I'm talking about ones like these:

There is absolutely ZERO mention of user research. ZERO mention of understanding the users. Every time I see a job opening for a UI/UX Designer I cringe because 99% of the time they are looking for a visual/UI designer, but just slapping the UX on there.

I see more and more UX positions open up, which is great for UXers, because that means more and more companies are beginning to realize that having a UX process is crucial for the company's success. But do they really understand what UX is? Or are they just jumping on the UX boat because "everybody else is doing it"?

Nearly all job postings for UI/UX Designers contain language for "creating elegant and beautiful design concepts...must have skills with InVision, Axure, Adobe Creative Suite etc..." Nearly everything is about graphic design, prototyping, wireframing etc...But where is the requirement for understanding product goals? Conducting user research to inform design? Understand user journeys, needs, goals, Jobs-to-be-Done? How about who your users are and what they are trying to get done?

UX Design without research is just UI/visual design.

And UI/visual design without research is just a pretty art project. If you are designing something beautiful nobody needs or understands, then it is an ugly product. I do not blame companies for not understanding the UX Design process, though. After all, there is the big fat "Design" right in the title. Or is it the fault of UX professionals? Currently, UX lives in this ivory tower where only people who work in the field understand the jargon and culture of the user experience. How then, can this barrier be broken? Industry-wide certifications (as David Travis argues)?

Hence, it is crucial to understand one thing:

• UX = journey (aka the process)
• UI = destination (aka one possible solution)

When I was first beginning my journey in UX Research, I quickly analogised the UX design process, or "Design Thinking", to something we learned in trusty elementary school education - the scientific process:

1. Background
2. Hypothesis
3. Plan / Methods
4. Create
5. Test/experiment and Observe
6. Analyse and Conclude
7. Repeat

Pretty similar, right (assuming elementary schools taught the scientific method)? As someone who studied biology, astrophysics, and psychology, the scientific process was all I did in school. We have probably all done it at one point in our lives or another. There should be no barrier to entry to understanding the UX process. Conducting good UX research is another story.

Either way, there should be clarification on terminology here. Perhaps having the word "Designer" in "UX Designer" simply confuses those not in the UX industry. Really, as I see it, someone who champions the entire UX design process is more of a consultant, a "unicorn" - working closely with stakeholders to understand the problem and users, gathering data to inspire a solution, prototyping that and continuously testing it to refine the product.

Understand the UX Design Thinking process

UI/Visual design is one small part of the greater UX design process.

If you are a company interested in establishing a UX process, it is important to understand your users' needs, your business goals, and everything in between. Feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions.

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Kevin Liang