User Experience (UX) refers to any interaction a user has with a product or service. Product or service in this context refers to websites, web or mobile apps. A UX designer is responsible for creating a usable and wonderful experience for users.
UX design in any form can be traced as far back as 4000 BC with the advent of FENG SHUI by the Chinese but was made more popular and given this name by Donald Norman who was instrumental in the progress of Apple in the 1990s.
UX design deals with providing a user with a great experience by making a product useful, usable and desirable. It is also noteworthy that while a UX designer is concerned primarily with the needs of the user, the needs of the business should not be ignored to ensure sustainability of the business model. UX design is concerned with the who (i.e. the user) and how, why and when they interact with what product. UX design is important as it makes product more effective; achieve better results, efficient; use less resources and lastly achieve customer satisfaction.
UX design is divided into User Interface UI and User Experience UX, UI is concerned how the product looks, while UX bothers about how the product works. Basically, UI worries about the rims and paint job on the car while UX about the engine of the car.
The process of UX design is made up the following phases; Research, Brainstorming, Implementing and Reporting. These processes are however not linear and do not always flow in this direction.
There are several career paths available to a UX designer and these can be broadly grouped into 3 branches; Design, Research and Strategy and a UX designer is responsible for deliverables such as but not limited to Personas, Storyboard, Site maps, Low and High-fidelity prototypes, Usability reports and Analytics reports.
