Design Does Not Equal Design
As a user experience designer and user requirements engineer, I frequently find myself misunderstood concerning my profession and the associated tasks. Just too often people suppose knowing exactly what my job is and never even bother looking up what these specific fields of design and engineering mean in the first place. Hence, I'd like to introduce my profession from an unlike perspective and give a short overview of the trending term User Experience and everything that comes along with it.
UI Design ≠ UX Design
There is a remarkable difference between a User Interface Designer and a User Experience Designer, however, the role is often melted into one at many enterprises. It might seem that at several companies there appears to be no reason to split the position into their original fields. Yet, it is to draw a line between those two very distinctive domains of design.
User Interface Design (UI Design) means designing an interface for the user (yup, thanks Captain Obvious). It includes pop-ups, lists, buttons. An element's color, size and arrangement on a display. Screen layout and (high-fidelity) prototyping are also substantial parts of Interface Design for e.g. interactive systems. Basically, everything concerning a (digital) product's physical appearance and looks are all tasks to be performed by a traditional (graphic) designer.
Since a designer is always expected to work with passion, patience, and sure instincts, the term has grown in popularity and became many-faceted. Nowadays, any kind of "creator" or "maker" is gladly referred to as a designer due to its sophisticated sound to it. As many new professions have evolved over the past decades, design has been taken out of its original context (be it fashion or graphics) and now serves a different purpose in several areas. That way, not only graphics and webpages are designed, but moreover complete products, (interactive) systems - and yes, even experiences; which leads us to the User Experience Designer role.
User Experience Design (UX Design) focuses on the holistic experience with a product and attends to all stages a user undergoes when encountering a specific product: From the very start they hear of or see a product, via buying and actually using it, throughout to giving reviews of the product or telling a friend about it. The holistic experience includes the phase, in which the user begins to evolve certain expectations towards the product before using it, as well as the phase after using the product, which revolves around the fulfillment of these expectations.
During product usage, a good Usability is key. It is defined by the extent of user contentment during the interaction (satisfaction), the user's ability to reach their goal (effectiveness) and lastly, the amount of resources needed for the interaction (efficiency).
Obviously, there is a difference between the holisitc experience with a product and the actual time using it. Hence, it is to further distinguish between Usability Design (also: Usability Engineering) and User Experience Design.
User Experience molds Customer Satisfaction
Ever wondered why it's so much fun unpacking an Apple product? It comes as no surprise that the product designers at that firm truly know their craft: They don't start designing the product only for the time the user effectively interacts with it, but also think it through completely. The process of encountering a product does not only take place while using it, but also when being influenced by commercials, when eventually purchasing and unpacking the product, when looking for neat accessories or further equipment (such as earphones or cases), or when sitting on the couch after the usage and remembering that the product was a real good sport to interact with (hopefully, that is).
Customer satisfaction is something powerful when it comes to giving credit to a company's product. Naturally, the experience with a product might also be negatively connoted, therefore it should be every business's goal to design a well-working, satisfying product experience for their customers - speaking holistically.
These days, customers have the opportunity to easily post reviews or spread the word about any product or service, which is the best and most honest (plus cheapest!) advertisement a business might get. As these feedbacks are mostly up on display to the public, keeping that customer satisfaction at a high level at all times might be worth striving for. That way, it definitely is worthwhile to think user experience through, right from step one to the very end of the experience with a certain product, no matter if it's digital or tactile.
TLDR;
To put things in a nutshell, it is to say that User Experience Designers devote themselves to logical interaction flows, as well as intuitive controls of a product or system, whereas User Interface Designers focus on the actual looks, elements, colors and shapes of the tool. User Experience does not only contain the phase of effective product usage (e.g. screen time) but also the phases before usage, where user expectations are built, and after usage, where the product is anticipated to live up to user expectations. A good usability is defined by customer satisfaction, effectiveness, and efficiency. Holistic user experience has an outstanding affect on customer satisfaction and can make a difference at whether a product succeeds on the market or not.
