Thanks, Whitney, for the great article! Personally I think of points 2, 8, 9 and 10 as the most important.
I found one hilarious little spelling mistake in the article: under point #4 it says "...he points to Peter Morville’s UX honeybomb..." "Honeybomb" should of course be "honeycomb." :)
James V
· 11 months ago
Hurrah! Thank you for this - its always great to see someone with a good understanding of what it is or isn't :)
I would like to throw two things in there - the first is the concept of 'human' experience.
The second is that user experience isn't just about online - its the whole experience - both online and off. Something that is easily forgotten in this day and age.
Samantha LeVan
· 11 months ago
One of the challenges I see with the role of "user experience" is that job titles continually evolve. You do a great job to point out some of the possible titles we hold but the reality is that those change over time. Companies evolve those titles and job responsibilies and this makes it difficult for outsiders to get a strong grasp of what we actually do. The other day I noticed a Help Wanted sign at Old Navy, looking for Customer Experience Associates. I'm pleased they care about the experience of their customers, but this seems like another layer of confusion, "customer" vs "user". What can we do to establish job title standards so that our customers and clients can feel confident about what we are called and hopefully learn how to distinguish experience designers from GUI designers, visual designers, and graphic designers?
David Hamill
· 11 months ago
Ah yes the blank stare. I know that one. My mum still doesn't think I've got a proper job.
Shaun Dakin
· 11 months ago
Very good post. Congrats.
When I was a product manager at FedEx.com in the 90's we almost never looked at Usability, User Experience, etc..
I then brought in Jeff Rubin (who wrote the Usability bible in the 90's - http://adjix.com/irhw
And I was hooked.
All you have to look at is Apple and the iPod / iPhone.
I think when we started to develop our collaborative app (http://colaab.com) we learned point no. 8 the hard way before we realised that it was truly a team effort. It's a shame this article didn't come sooner, it would have saved us a lot of time!
Thanks,
Bob
Marie Goltara
· 11 months ago
Great article! Very useful in explaining ALL of the components of UX. :)
Steve
· 11 months ago
Great article, in depth but to the point.
So based on what you've heard about the new palm, do you think it could be the back-to-the-basics platform it's made out to be? Maybe get another group of individuals into the mobile device market.
Steve
· 11 months ago
Great article, to the point, succinct, informational. Do you think the new palm will live up to the back-to-the-basics hype/expectations? I know there is a decent market for a simpler mobile organizer.
Jason Sack
· 11 months ago
Fabulous. I agree it's absolutely essential for UX practitioners to have a strong interdisciplinary approach. A working understanding of cultural anthropology, sociology, cognitive/behavioral psychology, are crucial; and that's in addition to an understanding of business, technology, and media. Last but not least, a strong creative thinker.
Thus the reason it is so difficult to find great UX pros...
@kristn
· 11 months ago
Lovely article.
Just curious.. what are the 1 line job descriptions other UX designers use?
Mine is very similar to yours Whitney.. and I agree.. it's a huge understatement.
If anyone has anything better to share I'd gladly steal it from you and recycle it. =D
Eric PIlkington
· 11 months ago
This is a great post, Whitney! In order for people to understand the importance of UX/UED, people first need to understand what UX/UED is, and what it's not. I also think that products and communications should be held to a standard of simplicity and that as designers and developers, we need to raise the bar from usability to simplicity. Because in the end, if people don't get "it," people won't use "it."
Samantha LeVan
· 11 months ago
When I get the blank stare, I usually say, "I study how people work with different products to learn how I can solve their problems." Perhaps I'm letting them believe I can solve everything, but that line seems to help them understand that I'm researching the solution rather than assuming it. I don't think there's a succinct way to say user experience designers research, study, evaluate, wireframe, sketch, design, prototype, test, report, present, evangelize, teach, etc...
Patrick Newbery
· 11 months ago
Nice article.
I think that one challenge for UX design IS the word user. It automatically frames the conversation as "how will a user access the features, what will the what will the user think of the product...etc".
The truth is that experience begins from (m)any point(s) — word-of-mouth, the logo, advertising, using the product.
The traditional assumption that the brand threshold is a singular point defined by the brand no longer applies.
We see User Interface or Interaction as a component of overall Experience Design, but we don't necessarily think of it as a step or phase of design.
When we designed the boxee identity and reference user experience, we took holistic approach to the experience, which integrates identity, information architecture, iconography, and movement.
We encourage our clients to take the POV that design is helping them craft the experience of the brand that their customer can have.
