What is UX Design and How it Can Attract More Visitors?
- What is UX and What Does it Comprise?
- What Exactly Do UX Designers Do?
- What is the Difference Between UI And UX?
- What Skills Do UX Designers Need?
- UX Design Disciplines: The Quadrant Model
- Tools for UX Designers
- Career Outlook for UX Designers
- Do User Experience Designers Need to Code?
- Frequently Asked Questions
Have you ever watched a movie or series on Netflix? If yes, you must have noticed its unique Netflix Autoplay. It is one of the most obtrusive and hotly contested elements ever to exist. The feature “play next episode” option on Netflix has frequently made decisions for the viewers by recommending options. This is the best way to understand ‘what is UX’. It is intended to keep a viewer hooked and watching even as we are transitioning from one movie or series to another.
Clearly, UX matters. It is responsible for how a product, system, or service affects the end user as a whole, including their perceptions, feelings, and reactions to it. The primary goal of such design is to produce a good user experience—a product or service that satisfies the user’s needs, resolves their problems, and makes life easier.
According to UX Statistics for 2022, if a website has a good mobile UX design, more than 74% of users will revisit it.
What is UX and What Does it Comprise?
The following are the four pillars of great UX design.
- Usable: The goal of UX is to create the best user experience. So, it should be a design that helps users solve their problems and achieve their goals without any glitches.
- Useful: It is key to fulfill the gap in the market and have a clear purpose. If a design doesn’t bring any value to the table, then it won’t be successful.
- Desirable: In UX design, appearance matters. The design should be visually appealing and match the company’s branding. Other than that, visual components can also keep users engaged and help create a positive experience.
- Accessible: An user-friendly design should provide an enjoyable experience for a wide range of users. Even if someone has visual or motor impairment, they should also get equal access.
What Exactly Do UX Designers Do?
The role and responsibilities of a UX designer vary, depending on the type of company or even as per the projects within the same company. However, there is a list of some general job functions like-
- Technical Skills – customer analysis, competitor analysis, prototyping designs to test for function, A/B testing, design planning, wireframing, conducting focus groups, designing UX research instruments, and a lot more.
- Workplace Skills – Communication skills, empathy, collaboration skills, critical thinking, positive attitude, etc.
ALSO READ: How to Become a Product Designer in 2022: Solve Problems With Design
What is the Difference Between UI And UX?
Since UX and UI designers work closely, people tend to get confused between the two. Actually, UX and UI represent different aspects of a product or service’s design. There are numerous significant differences to take into account.
On one end, User Experience Design (UX) is about designing the whole experience whereas User Interface (UI) design is about the aesthetic experience for the users.
Let’s take a tangible example to understand it better!
Think about a mobile app that you use every day. A designer will help decide what features would be there, how will they work, and how you feel while using them. On the other hand, the UI designer designs the entire mobile app. The main concern is how things will look when users are using them, how much space should be there between the things, how much information should be there on each screen, and more.
Yes, it still sounds complicated. Both UX and UI designers are designing what we are using. Let’s take a more familiar example to make it clearer.
You must have heard about Spotify – the music app. If Spotify has to hire a new UX designer, then the main task is to help understand new ways for people to listen to music. In the case of hiring a UI designer, the main task is to visually represent those ideas in new ways, making it easy for people to use the app.
What Skills Do UX Designers Need?
As a UX designer, you need to master a combination of different skills. Like any other profession, here too one needs to master soft skills as well as hard skills to navigate a competitive market. Now that you have understood, ‘what is UX’, let’s take a look at what skills are the skills needed in this field.
- Observation and Research – As a UX designer, observing your audience and understanding what they want can help you plan and execute a favorable website design.
- Visual Communication: A design is something that is graphic in nature so designers need to be proficient in visual language. This includes aesthetic elements like the overall layout, the color scheme, size and designs of icons, etc.
- Prototyping: Designers should use prototypes efficiently and fast to test functionality and overall navigation of web pages.
- Application Development: A designer should have basic knowledge of application development and should be familiar with the languages like CSS, HTML, etc.
UX Design Disciplines: The Quadrant Model
As we take a look at ‘what is UX’, we understand what its sub-segments are too. This discipline is divided into four quadrants. Let’s discuss them in brief!
1. Experience Strategy
To integrate the requirements of customers and organizations, experience strategy plays an essential role in planning a holistic business strategy.
2. User Personas
It is believed that designers create user personas based on in-depth user research. You can start by developing representative personas of the important user groups’ behaviors and demographics.
3. Information Architecture
The core of ‘what is UX’ is creating high-quality content. But, more than that, there is a need to structure that well. No reader would like to read long paragraphs. Structuring the content across the website or app comes under information architecture. With a solid information architecture, the user will be able to quickly find what they’re looking for while moving from one webpage to another.
4. Regulate User Research
The team of designers is responsible for conducting in-depth research related to user behavior, needs, goals, and more. By using different methods like competitive analysis, interviews, and online surveys, designers collect an abundance of data.
Tools for UX Designers
Depending on the different stages of product development, designers can use a variety of tools. The purpose of using tools is to make the research work and designing part easy. Whether it is the in-depth visual design program or using a simple whiteboard during a planning session, everything comes under the list of tools.
Career Outlook for UX Designers
Depending on overall experience and skill set, designers can take their careers in several directions. From senior positions in management to freelancers to consultants, there are multiple openings.
- Management: UX Manager, UX Director, Creative Director, etc.
- Advanced Positions: Senior UX Designer, Lead UX designer, UX Team manager, etc.
- You can also work as a freelancer , Consultant, Engineer, or Researcher.
Do User Experience Designers Need to Code?
The answer is no. This kind of designing does not require knowledge of coding . However, it’s important to possess a basic understanding of coding, including HTML, JavaScript, etc. This helps in interacting with the developers well. Plus, it will make you more marketable as an employee as you will have deep knowledge in multiple sectors.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. What is an Average UX Design Salary?
The salary of a designer depends on the experience he/she is having along with the skill sets. On average, a UX designer’s salary can range from $67,670 to $146,108.
2. What are Some UX Design Courses?
UX design courses are meant to teach the basics of user experience design. To start with, you can choose from the design and innovation courses offered by Emeritus depending on your knowledge and skill set.
3. What are Some UX Design Examples?
Some popular UX design examples are Spotify. The app has a well-planned flow that helps users to explore new music. Airbnb is a good example of minimalist UX. Telegram is a perfect example of user control in design.
Do you always dream of becoming a UX designer? If your answer is yes, then go through the list of our online design and innovation courses and upgrade your knowledge by choosing one that fits into your daily schedule.
Write to us at content@emeritus.org