What I learn, and need to keep in mind, from socializing with UX people
Disclaimer: This is what I observed among my small group of UX friends, it might not 100% correct so feel free to share your thought!
It has been over a month since I moved to the new environment, I got a chance to meet many people in the related field and learned from them. Being with them off-site the work showed me many aspects and give me an idea of a different meaning of the abbreviation ‘UX’.
Here’re what I’ve got:
U is not only for the User
Well, we’ve all learned that the user is the core of our work. We show our empathy, listen to them, seek their problems and solve their pain points. Still, the real world isn’t that ideal. We need to work out with colleagues outside our field and that’s when the problem starts. User does matter to them, but in a different aspect to us.
So what’s another U? It’s YOU, it’s us, all UX people. We do matter in our job so not only show them why we need real users for the contribution but to show them why us. UX is a bit sneaky role, we pop up everywhere during the process but we’ve got not much power to control anything. The funny thing is, we didn’t care that much as long as we can pursue our finding and make users happy at the end. That’s why I think we need to take a look back to ourselves somehow.
As a human, we need some recognition when we put effort into something. But what I’d like to state isn’t just only for our self-esteem but to use our job as a key to open the path toward more User-Centered Design. Sometimes we just need to stand for ourself, show them our value, that we’re not only the ‘trendy’ phrase for boosting any sales or ideas.
X is not only for the Experience
Last year when I first learned about UX, I always stick with the idea that UX is all about the experience of using product/service and keep practicing user interaction enhancement. I keep working alone as my personality is like that and now I know that I was wrong. The real work as UX person is hopping in and out, talking to each part of the business — or even someone outside the business.
So another X is ‘x’ as ‘collaboration’, like when various brands collab the work to each other. We have our own standing point no matter you’re UX, business, developer, or the real user. We all crossed to each other and make a contribution in order to create the best solution to the problem we put our hand on. UX person doesn’t suppose to work alone. We collect all the input, compile for the suitable possibilities, and output back for a confirmation. Again, it’s a sneaky role but don’t you think it’s a must for your company to have everyone talking (and listening!) to each other?
The best experience of any product/service requires lots of ingredients: solving the right problem (which you wouldn’t know unless you talk to the real user), the actual working solution (say hi to our developers!), and the reason why we should maintain its existence (Business team will take a really good care of it). You can’t just stand out-of-no-where and cast the spell to make it all happen. You need to work hard, together with everyone, to make it real.
Wrap Up
In conclude, my new meaning of ‘UX’ is ‘You collaborate with other’. Remember that both ‘U’ and ‘X’ are at the same level, next to each other. Our work requires collaboration with other colleagues but at the same time, we still need to protect our own standing point too. We listen a lot to proceed with our job but we couldn’t make it if there’s no one listening to us.
So keep going, UXers : )
