HERE ARE THOUGHTS, DISCUSSIONS, AND RESPONSES ON ALL THINGS UX
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EMPATHY DESIGN
As people continue to integrate the use of devices for input and output into their daily existence, the more and more they will interact with both the device and the information transfer it enables in more organic ways.
Like eyeglasses and hearing aids; like shoes and hats; we humans have always looked to enhance our personal capabilities, necessary or not, with objects of invention.
Because of this shift of our devices becoming more of an extension of our physical being than just disparate objects of information, all interactions surrounding these devices become increasingly more personal.
In User Experience, as with many creative disciplines, understanding how humans are affected by the things they interact with is integral to designing the things for them to interact with.
We have always been concerned with the user’s experience in a pragmatic way by designing easier forms, more intuitive navigation, expediting processes, but the motivation for users is really much deeper than that.
A user experience might not just be fast or slow, good or bad, but it might be frustrating, terrifying, enlightening, or invigorating. These are deep feelings and are probably affecting the way the user is approaching whatever beautiful experience you have designed for them.
It becomes essential then that we design not simply with improved function, sleeker style, or bigger data, but we must design with empathy.
em·pa·thy
ˈempəTHē/
noun
the ability to understand and share the feelings of another.
Empathy becomes all the more important as we move into the age of designing for systems, not just products.
No one has a better social platform than Facebook, so instead of designing a new Facebook, we design how to share content on the already established platform. We don’t create a new Instagram; we design a way to establish a brand image by posting there.
So every experience must be designed into a continuum of a user’s daily interaction with their content, their devices, AND their feelings.
IA vs UI vs UX vs Interaction design; should you have to do it ALL?
The trend continues by employers to redefine what UX design includes as skills sets.
Is this good or is it just a method by which companies can get one employee to do the job of many?
In my years of experience I have had the title of Web Designer, User Interface Designer, Information Architect, User Experience Designer, UX Architect, Interaction designer, etc, etc, etc,.
I started out as a visual designer 15 years ago before the term UX was ever even in the lexicon of employers. In those days you were a print designer or a web graphic designer or possibly both, which was considered being quite skilled in the discipline.
As one’s expertise increased you may have started to dabble in early “web design” which was undefined and usually came about because you were both skilled and curious about how websites went together. Visual designers and developers were, at that time, primarily the only disciplines working in this developing skill.
If you continued to explore web design, maybe you started building small sites or pages in HTML or, as in my case all Flash sites. You were still a visual designer, but you were learning more and more. In those days I was known as a “Web Master”; someone who could both design the visual assets and build the architecture and functionality of a web experience.
As the field grew some designers began to hone their skills in one or the other of those skill sets. And the industry started to separate those jobs into two categories. It wasn’t even until the mid 2000’s that the term User Experience started to be bandied about as a unique skill.
Some companies might even title the job Information Architect, which in and of itself is a unique category, but employers still didn’t know exactly what to call it and who would be the best fit for that type of work. And IA is a skill that is about content and NOT about page layout or the user’s experience.
Over the next few years UX became more a part of a dedicated skill and designers became more skilled in this popular field.
Unfortunately with popularity comes a flood of new designers to the field. Soon everyone wanted to become a UX designer and “certificate” programs started popping up all over the place.
“…Oh yeh, I just finished a 6 week course at General Assembly and now I’m a UX designer…”, was heard all over the industry!
All that did was overload the market with usually inexperienced talent that put pressure on wages and lowered the expertise in the field substantially.
So…here we are again, but now it is UI/UX Designer wanted…
I have worked with some incredibly talented visual designers, and although I work in Photoshop and Illustrator on a daily basis, I am NOT as talented a visual designer as some of my colleagues.
And although my visual design friends know a lot about page layout and what makes a website effective, they couldn’t put together a sitemap to save their lives, let alone architect a content structure and build an interactive prototype.
BUT, employers AND recruiting agencies ALL think that these skill sets are completely interchangeable. THEY ARE WRONG!
I am currently seeking a new position, and you may think that I am just complaining, but think about it for a moment.
The UX practitioner needs to stay abreast of trends, best practices, ADA compliance, new technologies, new devices, new tools (Sketch, FramerJS, Axure, HTML5, CSS3; which I work in all currently). Designers need to stay abreast of trends in design, color, minimalism, imagery, font styling, etc.
These are not concepts to be lightly aware of…these are skills to be honed and crafted and practiced day in and day out to stay current and relevant in the market.
Should every visual designer have to be able to work in Axure and FramerJS? Should every UX practitioner have to have a full visual design portfolio to go along with their UX one? And soon, will every developer be required to know UX and Visual design too?
It is time that Visual Designers and UX Designers educate the employer and recruiter to this reality.
The ONLY benefit is for the employer…6 skills sets…one pay rate.
And this doesn’t even take into account Agile workflows and how one person can possibly produce all these artifacts!
Please join me in educating the industry that 2 talented employees; one visual designer and one UX designer will be much more productive than 2 semi-talented employees, neither having enough time to be expert in their individual skill sets!
Tell recruiters that this trend benefits no one but the employer and let’s try to shape both our futures the way WE know is best.
HI Kevin
I’m all ears. Let’s meet and discuss 🙂
Changing the industry for the better, one day at a time…