What is a UX Designer?
A UX Designer is basically responsible for making sure that the products work smoothly, the user experience is always at the forefront of the design, and customer satisfaction is not just aimed for, but also achieved during the whole development process. A UX Designer is essential and sought out for any kind of organization.
As a whole, a UX designer is responsible for identifying the user’s needs since the success of any product or feature is hugely dependent on the UX designer. They are tasked with spotting any potential opportunities for improvement, for example, removing a bug, creating a better user experience, etc., and hence perform a pivotal role in any company’s customers’ satisfaction.
Advantages of a UX Designer
Any UX Designer’s role has an impact on all the things that have to do with the overall user experience of the product. This goes beyond the basic functions, adopting considerations such as size, shape, portability, etc, and even how and where the user should store the product at their home.
UX designers need to acknowledge the what, why, and how of any product design, providing organizations with a greater level of understanding of customer needs which ultimately help the development teams design the product in a way that would act as a good medium of exchange with any user.
Any product with an intuitive, smooth, and enjoyable design throughout the customer lifecycle is bound to remain in the market for a long time and be far more attractive to users than any other similar product. It is the job of a UX designer to deal with these marginal gains, which can eventually lead to much greater benefits for the organization.
UX Designers can also use the information from customer feedback to help them in product design. An ideal product management system like Chisel lets you do just that and it even promotes holistic idea management.
Difference between UX and UI designer
It can be difficult to define a clear difference between the roles of a UX and a UI designer. In hindsight, these two roles appear to require the same skill set. However, there is a difference that lies in the goals they use their skills for.
If you want to work on the components of the user interface, you require a UI designer whereas if you want to work on the user experience, you require a UX designer.
User experience refers to the interactions with a product. This “product’ could be anything from a website to a car to an item of furniture. Effectively, there can be no limit to the domain of work a UX designer might do.
The user interface, however, refers to only digital products such as websites, apps, etc. A UI designer is responsible for designing what could look and feel the best for any product’s digital interface, i.e., an intuitive, smooth, and easy-to-understand design.
Yes, the UX and UI designer may often need to work collaboratively to achieve the best possible product design, but using these two roles interchangeably can lead to a lot of confusion.
When does a team require a UX Designer?
UX designers require a vast and diverse skill-set consisting of a range of technical and design competencies, along with great project management, effective communication, problem-solving, and team bonding abilities. You could also think that many of these skills overlap with those of a traditional project manager.
But, it is essential that any product or software team clearly defines these two roles along different lines, and hires a dedicated UX designer in their team who is capable of identifying the full range of obstacles a customer might face and hence, help the organization deliver a positive customer experience.
The UX Designer will always add to the value of any product development process and should be part of the team at all times.
FAQs
On average, the salary of a UX Designer in the US is approximately about $85000/year. However, this could vary depending on the state you are working in.