Becoming a UX Designer: Learn User Experience Design by William N. Aldrich serves as a foundational guide for anyone looking to enter or better understand the field of User Experience (UX) design. The book aims to demystify UX design, clarifying its purpose, the responsibilities of a UX designer, and the essential skills required to succeed in this dynamic profession. Aldrich emphasizes that UX design is critical for ensuring that products are appealing, usable, and effectively meet the needs of a company’s target audience.
Introduction: What is UX design, and what does a UX designer actually do?
The introduction highlights the increasing attention UX, or User Experience, has been garnering in recent times, with many firms recognizing it as central to product development. Despite its growing relevance, Aldrich notes that the concept of UX design can still be unclear to many business owners.
The core objective of UX design is to enhance users’ satisfaction with a product or service by improving interaction, accessibility, and usability. It involves a deep examination of human-computer interaction to optimize user experiences. A UX designer’s primary task, especially in a new role, often involves articulating the value they bring to a company and how they will achieve their goals. Ultimately, UX designers are tasked with helping customers resolve their core needs while fostering satisfaction, which in turn contributes to business growth through future investments from satisfied users.
Aldrich quotes Don Norman, the creator of the term “User Experience,” who famously stated,
“No product is an island. A product is more than the product. It is a cohesive, integrated set of experiences. Think through all of the stages of a product or service – from initial intentions through final reflections, from the first usage to help, service, and maintenance. Make them all work together seamlessly”.
This quote underscores the holistic nature of UX design, emphasizing that it encompasses every touchpoint a user has with a product or service. The book aims to provide a clear explanation of UX for newcomers and equip existing UX designers with a concise answer to the common question: “What does a UX designer do?“.
What Is UX Design?
Before delving into the journey of becoming a UX designer, Aldrich establishes a clear definition of UX design. User experience (UX) design is defined as the process that design teams employ to create products that deliver meaningful and relevant experiences to users.
This process extends beyond just the interface; it includes the entire journey of acquiring and integrating the product, touching upon aspects of branding, overall design, usability, and core functionality.
UX design scrutinizes the interaction between real human users and everyday products and services, such as websites, mobile applications, and even household appliances like coffee machines. It is an incredibly diverse discipline that integrates elements from psychology, business strategy, market research, visual design, and technology.
This multidisciplinary nature means UX designers are expected to possess a wide array of skills and wear “many different hats”.
The term “UX” itself is not new, having been coined in the early 1990s by Donald Norman during his time as a cognitive scientist at Apple. Norman’s interest spanned all facets of a user’s interaction with a product or service, including industrial design, graphics, the interface, and physical interaction.
To encapsulate these diverse elements that shape a user’s feelings during product interaction, he conceived the term “user experience”. Since its inception, UX design has become synonymous with sound business practices; only products and services offering a seamless user experience are likely to thrive in the market.
This market reality has led to a significant increase in demand for UX designers, who are more crucial than ever as the technology landscape continues to evolve. The burgeoning demand for UX professionals is evident in both average salaries and the overall employment market.
UX Design in Action
To illustrate UX design practically, Aldrich presents a relatable scenario: online shoe shopping. Imagine finding a website with hundreds of shoes but no filter options, forcing you to scroll endlessly.
After finally locating a suitable pair and proceeding to checkout, you’re confronted with a new customer registration form demanding at least ten mandatory fields. This frustrating experience, which leads to abandoning the purchase, is a prime example of poor UX.
This scenario vividly demonstrates why UX design is crucial: to prevent such pain points and ensure a smooth, intuitive, and satisfying user journey.
Function of a UX Designer
For those considering a career in UX design, understanding the day-to-day responsibilities is essential. Fred Beecher, Director of UX at The Nerdery, succinctly describes the role:
“How do I explain what I do at a party? The short version is that I say I humanize technology”.
This statement captures the essence of a UX designer’s job: to make technology usable, enjoyable, and accessible for humans.
UX designers typically operate within broader product teams, often acting as a bridge between the end-user, the development team, and key business stakeholders.
Their foremost responsibility is to advocate for the end-user or customer. Whether designing a new product, developing a new feature, or refining an existing one, the UX designer must prioritize the user’s best interests and the overall user experience.
Simultaneously, they are also accountable for ensuring that the product or service aligns with business objectives, such as the CEO’s vision or goals for revenue increase and customer retention.
