UX Designer
The Basic Idea
When was the last time you opened an app on your phone and carefully reflected on your experience interacting with it? If it’s an online shopping app, this might be the ease with which you can browse and compare different products. Or, for a social media app, how intuitive it is to change different settings. Unless you’re a User Experience (UX) Designer, you’ve probably never critically examined these things in your entire life. UX design is something that we all benefit from every day but largely take for granted.
A UX designer is a professional who designs digital interfaces to ensure they are user-friendly, intuitive, and emotionally engaging. Using a combination of research and design principles, UX designers ensure that products meet users’ needs and expectations, and that their interactions with a product are seamless. Ultimately, UX designers want to achieve user satisfaction and, therefore, increase user engagement and foster customer loyalty.
UX designers typically work alongside User Interface (UI) designers to create successful digital products. While both roles contribute to the overall design process, they have distinct focusses. Where UX designers prioritize the overall user experience, UI designers concentrate on the visual and interactive aspects of the interface. This involves developing and refining the look and feel of the interface through elements like color, typography, and interactive components.
Good usability is like oxygen – you don’t notice it until it’s missing.
- Jakob Nielsen, Danish UX expert and founder of Nielsen Norman Group.
About the Author
Dr. Lauren Braithwaite
Dr. Lauren Braithwaite is a Social and Behaviour Change Design and Partnerships consultant working in the international development sector. Lauren has worked with education programmes in Afghanistan, Australia, Mexico, and Rwanda, and from 2017–2019 she was Artistic Director of the Afghan Women’s Orchestra. Lauren earned her PhD in Education and MSc in Musicology from the University of Oxford, and her BA in Music from the University of Cambridge. When she’s not putting pen to paper, Lauren enjoys running marathons and spending time with her two dogs.
