Every day you experience UX design, or User Experience Design, without even realizing it. An easy example is a dinner at a restaurant. The moment you have the restaurant in your sights is the moment your User Experience starts. Everything including the parking, décor, menus, lighting, food, and table service are parts of your experience as the user. Now what does that look like in online training?
Before we can explain what that means in training, let’s define a couple of terms. UX Design is a user-centered process of creating products and experiences that are meaningful and relevant to the user. Another word that we need to define is UI, or User Interface. UI is often used interchangeably with UX, but they are not the same. A User Interface is the computer system with which users interact, such as a software or device. If we put these two terms together, that means the UX designer creates the user’s experience on the software or device’s user interface.
When working on a UX design project, the designer questions many of the decisions behind the effectiveness, efficiency, interactivity, and individual visual pieces of the design. There are three main types of questions that UX design asks in order to get the answers for how their design is the most effective. These include:
- Why? – The motivations, values, and views of the user and their role
- What? – The functionality and features of the design
- How? – The accessibility and visual aesthetics in the design
So why is UX Design important? Here are some reasons why UX Design is a great asset to any company.
- A lot of research is done before the build of a UX design project. The UX designer gets inside the head of the user and finds the gaps in training that they need to fill by researching the user’s needs, wants, and range of knowledge.
- UX designers focus on using company branding while using quality fonts and images to convey the appropriate messages and provide a positive experience.
- UX Designers focus on the usability of the user interface by making a product that allows more than one type of user to learn and use the product. If a user has a disability, it’s likely the UX designer thought ahead and made sure to add elements to the design to be an aid to the user.
- Every color and button is designed intentionally, so there will be little to no unnecessary pieces to the product.
The next time you take a course or use a product, put yourself in the shoes of its UX designers and see if you can answer why they placed a button in a certain location and gave it that particular color. If you’re interested in learning more about UX Design, there are plenty of resources you can find in a Google search and you can try it out today.