Discover how to develop your knowledge and understanding of the increasingly important discipline of UX design.
Every designer needs to know about user experience, commonly abbreviated to UX. And the first thing to understand is exactly what user experience actually is, as well as being clear about what it isn’t.
UX is not web design, which is about the nuts and bolts of making digital interfaces function. It’s also distinct from (though closely related to) UI design, which is about designing the visuals of an app or website. Instead, UX is about making the experience a great one for the user – which means that in theory someone who can neither draw nor write code could be an expert in it.
UX is most commonly associated with making apps and websites, but as Matt Theakston, experience design director at TH_NK points out, it goes way beyond that. “UX lives beyond the web,” he stresses. “It already flows, end-to-end, through the customer journey: from designing apps, shops, showrooms, cars, chairs or voice assistants like Amazon Echo. In the future, who knows where it’ll take us?"
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Where UX meets design
You’re probably already more aware of UX than you realise, and as Spencer Buck, founder of Taxi Studio, says, getting on board doesn’t necessarily mean you have to become a fully fledged UX designer. “It’s about adding another layer to the thought process – being curious about how humans behave, and how we can influence that behaviour through good design.”
The challenge faced by Taxi Studio when tasked with bringing Dolphin Solutions, a supplier of washroom products, online was balancing the premium nature of the brand with complex functional requirements
Matthew Cockerill, creative director at Swift Creatives, agrees. “I don’t think it’s about graphic designers doing a UX role,” he says. “Instead, it’s about graphic designers and UX designers being able to understand each other’s processes and work together harmoniously and effectively.”
And that’s less about learning a whole new discipline or methodology than taking what you already know and applying it in a different way, says Alec East, founder of Narrative Industries.
“Going back to the Bauhaus, they taught students to eliminate the idea of the individual, and to focus on the productivity of design instead,” he says. “This means they had to understand how their designs would be used: the notion of form following function. For instance, in print design, if the typography is too small and dense, the reader’s enjoyment of the story is impaired.”
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UX involves applying similar principles to digital, East continues. “It means, for example, knowing the importance of removing cognitive load, whereby too much information on one screen can disorient the user.”
Lee Carroll, senior interaction designer at Seymourpowell, offers more advice: “Placement, position, proximity, language, movement, colour, learned behaviour, bad habits, context, audience: these are all things user experience design draws on to achieve a goal,” he explains.
“The biggest mistake you can make is going straight to the ‘idea’ or ‘concept’ – diving into designing how the interface should look and feel – without a deep understanding of the functions and processes that are required to make it work.”
A UX challenge faced by Seymourpowell when creating a new VR design programme called Reality Works was to work out how the user selected and moved between different features and tools
The most effective way to develop your UX skills is by communicating and collaborating more closely with people working in the field, says Buck. “So our print designers will collaborate with UX and digital designers on certain projects, and this works well as a way of expanding their thought processes with a real problem on the table, rather than through theoretical training.”
Marta Lisboa, digital designer at CBA, agrees that improving your UX skills is less about studying and more about doing. “Like creativity, UX is a hard-earned skill, and like any other skill, it improves with practice,” she reasons.
Look around you
But that’s not all. Another important thing you can do is stay alive to the user experiences that are part of everyday life, says Max Ottignon, co-founder of Ragged Edge. “You’re interacting with UX every day anyway, whether it’s posting on Instagram or streaming a movie on Netflix,” he points out.
“So try to engage your design brain while you do it. Analyse why the interface has been designed that way. Think about the techniques the designer has used to create a seamless, engaging journey. And as with anything else, it’s practice. Try to get your hands on some digital briefs and show what you can do.”
Batch Organics is a health food service aimed at busy people, so user experience was paramount. Ragged Edge took pains to craft a customer journey that would work seamlessly across multiple devices
Also, be aware that the ground is constantly shifting. “Today’s users, especially mobile users, are becoming less tolerant, more demanding, and they always want to be surprised,” says Lisboa. “The challenge is to continue being an innovator and develop experiences that are more relevant, delightful and memorable. To provide metaphors that make screen-based interactions feel a bit more real. And to do all of this while adapting to rapidly evolving tech and digital trends.”
CBA's Marta Lisboa believes that improving user experience skills is less about studying and more about doing
But always remember one thing, concludes East. “There are a bazillion books and blogs that will give you loads of rules, but the only person that counts in UX is the user; that’s why they’re the first letter in UX.”
Ottignon agrees, and adds the following: “Put the user first, by using as little design as you can. UX isn’t about flashy creativity: it’s about crafting an experience that’s intuitive and stress-free. Don’t let design get in the way.”
Tom May is an award-winning journalist and editor specialising in design, photography and technology. Author of the Amazon #1 bestseller Great TED Talks: Creativity, published by Pavilion Books, Tom was previously editor of Professional Photography magazine, associate editor at Creative Bloq, and deputy editor at net magazine. Today, he is a regular contributor to Creative Bloq and its sister sites Digital Camera World, T3.com and Tech Radar. He also writes for Creative Boom and works on content marketing projects.