The types of projects UX designers undertake vary widely depending on the company, team size, and priorities. This can include designing websites, mobile applications, software, or even experiences for voice, Augmented Reality (AR), and Virtual Reality (VR) devices.
Some UX designers specialize in service design, focusing on the entire experience of services like public transportation or hotel stays, rather than just tangible products. Aldrich notes that the UX designer job title encompasses many specialist roles.
It’s crucial to understand that UX designers are not primarily responsible for the visual design of a product; their focus is on the user’s journey and the product’s structure to facilitate this journey.
What are the typical tasks and processes of a UX designer?
A UX designer navigates through various steps of the UX design process to ensure products are designed with the user in mind. Aldrich outlines several key tasks that typically fall under the UX designer’s purview:
Conducting User Research:
This initial, foundational stage is where critical research takes place. A UX designer usually begins with a brief from a client or manager for a project. Using the example of a fictitious fast-food chain “Foodies” wanting a new app, the UX designer would conduct both desk-based (secondary) and field (primary) research to gain a comprehensive understanding of the target users.
This might involve reviewing existing websites, interviewing current users to identify opportunities and pain points, and conducting competitor research to see what else is available. These research tasks help pinpoint the core features needed for a Minimum Viable Product (MVP)—the first iteration of a product to be released—and allow for the creation of initial user personas.
For “Foodies,” core features might include a menu, online reservation capability, and a local branch finder. In essence, the user research phase involves scoping out the project, identifying the target audience, and understanding their goals and challenges related to the product.
Personas and Information Architecture:
Based on the extensive user research, UX designers then create user personas. Personas are detailed representations of different user types, delving into the tasks each persona wants to perform and their motivations.
For “Foodies,” a persona might be Samantha, a 20-something who likes pre-ordering salads via the mobile app to save time between meetings. Aldrich also mentions “jobs-to-be-done” (JTBD) as an alternative or complementary approach to user personas. Following persona development, designers begin to consider the content needed and its structural organization across the website or app. This is known as information architecture (IA)—determining the most logical layout and organization of content.
Effective information architecture ensures users can easily find what they need and navigate intuitively from one page to the next without excessive thought.
User Flows and Wireframes:
UX designers utilize tools like user flows and wireframes to map out the user’s journey through a product. User flows are basic flowcharts that visualize the complete path a user takes when interacting with a product, from the entry point to the final interaction. While user flows map the entire journey, wireframes provide a two-dimensional outline of a single screen or page. These tools are essential for outlining the product’s structure and user pathways before visual design elements are added.
Prototyping and User Testing:
Once the product layout is mapped, the UX designer proceeds to create prototypes and conduct user tests. A prototype is a scaled-down version or simulation of the product, allowing designers to test their concepts before development.
Prototypes can range from simple paper models to highly realistic, interactive prototypes that closely mimic the final product. Testing prototypes with real users is crucial for identifying design flaws before the final product is built. This iterative testing process may involve several rounds until the design is optimal.
After successful testing, the product is ready for development. UX designers also participate in sprint meetings, overseeing product development to prevent “feature creep” and providing necessary refinements to the design as needed.
Visual Design:
Aldrich points out that the preceding tasks do not primarily concern the product’s visual design. While some UX designers may specialize in visual design, this aspect generally falls under User Interface (UI) design.
Therefore, the final imagery, color schemes, icons, and typography are typically handled by a UI designer. It’s important to note that a UX designer’s work is rarely complete after product launch. The process is highly iterative, involving ongoing refinements, small changes, new releases, feedback gathering, and analytics discussions with the team. A career in UX is as much about collaboration and coordination as it is about design.
What Skills Does a UX Designer Need?
Given the varied range of tasks, UX designers require a diverse skill set. Beyond technical and design skills such as wireframing, prototyping, and interpreting data and feedback, essential “soft” skills are equally crucial. Adaptability, strong communication, empathy, problem-solving abilities, and teamwork are all vital soft skills.
A UX designer must be able to collaborate effectively with various stakeholders, including clients, developers, fellow designers, and crucially, the end-user. Business knowledge is also highly valuable in the UX design industry. It is important to understand both the company’s goals and the target audience’s needs, aligning design solutions to meet both effectively.
How is a UX designer different from a UI designer?
