UX Profession Beyond Screens
‘While looking at many UX job descriptions, the position often requires skills like wireframing, prototyping, testing user interface, information architecture, visual portfolio in Behance (or Dribbble), and other extensions include coding, business analysis and so forth’
There is nothing wrong with such a substantial focus in UX job skills as many customer interactions are often using digital products today.
This article will redefine the role of UX professionals rather than thinking in terms of screen walk-through.
What is UX? & Why UX?… understanding the root answers of above two questions are very crucial to describe UX beyond screens.
What is UX?
User Experience often been defined using terms like end-user’s interaction, end-user’s ability to use a product, and their limitation on using the product or service. The definition in common relates more of digital applications which reflects more of screens.
However,
…the root definition is more of people’s emotion, their attitude, and their perception towards a service or a product or it might be the whole ecosystem users dwell in.
UX profession demands understanding people and their psychology. UX profession is lot about observing, listening, connecting rather than thinking on the collective information from clients.
UX designers thinking in terms of collected information is a false approach for a good story.
Why UX?
If a designer doesn’t know who the user is? If a designer doesn’t know what the user’s desire is? If a designer fails to empathy his users, how can he design a product or a service or an environment that is people friendly?
UX is key to solve lots of problems faced by the users every day. May be everything that touch upon the user’s experience with the product. UX just don’t ease the use of the product but UX emotionally connects product with its users. It’s more of users emotion, their behaviour towards product.
Creating a solid user experience goes beyond wireframes and screens. (of course, those are important too).
With the fast rise in technology, the need of UX is expanding in various industries that goes beyond digital. The trending technology and new devices coming to market is now following multi-sensory experiences to engage with the users.
For example, trending smartphones focus not only on visual experience but also on non-visual experience like Voice interaction which is totally about the sound.
Early interaction of users with the screen was more about touch but now the voice interaction is becoming so popular that many users don’t want to look at their screens at all. With new stimuli come, new interactions.
Isn’t it cool to talk to the device than tapping lots of buttons on the device to meet our need?
Instead of having N numbers of clicks that frustrates users, technology like voice assistant is now helping the users to be more comfortable on using their voice to talk to their phones, cars, smart home devices and related. The voice interaction is shaping itself so natural to make the user feel, just like how user can talk to another human.
The smartest device designed is not about having beautiful UI but no UI approach.
The User Experience role is shaping itself to create products that is more omnichannel, a product that feels so easy and natural to interact with. The method of user-centric is not just about touch, see and hear but to give the users the whole sensory experience.
If we, designers have to catch up with future technology, now is a very right time for UX designers to explore non- screen experience than screen walk-through. With the rise of Artificial Intelligence and Virtual Reality, the future world is more of screen free experience…
…let’s have the guts to do Screen-free user experience and beyond!
UX Beyond Screens was originally published in DSchool on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.