As such, we are Experience Designers and focus on different areas of the craft (identity, UI/IA, graphic language) as we define the goal for the experience.
Todd
· 11 months ago
11. People that write code for a living are physiologically incapable of understanding the importance of UX!
Bora
· 11 months ago
Great piece. Del.icio.us-ing this one! Re: point #1 - UI Design vs UX Design, the confusion in the world of IT is definitely notable. Even people who are aware of it fall into the traps and end up in conversations with Whitney that go like:
* The app looks like crap * Yeah but does it act like crap?
:)
Paula
· 11 months ago
Great piece. I've already recommended it to someone. It's in my delicious collection. Per Shaun's comment, it's clearly one of those 'immersion' things: you don't realize what you don't have until you can experience it!
Odd Catch 22 to be in :)
Patrick
· 11 months ago
Totally agree with @PatrickNewbury (whoa we have the same first name. that is neat.) I've always (admittedly in err) with technology, and the functionality of a process. It's easy to forget that the experience goes well beyond the visually tangible component.
Gagan Diesh
· 11 months ago
Great article, and I agree with all the points. The one that hurts our field the most is #9, and the fancy made-up titles that we all come up with, when really, we should look at adopting standards whenever possible. Established fields have consistent titles, while the technology sector in general seems unable to commit (I don't want to see Designer Diva as a job title, it tells me very little).
I wrote the job description for a Business Analyst and a User experience designer yesterday and it was difficult to divide those two roles up, because responsible UX designers should care, and respect, and know about the business analysis part just as much as the BA.
Related note: Mashable peeps: your comment box creates one run-on line when inputting into the comment box, and on FF3/mac I couldn't see what I was typing beyond the width of the comment box.
Keith Pape
· 11 months ago
Hey Whitney,
What an amazing article. I've spent countless hours with my peers, as well as my clients trying to explanin UX and it's importance, and how it's different from graphic design or front ent programming. what a great job. keep up the good work!
Ryan Lowe
· 11 months ago
Hey Whitney,
Great article, the only comment that I would have is on #2 (... a step in the process). When viewed in the context of the overall project (such as a large software system-of-systems project), it *is* a step in the process. Granted, it is not a simple step and many issues are involved ... but it is as much a step as "requirements gathering", which is a complex set of tasks in-and-of-itself.
Matt
· 11 months ago
Great post. Regarding #10, in reality all companies deliver a user experience. The difference is in whether it has been intentionally designed or whether it has just come into existence haphazardly. The latter is often the case.
Jay Fienberg
· 11 months ago
Good article -- #10 is my favorite. Adding to the previous comment, not only is there a difference between creating a user experience intentionally vs haphazardly, but there's also a difference between in-depth vs shallow approaches to UX design.
Some projects work well with a shallow approach to UX, and others require a more in-depth approach. Likewise, some projects fail in part due to the UX efforts being too superficial, and some fail in part due to the UX efforts being too convoluted.
One thing a good UX practitioner can bring to a project is a strategic assessment of how much and what kind of UX practices can contribute to the project in what ways, given the needs of the business / company / user / community.
Gitamba Saila-Ngita
· 11 months ago
Great article a really easy crash course on the discpline. I'd recommend to anyone to pick up Everyware: The Dawn of Ubiquitos computing to really see where user expierence and the vast array of technologies are heading. It's forcing designers from all walks of life to really become futurist in their design.
Lew Payne
· 11 months ago
How do I print this article in a user-friendly manner? Most sites offer a user-friendly print option that excludes graphics and animations automatically, while maximizing text. I see dozens of options available on this site, for bookmarking and the like, but no user-friendly print option at all.
Nathan Wall
· 11 months ago
Nice article Whitney. I especially like point #2, which is so often lost in the context of a wider project: UXD is not a magical solution, sometimes you will get it wrong. As soon as you bring real life customers into your perfectly designed experience anything can happen. Sit back, observe, watch the chaos unfold. Learn, question and rethink. Use this knowledge to create Perfect Experience 2.0 :)
Christian Hagel
· 11 months ago
Good article. Rarely feel so recognized :)
I would like to add a number 11. '...is about tools'
A lot of people beleive that you are great at PhotoShop if you are a UX designer or that if you are great at PS, then you can be a designer.
---
· 11 months ago
I don't think UX has much to do with artistry at all. It may attract artistic types, but in my experience creating art has to do with your gut feeling and what feels good to you the artist. No explanation is necessary.
