User Experience and User Interface Design - The Graphic Design: Reference and Specification - page 171

Chapter 15:
User Experience and User Interface Design
u s e r e x p e r i e n c e (ux) d e s i g n
UX design studies how users feel about an experience. UX designers typically evalu-
ate an experience's ease of use, perceived value, and how efficiently a user completed
various tasks throughout the entire experience. User experience evolved from the user
centric design philosophy—a philosophy focused on making design decisions that are
rooted in the needs and desires of users. Many design disciplines can be included
under the UX umbrella, including user interface design.
u s e r i n t e r fac e d e s i g n
Within the practice of UX design, user interface (UI) design is typically a combination
between interaction design and visual design. Simply put, a user interface provides the
tools ('interface') for the user to get through an on-line experience. The user interface
design process has different phases, each with different activities.
•Userresearch(Discovery)
•Sketching/wireframing/prototyping(Design)
•Visualdesign(Design)
•Usabilitytesting(Design)
•Userinterfacedevelopment(Development)
A designer, information architect and a user interface developer (i.e., front-end developer)
will typically own a particular piece of the user interface design process. In smaller
organizations one person might be responsible for all activities within of the user inter-
face design, while in a larger organization there might be one person responsible for
every task.
User Research
User research is a key component of the user interface design process and is the main
driver of the discovery phase. User research encompasses many different investiga-
tive methods to gain a deeper understanding of the problems, and needs, of potential
users. User research occurs during both the discovery and design phases.