Since about 20 years I call myself a UX designer. A lot of people are using this term. Using the ‘iceberg’ illustration to symbolize UX. But most often there is no common understanding what the heck is UX and what does these UX people do. Or the one who is asking you, doing UX for them, is only expecting to get wireframes or ‘a visual, clickable design’ for their product.
But what is UX actually doing? Tasks? Processes?
As I already the ‘iceberg’ illustration – wireframing and putting components together to create for example a UI and wireframe is only the very last steps and deliverables of UX. A wireframe is just the tip of the iceberg / it is like the iceberg above the surface and the visual design is like the snow and icing on the cake uum iceberg.
Below the surface are product strategy and focus. Expectation of business, stakeholder, combined systems, stakeholders and finally and most important the User – the one who will decide by purchasing, using, recommending, enjoying, etc whether a product will have success or not.
So if you are confused with the question “What is UX?” You are not alone.
As I studied architecture and urban planning – let me start with the similar primary focus which architecture, urban planning, web- and product design has in common – it is NOT the building, it is not the city, urban area or product or application – it is the human being the user and their interaction around, in, or with the to be designed thing.
For our digital world it is human-computer interaction. CX and UX, is the quality of experience a person has when interacting with a specific thing.
What ever we do – we do it for a purpose and goal. It is that easy. But thinking that the goal of business is always ‘only’ making money is wrong. Sooner or later business has to make money – but to get to the money of users and customers – you have to meet users’ expectation and make the individual user happy, successful, or what ever the particular user believes is worth for her or him to spend time and her/ his money.
UX from my point of view is all about ...
- utility
- usability
- accessibility
- and joy of use - being delightful
To better understand UX, you need to understand the way how UX is thinking and working.
Let me do it how a good colleague and friend explains it, Simon Sinek.
Still lot of companies but also the projects and development in companies think, act and communicate from What to How to Why – check out or remember Simon’s TEDtalk
For Software and applications it goes traditionally that way:
What? > How? > Why?
What: "We make great software.”
How: ”They're beautifully designed, simple to use and user friendly.”
Why:”Because We are a great company - Wanna buy? … Meh !?"
Even if we turn it around as Apple is doing it since decades (watch Simen’s TEDtalk) to:
Why? > What? > How?
... it will not get very much better as because in most company usually the Why is owned by the CEOs, CTOs or any other head-of-something or management team.
And the What is usually owned by any other second or third level managers or product manager.
And most often they will define the What by writing a product requirements document or product definition document.
And the How is up to the designers and developers – they should figure out the “how” make it ‘pretty’ and build the product.
Does that sound familiar? And does it sound simple and correct?
Well, in reality – tasks, environment and use case are more complex. In most cases, there is no clear cut between the different functions and features and to-dos between people, roles and goals and finally the performance indicators of the different users and their roles of the product. That means UX should be involve much earlier in the construction of the “whys" and "whats” – perhaps by design thinking processes.
In most projects the UX people should be part of this process, constructing the “How”, specifically the user interaction part.
But what CX and UX is doing is asking:
Why? > for Whom? > What? > How?
- Why developing a service or product
- For Whom will use it – expectations, needs, wishes, hopes and worries, user stories and use cases (primary and secondary)
- What should be the core functionalities and additional benefits, and facilities
- How - Is the technological and data environment
- How should be the UI and its components be combined, composed and ordered
- How should be the look and feel and actual design
UX will start the process with research - researching the market, understanding the business environment, competitors, landscape and opportunities.
On the other hand the more complex the task is the more needed is research from the developer team as well and the should research the technology what can be done, and what they think can be done better.
Then UX will research the users - who are the users, what are their needs and motivations, their responsibilities, goal, aims and the way and how they do things currently or like to do it different.
All these learnings can be sum up and mapped in swimlanes, user journey or other deliverables. And then going forward from ideation to optional solutions we can get together as team to wireframes and a user and human centered design – with a high utility and usability.
That is all possible when the whole team has one thing in common – having the empathy to the user and passion to create a better experience for the people who are using our product.
If you want to go into UX you should understand this approach and mindset and decide what part of the process you want to focus on based on your interests and talent.
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