Designing something requires you to think about how it works for someone else. It may feel good to you, but that's not the point. There must be a reason behind everything.
I have a lot of user experiences.....but then I put my clothes back on.
Great article.
taine
· 11 months ago
absolutely right.
i can see eight or nine of these ten points exist in my company.
Wifi
· 11 months ago
very nice post , hats off
jaded "ux" designer
· 11 months ago
the reason why we have articles like this is pretty simple: "UXD" is hogwash. hooey. balogna. nonsense. a good experience comes from a skilled team with talented individuals thriving for the best in their own areas of expertise. combine that with effective channels of communication, adaptive processes for user feedback and research, and you have world-class experience. the fact that this title is being dished out attests to the ridiculousness of the position itself. if it's not "the role of one person or department," then don't hire people for it.
Olga
· 11 months ago
Great article. Can Iask you for permission to translate it into spanish, please?
Eric Reiss
· 11 months ago
Excellent review, Whitney. Now that you've explained what UX isn't, let me share what we think UX is:
I am tremendously honored by this incredible response, and I'm glad to read that the article resonated with many of you.
@James V, I too like to think of it as the human experience and not the user experience, as you can see in the tagline on my blog.
@Bob Thompson and @taine, It's great to read that you can see yourself or your organization in certain points here. They say the first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem... ;)
@Patrick Newbury, I so appreciate your comment considering your early design work with boxee, and it's great to hear that our approaches are aligned.
@Bora, hilarious. I hope you weren't offended by my comment the other night, but I am glad to read that it stuck with you!
@Ryan Lowe, definitely understand your point and agree that yes, a lot of what we do happens early in the process before other pieces of the puzzle can come together. But my point was that even during visual design, or development, or deployment, or after the product is in people's hands, the organization still needs to continuously work towards improving the experience.
@Christian Hagel, absolutely! I've seen job descriptions that basically amount to "If you can use Visio, come work for us!"
@Natasha, hilarious that you posted a sound clip for "synecdoche." Will Evans tends to use big words :)
@jaded "ux" designer, you make a valid point and I would have liked to discuss it further with you, but for some reason you chose to comment anonymously. In the future, stand behind your position.
@Olga, by all means translate it, and please send me the link when you do.
Thank you again to everyone who commented! I'm really enjoying hearing your thoughts.
fabian
· 11 months ago
Good Article and good work!
Sara Durning
· 11 months ago
Great article. All the points resonate with my thinking. So great to have it summarized and also get confirmation that we're on the right track.
So far, I've been lucky enough to work for companies and with people that get it. Even so, I'll summarize the key points and share with team.
Etienne Garbugli
· 11 months ago
This falls in the list of posts I wish I had written. Some very interesting ideas hat can be used to better sell User Experience Design.
Lew A
· 11 months ago
Great article... definitely a lot to think about.
Thanks for posting! Lew
Kontra
· 11 months ago
"User Experience Design" is one of a series of buzzphrases some people use to make money. It's no more meaningful than, say, the notion of "collateral damage" in the course of conducting a battle.
Halwebguy
· 11 months ago
Not a bad list, but I prefer "what it is" lists over "what it isn't" lists, which could be infinite in length.
östenm
· 11 months ago
I am not sure why people think your article is so great, I would say it more or less repeats the first chapter of "the inmates are running...". If the goal was to kick in some open doors you obviously succeeded.
Marianna Samara
· 11 months ago
Great article.
I absolutely agree with #3: User experience is not only about technology, "It’s about everything we do; it surrounds us.†I also agree with comments about the job title. I am a User Experience Architect but many times the clients refer to me as an Information architect as this title is better known to them. A diagram that efficiently projects the principles of user experience and the position of Information Architecture can be seen here: http://www.kickerstudio.com/blog/images/ux.jpg
Jeff Johnson
· 11 months ago
Thanks for this - UI/UX/Usability etc, i think its about naking sure your goals are clear. Most people are Ready - Fire - Aim about UX and claim that revising the design model is "Agility"
I prefer Focus groups - online focus groups. toss in some randomness in the population to test interface learning curve adoption.
for us at www.ctngreen.com/mag a magazine user experience ported to the web was a huge undertaking.
Headway stayed deadway until we applied UX and focus group testing.
UXI i think is what it needs to be calledm and its mission critical for success
Pretty general. I still to this day have no idea what UX people do, and I build UIs.
Martin Fried
· 10 months ago
Thanks for the article. It provided not only some good points, but also a focal point for some good discussions.
