UX is Not UI, It’s…

If you haven’t heard by now, there’s a camp of UX folks who shout from the mountain tops, “UX is not UI!” The adage gets many an eye roll from people who don’t identify as UX at their core. I’m not one to chime in on semantic battles like this, but once I was asked (lightheartedly) if I fell into the aforementioned camp. This is what I should’ve said…

Originally published at https://www.astridparis.com on November 19, 2014.

UX is not UI, it’s product strategy.

The longer I work in the tech field, the more I refine my professional philosophies concerning UX and what a person in this role can bring to the table. The myriad of things that need to get done at any company certainly merits having different roles to make sure those tasks get completed. While I’m not advocating that a UX person be the “owner” of everything, I do believe that tapping these kinds of folks for input on a variety of issues will do your team more good than it will harm. At the very least, here’s what I think about as a UXer working on software product teams.

Innovation

Are we raising the bar on what we want to build (or have built), or are we sticking ourselves in with the status quo? (That ol’ “faster horse” thing.) UX folks can offer help by looking at the competitive landscape through the eyes of user motivations and needs, context of use, accessibility, usability, and aesthetics.

Value

Are we building the right thing at the right time? Are we building the right thing for the right user?

Are we building the right thing at the right time? Are we building the right thing for the right user? Existence is rife with problems. Just because you have a solution to address one of those problems doesn’t mean that there’s not a better solution. Maybe the better solution is one that’s not so obvious- that’s the one what we should be figuring out.

Analytics

You can build all you want. Having some metrics to validate your assumptions can help steer product direction from going down the wrong path.

Did the thing we built get adopted? Should we continue to enhance that feature, or do we need more data to inform whether to keep going? You can build all you want. Having some metrics to validate your assumptions can help steer product direction from going down the wrong path.

Messaging

UXers should give a damn about anything users see: system-generated emails, marketing communications, in-app notifications, microcopy, etc.

Do users know about the thing we built? What kind of vibe are we giving them? Are we being helpful or are we being frustrating? UXers should give a damn about anything users see: system-generated emails, marketing communications, in-app notifications, microcopy, etc. A consistent voice and tone across the brand positively impacts the user experience.

Team

Do we have the right people in the right seat on the bus?

Do we have the right people in the right seat on the bus? Having skills gaps can detrimentally affect your product. You can have a stellar idea, but without a people wrangler to help make sure things get executed, you’ll just have lots of stimulating conversations (and no stimulating product). You can have a kick-ass product but without someone who can get it in the hands of the right people, you’re looking at a shiny paperweight.

If you have a team that collectively covers all of your bases in the can-do department, how are they working together? Kick-ass product + organizational dysfunction = visible corporate underpants. (Don’t Google “product showing underpants.” I was trying to find a great example of my metaphor but those search results definitely did not contain one.) What I mean by that is if you have people working in silos, and there’s a lack of communication, you could end up with inconsistent messaging and design patterns. Happens all.the.time. A UX person who cares about the product will always be thinking about how to break down barriers to collaboration. Team — barriers = collaboration = happier team = ideas = better product = happier users.