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What the heck is UX Design?
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And what does a UX Designer actually do?
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These are difficult questions to answer,
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because if you ask 5 different people,
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you're going to get 5 different answers.
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In this talk, I'm not only going to explain what UX Design is
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but also why I believe you should find out more about it
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regardless of your job.
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UX, obviously, stands for "user experience"
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And when we say "user experience",
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we're referring to the what, when, where,
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why, and how someone uses a product,
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as well as who that person is. So: what, when,
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where, why, how, and who: these cover the
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user experience of a product, which is
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pretty much everything that affects a user's interaction with that product.
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So as you can imagine, a UX Designer,
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which is someone who designs these interactions,
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is constantly asking a ton
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of questions. If you're someone who
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naturally questions things, UX Design
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could be a great career for you, because
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it's the answers to these questions
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that shape a product's design.
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Of course it's not all about the user's needs.
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UX Designers need to take
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into account a business's needs as well.
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It's no use having a product that people love,
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if it doesn't help a business achieve its goals.
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That's not a product,
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that's a side project. A UX Designer aims
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for that sweet spot where user needs and business needs overlap.
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So how do they
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do this, other than by asking a lot of questions?
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Well, a UX Designer follows
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what's called a user-centred design process.
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We use a set of tools and
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techniques to take the user's needs
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into account at every stage of the
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product's lifecycle. I'm going to repeat that,
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because it's a bit of a mouthful when
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you hear it for the first time:
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a user-centred design process takes the
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user's needs into account at every stage of the product lifecycle.
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I say product, because these techniques apply
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to web apps, mobile apps, desktop apps, or
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even physical products.
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OK. So that's all well and good, but
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why should you care? I'm going to give
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you four reasons why I believe this stuff
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matters so much, and this list doesn't
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include the obvious one, which is the fact that
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paying attention to UX results in you
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building a product that's awesome, instead
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of one that people hate using. Hopefully
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that's a given. The reasons why I think you
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should learn more about UX are:
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1) You're probably doing some of this already.
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One thing I've learned is that when
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you understand how it is that you do what you do,
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you become infinitely better at it.
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Like the fable about the centipede who,
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when asked how it was that he walked,
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couldn't give an answer. But when he
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picked himself up, and examined and
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flexed each of his hundred legs, he
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danced the most beautiful dance in the world.
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Here's Number 2: user-centred design is a
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process, which means it's practically
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scientific! It's like taking the scientific
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method, using analysis and measurement, and
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applying it to humans and their behaviour.
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And that's fascinating to me - this notion
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that designers are artistic geniuses with a
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penchant for cutting off their own ear ...
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it's nonsense! This is a science! Well, a
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quasi-science. Which leads me to the third
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reason that UX matters: it's not that hard.
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Especially for people who are already
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technically inclined. I don't want to go
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putting myself out of a job here, but you
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know what? This stuff is not rocket surgery,
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to borrow from Steve Krug. Anyone can learn
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the basics of user testing and card sorting
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and writing scenarios and creating wireframes.
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It's actually very straightforward.
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Which is a good segue to the fourth reason
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you should care about UX, and that's that ...
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it's fun! This stuff is fascinating! A career
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as a UX Designer is interesting, it's challenging,
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it's rewarding, it pays well, and there's a very
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low barrier to entry.
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A lot of people feel uncomfortable calling
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themselves a "designer", because they're no
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good at choosing a typeface or a colour palette.
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Get over it! UX Design is the
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design behind the visuals. Visual design is
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just one small part of it. It's an important
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part, but some of the best UX Designers I know
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actually aren't that great at visual design,
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but they're really good at those other areas
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that are so important.
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And that's pretty much it. So while you
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might hear terms like information architect, user
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interface designer, interaction designer or
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usability specialist, these can all be considered
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UX professionals. Now they might specialise
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in marketing or technology, or maybe they come
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from a user research, social media, or even
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customer support background. Either way,
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they're all asking a ton of questions, and
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following a quasi-scientific process to do
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the design behind the visuals.
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And they're having a blast doing it!
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So that's what I'd like to leave you with:
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that if this stuff interests you, you may
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very well be well placed to have a promising
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career as a UX designer.
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Thanks for listening. My name's Matt, and
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I've just launched a site called UXMastery.com,
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where I blog about UX. If you're interested,
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come and check it out!