What is a UX Designer? Meaning

A UX designer focuses entirely on the user experience and ensures that user interactions with websites, software or apps are as simple and intuitive as possible. Products must be designed to be user-friendly and every step along a user journey should ensure a positive experience. This profession requires talent in numerous areas, as aspects of psychology, economics, market research, design and technology are incorporated into UX design. Comprehensive information about the main principles and tasks of web design can be found on the Spaceberry Studio website.

UI Designer vs. UX Designer: What is a UI/UX Designer?

In connection with the profession of UX designer, you often come across the term UI designer. However, these two terms do not stand for the same thing: While UX stands for “User Experience”, UI refers to the “User Interface”.

A UI designer is therefore responsible for the visual aspect of digital applications and their design. While UX design is about the user experience, i.e. the feeling the user has when using an app, for example, UI design boils down to the design of the user interface (design of the product and visual impression). However, the two professions can also be combined in one position.

What does a UX designer do? Tasks

UX designers are tasked with making products and technologies easily accessible to people. They typically work with larger product teams and manage a product from design to implementation – with the main focus on ease of use for the end user. A UX design specialist also always has the company’s goals in mind: long-term customer loyalty and an increase in sales are the top priority. A UX designer has the following tasks:

1. User and product research. At the beginning of a project it is important to determine exactly who the product is being developed for, what goals should be achieved and what challenges users might have with the product. This includes the collection and analysis of data, which can be collected, for example, through competitive analyses, (online) user surveys, focus groups or personal interviews.
2. Creation of buyer personas. Given the data obtained, a UX designer creates buyer personas that represent the desired target group. These provide a detailed picture of the future customer including needs, goals, preferences as well as purchasing and decision-making behavior.
3. Competitive analysis. The competition also provides information about future actions. A direct comparison can be used to determine what is already going well and what potential for improvement there is. Based on these factors, further action can be decided.
4. User journey. The user journey is analyzed together with product management or the product owner, (agile) development teams and, ideally, future users. All points of contact between a user and the company are focused on: from the first visit to the website to the completion of the purchase to the recommendation to friends and family. In order to ideally outline the user journey, UX designers use several tools such as storyboards, wireframes, user flows or a user journey map. Everything is documented from the user’s entry point to the last interaction.
5. Prototyping. After the product layout is decided, the UX designer creates prototypes and mockups. These are used to test the designs before they are developed. These prototypes can range from simple paper models (“low-fidelity prototypes”) to realistic, interactive models (“high-fidelity prototypes”).
6. Usability testing. These prototypes are then tested on users. This means that defects such as possible design errors can be identified in advance. In addition, a UX designer is always involved in product development.

Good to know: The UI designer is responsible for the visual design, final images, color schemes, icons and typography. Buttons, sliders or text input fields also fall into his area of ​​responsibility. The work of a UX designer is rarely complete after the product launch. Whether refinements, changes, new versions or incorporating feedback – this job is definitely one of the more varied.