civilization. Architecture, art, supermarkets, transportation, and even the way your food is presented at a restaurant. These are all examples where conscious decisions are consistently made to improve the experiences of the user or customer. Of course, that doesn't always mean that the experience ends up being good, but the intention was hopefully there!

The fact of the matter is that UX as a specialized practice didn't really begin until the more recent digital era, and UX as a profession came even later. As tech companies began to understand and value the positive psychological influence that they can have on their users, resources began pouring in.

With digital products, user experience designers are tasked with not just making a piece of software look pretty, intuitive, and adaptable, but also identifying and addressing different pain points and requirements. Needless to say, UX has become a critical component of software product design.