One of my pet peeves are applications that get in the way of the user. From web sites that pop up messages and windows that cover up the content to programs that ask some dumb question instead of doing what you asked. I hate it when I start some program or process that may take more time than I want to wait, so I go get coffee or something, only to come back and see that it's waiting for me to say no, I don't want to know about upgrades or new products, etc. Then I have to wait for it to actually run. It should have have done what I wanted first, and either used a separate thread, or waited to ask the question. Unless there is some fatal error, it should not stop.
Poster Printing
· 10 months ago
Great post – quite informative and it’s nice to hear from so many people’s viewpoints. I think #10 is interesting – I hadn’t thought about user experience being a choice. Why wouldn’t you choose to have great user experience design? Ah, yes – the greedy people! I agree that usability should be equal to simplicity since people won’t use what they don’t understand.
Julio Loayza
· 10 months ago
I wrote in my blog a few days ago: "Thinking that web is a technology matter is like thinking that painting is a chemistry matter" (in Spanish) together with an image of a famous Picasso's paint called "Guernica", a very emotional one. Reading your point 3 has been nice and funny for me :-)
David Ding
· 10 months ago
Great article. I have been working in the experience design/mgt. area for several years and want to thank you for summarizing this up. Many pople working in this area come from different backgrounds - either product design, marketing, psychology, or process analysis. It might be the future trend for us to synthesize our current work and propose a unnfied framework for analyzing experience in both online/offline settings.
David Ding
· 10 months ago
Great article. I have been working in the experience design/mgt. area for several years and want to thank you for summarizing this up. Many pople working in this area come from different backgrounds - either product design, marketing, psychology, or process analysis. It might be the future trend for us to synthesize our current work and propose a unnfied framework for analyzing experience in both online/offline settings.
jai
· 9 months ago
really useful one for webmasters. im a beginner and its very informative for me..
Stu Collett
· 9 months ago
I love this article,
Thanks very much Whitney!
Alta Bradford
· 8 months ago
Great summary about User Experience Design...in point 5, I would like to emphasize.. "As user experience designers we have to find the sweet spot between the user’s needs and the business goals, and furthermore ensure that the design is on brand." Isn't this the goal of all good design whether you call it "user experience" design or just plain old good design?
Ed Schlotzhauer
· 8 months ago
Great synthesis and overview. I like the approach of defining what it is not and using supporting quotes from well known designers. Plus, I agree with almost all of what you said. That is unusual for me. You were very pragmatic and goal-directed. Besides, you have to love an article that uses the word "synecdoche".
google reklam
· 8 months ago
thanks
web tasarımı
· 8 months ago
very good
jake1313
· 6 months ago
What does this article even mean? "User experience design?" Possibly the vaguest topic ever.
uxdesign.com
· 6 months ago
Great concept here. De-mystification and clarification certainly remain necessary.
Unfortunately, from a few quotes cited here it is easy to see why it is still necessary: there is much disagreement and debate even within the professional UX community (itself broad by definition) about what user experience and, or, user experience design mean, relate to, who does it, how, and when. How much should we expect of "civilians" and business partners when we can barely agree? And with so many calling themselves UX Anything to pillage and exploit these terms, they should be confused.
I think when we have professional and academic standards for UX design, as we now have for information architecture, usability testing, and interaction design, then there will be a measure of competence associated with it. For now, we lack this. For what "user experience" means, let's first recognize Don Norman for coining the term, and helping clarify it: “It’s the total experience that matters… experience is more based upon memory than reality." Meanwhile, on the other hand, we should discount those definitions that attenuate all practical meaning of it through vaporous phrases like “User experience is any interaction with any product, any artifact, any system.” Humans have experiences, but not every experience makes us "users." The principal of usage maintains "user" as a computer science term. That's where it originated, and it seems best left there. Add U to X and it refers to HCI (human-computer interaction). Other established design (and business and engineering) professions have their own traditions, guilds, norms and jargon. Why co-opt them? Leave them be.
jordan shoes
· 4 months ago
that is really good to clarify the disconceptions.
jami mullikin
· 4 months ago
I am also curious to see how UX evolves as iphone apps and social media begin to change the way people are viewing and organizing data. We have definitely seen the shift to content and user experience and design for the sake of design or coll technology seems canned by the users. How long will it take agencies to catch on?
