We are the UX designers

Cheryl Platz, Senior User Experience Designer, Microsoft
Published on Huffing post – Translated from English by Antoine Visonneau

We are the shadow workers who work tirelessly to prevent frustration, annoyance and rage from causing you to throw your computer across the room. When we do our job well, computing seems easy, effortless, and even a little magical. The measure of our success: your happiness. Few people know that UX exists, let alone know the commitment that this career requires. But everyone knows the frustration of being in front of a computer, a smartphone, software that does not work as we would like. And sadly, many are convinced it's their fault when it doesn't work.

In reality, it's often a design error at the root: a misunderstanding of why people use software. The good news is that much is now known about how the human brain works and we have observational methods that allow us to fix these errors even before new software is released. The work of the UX designer changes the lives of everyone who uses our software. Sometimes small changes have a huge impact.

For those of my generation, it was almost impossible to aspire to become a UX designer, because this profession did not yet exist. Perhaps the closest was the specialists in human factors: designing objects that took into account the physiology of the human body as opposed to those who only considered aesthetics or ease of assembly. Human factor experts have been working in the automotive industry for decades.

As for me, I grew up fascinated by the internet and new technologies, but I have also always loved art and creative research. I wish there was a way to combine the two. One day, a professor came to talk to us about the industry called human-computer interaction (another name for UX design). This professor explained to us that this field was at the crossroads of computer science, graphic design and cognitive psychology.

We have many names: interaction designer, user experience (UX) designers, Human Machine Interface expert, but our job remains the same. We use the principles of computer science to find technical solutions to problems, cognitive and experimental psychology to understand how users will react to these solutions, while also integrating an aesthetic dimension. Sometimes the designers program their design themselves, but more often it is the programmers who take care of it.

One of the most attractive aspects of UX Design is the fact that this career allows you to immerse yourself in many very different fields. I've worked for theme parks, video games, servers and software, and now the automotive industry. If you like to learn, work with other creatives, if you want a career that allows you to see the impact of your work on others, then the job of UX designer is for you.

It is difficult to describe the typical day of a UX Designer because it varies greatly depending on the stages of the process. But there is one constant: it is the fact of collaborating permanently with the other professions. My days are full  meetings for brainstorming, storyboarding, analysis and evaluation of ideas. Our best friends are our sketchbook, whiteboards and some graphic design software.

The UX designer is everyone's servant, nobody's boss. We are the missing link between programmers and those who use their software. And while our work may be invisible, it's always kind of magical to see people enjoying our products rather than just tolerating them. When we design software by placing the human at the center, we allow each user to give the best of himself, and to be a little happier in the interaction.

link to original article