What is it?
User experience design (UXD or UED) is the process of enhancing customer satisfaction and loyalty by improving the usability, ease of use, and pleasure provided in the interaction between the customer and the product. User experience design encompasses traditional human-computer interaction (HCI) design, and extends it by addressing all aspects of a product or service as perceived by users. User experience is any aspect of a person’s interaction with a given IT system, including the interface, graphics, industrial design, physical interaction, and the manual.
Career as User Experience Designer : User interface designer, user-experience researcher, user experience designer, usability analyst, information architect, usability engineer, application developer, interaction designer, Web developer, human factors engineer, software developer they all refer to one single career – career in User experience design.
How to get started? Learning and Practice
Learning – Apart from good knowledge of web designing and software design a Program in Human Computer Interactions offered by, The Industrial Design Centre in IIT Bombay will be a good start if you are looking for career in User experience design. The Human Computer Interaction (HCI) specialisation prepares students to address human needs with technology by determining useful system functionality and by designing usable interfaces, considering the context of the individual and/or organisation.
Factors that Influence UX (source- http://www.usability.gov/what-and-why/user-experience.html)
At the core of UX is ensuring that users find value in what you are providing to them. Peter Morville represents this through his User Experience Honeycomb .
He notes that in order for there to be a meaningful and valuable user experience, information must be:
- Useful: Your content should be original and fulfill a need
- Usable: Site must be easy to use
- Desirable: Image, identity, brand, and other design elements are used to evoke emotion and appreciation
- Findable: Content needs to be navigable and locatable onsite and offsite
- Accessible: Content needs to be accessible to people with disabilities
- Credible: Users must trust and believe what you tell them
Practice – Get practical experience as an intern on at least one live project there is no better way to learn than working on the live project. Watch, take notes and participate, at the end of each day keep your questions ready and get the answers for the same.
The big names employing user experience designer are:
- Apple
- Nokia
- Motorola
- Microsoft
- SAP Labs, India