Frank
· 3 months ago
I did one usability study for my MFA. I enjoyed it but am still foggy on details. Also this is the first time I ran into the term "UX". People do that?
clipping images
· 3 months ago
Great post ... Thanks for sharing :)
alisonjuli23
· 2 months ago
We serve Clients From around the world. What do they have to say about us? www.contentunltd.com
All Comments
I found one hilarious little spelling mistake in the article: under point #4 it says "...he points to Peter Morville’s UX honeybomb..." "Honeybomb" should of course be "honeycomb." :)
I would like to throw two things in there - the first is the concept of 'human' experience.
The second is that user experience isn't just about online - its the whole experience - both online and off. Something that is easily forgotten in this day and age.
When I was a product manager at FedEx.com in the 90's we almost never looked at
Usability, User Experience, etc..
I then brought in Jeff Rubin (who wrote the Usability bible in the 90's - http://adjix.com/irhw
And I was hooked.
All you have to look at is Apple and the iPod / iPhone.
Shaun Dakin
CEO - StopPoliticalCalls.org
@EndTheRoboCalls
@IsCool
@FakeObama44
Thanks,
Bob
So based on what you've heard about the new palm, do you think it could be the back-to-the-basics platform it's made out to be? Maybe get another group of individuals into the mobile device market.
Thus the reason it is so difficult to find great UX pros...
Just curious.. what are the 1 line job descriptions other UX designers use?
Mine is very similar to yours Whitney.. and I agree.. it's a huge understatement.
If anyone has anything better to share I'd gladly steal it from you and recycle it. =D
of UX/UED, people first need to understand what UX/UED is, and what it's not.
I also think that products and communications should be held to a
standard of simplicity and that as designers and developers, we need to raise
the bar from usability to simplicity. Because in the end, if people don't get
"it," people won't use "it."
I think that one challenge for UX design IS the word user.
It automatically frames the conversation as "how will a user access the features, what will the what will the user think of the product...etc".
The truth is that experience begins from (m)any point(s) — word-of-mouth, the logo, advertising, using the product.
The traditional assumption that the brand threshold is a singular point defined by the brand no longer applies.
We see User Interface or Interaction as a component of overall Experience Design,
but we don't necessarily think of it as a step or phase of design.
When we designed the boxee identity and reference user experience, we took holistic approach to the experience, which integrates identity, information architecture, iconography,
and movement.
We encourage our clients to take the POV that design is helping them craft the experience of the brand that their customer can have.
As such, we are Experience Designers and focus on different areas of the craft (identity, UI/IA, graphic language) as we define the goal for the experience.
* The app looks like crap
* Yeah but does it act like crap?
:)
Odd Catch 22 to be in :)
I wrote the job description for a Business Analyst and a User experience designer yesterday and it was difficult to divide those two roles up, because responsible UX designers should care, and respect, and know about the business analysis part just as much as the BA.
Related note: Mashable peeps: your comment box creates one run-on line when inputting into the comment box, and on FF3/mac I couldn't see what I was typing beyond the width of the comment box.
What an amazing article. I've spent countless hours with my peers, as well as my clients trying to explanin UX and it's importance, and how it's different from graphic design or front ent programming. what a great job. keep up the good work!
Great article, the only comment that I would have is on #2 (... a step in the process). When viewed in the context of the overall project (such as a large software system-of-systems project), it *is* a step in the process. Granted, it is not a simple step and many issues are involved ... but it is as much a step as "requirements gathering", which is a complex set of tasks in-and-of-itself.
Some projects work well with a shallow approach to UX, and others require a more in-depth approach. Likewise, some projects fail in part due to the UX efforts being too superficial, and some fail in part due to the UX efforts being too convoluted.
One thing a good UX practitioner can bring to a project is a strategic assessment of how much and what kind of UX practices can contribute to the project in what ways, given the needs of the business / company / user / community.
I would like to add a number 11. '...is about tools'
A lot of people beleive that you are great at PhotoShop if you are a UX designer or that if you are great at PS, then you can be a designer.
Designing something requires you to think about how it works for someone else. It may feel good to you, but that's not the point. There must be a reason behind everything.
Great article.
i can see eight or nine of these ten points exist in my company.
hooey. balogna. nonsense. a good experience comes from a skilled team
with talented individuals thriving for the best in their own areas of expertise.
combine that with effective channels of communication, adaptive processes for user
feedback and research, and you have world-class experience. the fact that this title is being dished out attests to the ridiculousness of the position itself. if it's not
"the role of one person or department," then don't hire people for it.
http://www.fatdux.com/blog/2009/01/10/a-definit...