Aldrich clarifies the frequently confused terms UX (User Experience) and UI (User Interface). While both are integral to product design and interdependent, their roles are distinct. A UX designer focuses on the project’s flow and how users will interact with the product. In contrast, a UI designer is tasked with creating the actual visual design as conceptualized by the UX designer.
UI designers are akin to architects who take a brief and then proceed to create appealing and useful interfaces. The key distinction is that UI is closely related to graphic design, while UX is more technical and extends beyond just visuals.
Despite their differences, the two roles necessitate close collaboration at various points to ensure the final product’s interface is both fascinating and useful. Aldrich provides an example: a UX designer might define the need for buttons to help users navigate an application’s pages, while the UI designer is responsible for designing the shape and color of these buttons.
Rahul Varshney, co-founder of foster.fm, articulates this relationship perfectly:
“User Experience (UX) and User Interface (UI) are some of the most confused and misused terms in our field. A UI without UX is like a painter slapping paint onto canvas without thought; while UX without UI is like the frame of a sculpture with no paper mache on it. A great product experience starts with UX followed by UI. Both are essential for the product’s success”
How is a UX design different from a Web design?
Aldrich further distinguishes UX design from web design by highlighting their core characteristics. Web design primarily focuses on the visual elements of a website, arranging content to make it appealing. It does not necessarily employ a human-centered approach and blends the interface with a brand’s colors and font styles.
Web design is mainly concerned with technology and its provisions, ensuring only compelling visuals. Web designers typically possess expert knowledge of HTML, JavaScript, and CSS.
In contrast, UX design’s basic features include a strong focus on users and the target market. It seeks to deeply understand how users feel about a product, examining their needs, emotions, habits, and expectations.
UX design involves conducting surveys and tests, brainstorming concepts consistently, creating scenarios and audits, and constructing the information architecture. This highlights UX design’s emphasis on user understanding and strategic planning over purely visual or technical implementation.
Popular UX Designers
Aldrich recognizes that thousands of UX designers contribute to channeling web solutions towards a user-centered approach, as organizations increasingly understand the importance of placing the target market at the center of web products. He highlights a few prominent individuals who have significantly impacted the field and continue to inspire aspiring UX designers:
- Luke Wroblewski: With over 330,000 Twitter followers, Luke’s UX design insights have resonated widely. He selflessly shares knowledge on improving UX designs, and his influence is further cemented by his role as a Product Director at Google and his published books on web design.
- Whitney Hess: Whitney is a UX coach who freely teaches how to humanize technology and optimize computer interactions. She regularly shares design guides through her social media channels.
- Jessica Robbins: Jessica serves as a UX director at a Public Relations Firm in Oklahoma. She regularly shares memos on UX and selflessly enlightens her followers with design wisdom on her page.
Career Paths for aspiring UX designers
For those looking to embark on a career in UX design, Aldrich outlines two primary paths. The first involves enrolling in professional online courses. The second path is pursuing an academic program, either directly in UX design or in related fields such as Computer Science and Computer Engineering. Aldrich acknowledges that 2020 was a tumultuous year, and aspiring designers might feel apprehensive about starting a UX career in 2021, questioning the job market’s stability or the impact of remote work. The book aims to provide a clear overview of the current UX job market to address these concerns.
How Do You Become A UX Designer?
This section delves into the practical steps of becoming a UX designer, offering guidance on navigating the industry, understanding the impact of global events like COVID-19, and salary expectations.
How has COVID-19 affected the UX industry?
The pandemic brought significant changes to industries worldwide, and UX was no exception. Aldrich discusses how the shift to remote work and increased reliance on digital platforms further highlighted the importance of well-designed user experiences.
UX designers became even more critical in ensuring seamless digital interactions as businesses adapted to new operational models and consumers relied more heavily on online services. This section would explore how UX professionals adapted their workflows, research methods, and collaboration strategies in a remote-first environment.
It likely covers the increased demand for digital transformation and the need for designers to quickly iterate and respond to evolving user needs in a crisis.
How much can UX designers expect to earn?
Aldrich provides insights into the earning potential for UX designers in 2021, reflecting on the industry’s growth and demand. This part of the book would detail salary expectations based on experience level, location, and specialization within UX design. It would reassure aspiring designers about the financial viability and long-term career prospects in the field, reinforcing that UX design is a desirable and well-compensated profession.