Cheers,
Eric
@James V, I too like to think of it as the human experience and not the user experience, as you can see in the tagline on my blog.
@Bob Thompson and @taine, It's great to read that you can see yourself or your organization in certain points here. They say the first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem... ;)
@Patrick Newbury, I so appreciate your comment considering your early design work with boxee, and it's great to hear that our approaches are aligned.
@Bora, hilarious. I hope you weren't offended by my comment the other night, but I am glad to read that it stuck with you!
@Ryan Lowe, definitely understand your point and agree that yes, a lot of what we do happens early in the process before other pieces of the puzzle can come together. But my point was that even during visual design, or development, or deployment, or after the product is in people's hands, the organization still needs to continuously work towards improving the experience.
@Christian Hagel, absolutely! I've seen job descriptions that basically amount to "If you can use Visio, come work for us!"
@Natasha, hilarious that you posted a sound clip for "synecdoche." Will Evans tends to use big words :)
@jaded "ux" designer, you make a valid point and I would have liked to discuss it further with you, but for some reason you chose to comment anonymously. In the future, stand behind your position.
@Olga, by all means translate it, and please send me the link when you do.
Thank you again to everyone who commented! I'm really enjoying hearing your thoughts.
So far, I've been lucky enough to work for companies and with people that get it. Even so, I'll summarize the key points and share with team.
Thanks for posting!
Lew
or less repeats the first chapter of "the inmates are running...".
If the goal was to kick in some open doors you obviously succeeded.
I absolutely agree with #3: User experience is not only about technology, "It’s about everything we do; it surrounds us.â€
I also agree with comments about the job title. I am a User Experience Architect but many times the clients refer to me as an Information architect as this title is better known to them.
A diagram that efficiently projects the principles of user experience and the position of Information Architecture can be seen here: http://www.kickerstudio.com/blog/images/ux.jpg
i think its about naking sure your goals are clear.
Most people are Ready - Fire - Aim about UX
and claim that revising the design model is "Agility"
I prefer Focus groups - online focus groups.
toss in some randomness in the population to test interface learning curve adoption.
for us at www.ctngreen.com/mag a magazine user experience
ported to the web was a huge undertaking.
Headway stayed deadway until we applied UX and focus group testing.
UXI i think is what it needs to be calledm and its mission critical for success
regards,
-- jeff
http://www.itakora.com/2009/01/que-no-es-la-exp...
Regards!
Thanks for writing this great article, I take it as a new year gift :-)
I know a dozens of people who will probably dust away their misconceptions about user experience design. It's time to bring them here.
Here is a presentation I gave a few months ago, where I
tried to define User Experience precisely
"User Experience an Introduction", .
http://abcofdesign.com/2008/07/user-experience-
introduction.html
One of my pet peeves are applications that get in the way of the user. From web sites that pop up messages and windows that cover up the content to programs that ask some dumb question instead of doing what you asked. I hate it when I start some program or process that may take more time than I want to wait, so I go get coffee or something, only to come back and see that it's waiting for me to say no, I don't want to know about upgrades or new products, etc. Then I have to wait for it to actually run. It should have have done what I wanted first, and either used a separate thread, or waited to ask the question. Unless there is some fatal error, it should not stop.
Thanks very much Whitney!
Isn't this the goal of all good design whether you call it "user experience" design or just plain old good design?
Unfortunately, from a few quotes cited here it is easy to see why it is still necessary: there is much disagreement and debate even within the professional UX community (itself broad by definition) about what user experience and, or, user experience design mean, relate to, who does it, how, and when. How much should we expect of "civilians" and business partners when we can barely agree? And with so many calling themselves UX Anything to pillage and exploit these terms, they should be confused.
I think when we have professional and academic standards for UX design, as we now have for information architecture, usability testing, and interaction design, then there will be a measure of competence associated with it. For now, we lack this. For what "user experience" means, let's first recognize Don Norman for coining the term, and helping clarify it: “It’s the total experience that matters… experience is more based upon memory than reality." Meanwhile, on the other hand, we should discount those definitions that attenuate all practical meaning of it through vaporous phrases like “User experience is any interaction with any product, any artifact, any system.” Humans have experiences, but not every experience makes us "users." The principal of usage maintains "user" as a computer science term. That's where it originated, and it seems best left there. Add U to X and it refers to HCI (human-computer interaction). Other established design (and business and engineering) professions have their own traditions, guilds, norms and jargon. Why co-opt them? Leave them be.
www.contentunltd.com