How to become a UX designer – step by step guide.
This crucial section offers a clear, actionable roadmap for aspiring UX designers. It likely breaks down the journey into manageable steps, which could include:
- Learning the fundamentals: Suggesting resources for acquiring core UX principles, methodologies, and tools.
- Building a portfolio: Emphasizing the importance of practical projects to showcase skills to potential employers.
- Networking: Advising on connecting with other professionals in the field, attending industry events (virtual or in-person), and seeking mentorship.
- Gaining experience: Encouraging internships, freelance work, or volunteer projects to build real-world experience.
- Job searching strategies: Providing tips for resume building, interview preparation, and navigating the job market.
What Are The Most Important UX Methods?
Aldrich elaborates on the key methodologies and techniques that UX designers regularly employ. This section would expand upon the tasks mentioned earlier (user research, personas, information architecture, user flows, wireframing, prototyping, and user testing) by describing them in more detail and perhaps introducing additional methods. These could include:
- Competitive analysis: Researching and evaluating competitors’ products to identify strengths, weaknesses, and opportunities.
- Usability testing: Observing users interacting with a product to identify usability issues.
- A/B testing: Comparing two versions of a design to see which performs better.
- Journey mapping: Visualizing the entire user experience from start to finish, including emotional states.
- Empathy mapping: Understanding user perspectives by visualizing their thoughts, feelings, sayings, and doings.
- Heuristic evaluation: Expert analysis of a product’s interface against established usability principles.
- Content strategy: Planning the creation, delivery, and governance of useful and usable content.
What should you look for when choosing a UX design course?
Given the proliferation of UX design courses, Aldrich provides valuable criteria for selecting the right educational program. This advice would likely cover aspects such as:
- Curriculum depth: Ensuring the course covers all essential UX topics comprehensively.
- Hands-on projects: Prioritizing courses that offer practical experience and portfolio-building opportunities.
- Instructor expertise: Checking the qualifications and industry experience of the instructors.
- Community and mentorship: Looking for programs that offer peer support and access to mentors.
- Career support: Assessing whether the course provides job placement assistance or career guidance.
- Cost and flexibility: Considering budget and learning format (e.g., online, in-person, self-paced).
Where can you find opportunities to apply your budding UX design skills?
This section guides aspiring designers on how to gain practical experience. Aldrich would likely suggest avenues such as:
- Personal projects: Creating self-initiated projects to practice skills and build a portfolio.
- Volunteer work: Offering UX services to non-profits or small businesses.
- Internships: Seeking formal internship programs to gain supervised industry experience.
- Freelancing: Taking on small freelance projects to work with real clients.
- Design challenges: Participating in online design challenges to hone skills and get feedback.
- Open-source contributions: Contributing to open-source projects that need UX input.
Conclusion
The book concludes by reiterating that UX designer is a highly sought-after job title and one poised for even greater popularity. Aldrich mentions that CNN ranked it fourteenth in their top 100 jobs list, highlighting the increasing number of UX design roles.
The conclusion likely reinforces the idea that breaking into UX design requires developing a diverse skill set, encompassing both technical and soft skills, making it an exciting and challenging field. It emphasizes the importance of continuous learning, hands-on practice, and the ability to “tell your story as a UX designer”.
Ultimately, Aldrich positions “Becoming a UX Designer” as a comprehensive resource for those looking to navigate this career path, offering guidance on acquiring the necessary skills and landing a job in UX.
In summary, William N. Aldrich’s “Becoming a UX Designer: Learn User Experience Design” provides a thorough overview of the UX field, starting from its fundamental definitions and historical context to the practical day-to-day responsibilities and career development pathways.
The book effectively distinguishes UX from related design disciplines like UI and web design, highlighting its unique user-centric approach. Through detailed explanations of the UX design process—including user research, personas, information architecture, user flows, wireframing, prototyping, and testing—Aldrich equips readers with a solid understanding of the methodologies involved.
Furthermore, by addressing critical aspects such as required skills, the impact of global events on the industry, salary expectations, and practical advice on choosing courses and finding opportunities, the book serves as an invaluable resource for both aspiring and seasoned UX professionals seeking to deepen their knowledge and advance their careers in this ever-evolving domain. It underscores that UX design is not just a job, but a crucial function that drives business success by focusing on human needs and creating intuitive, satisfying product experiences.
