UX, short for user experience, is a popular term flying around the design space right now. But where did it come from, and is it really new for the graphic design industry?
What UX Design Looks Like
A design that focuses on UX is centered on what the user wants and is willing to do to get it. This may look like simplifying menus, ensuring fonts are always legible, and creating concise calls to action so they can easily understand the next step in the process.
On a more advanced level, UX can include strategies like analyzing how far people are scrolling down on relevant pages and shortening the page design accordingly. We canโt always predict what users want, but we always have the opportunity to react when they show us their preferences.
At its core, UX design is about understanding how your design can cause users to act a certain way. Is this a relatively new concept, or simply a new word for something weโve known for a while?
Why UX Has Always Been Part of Design
Have you ever designed something and thought, โI donโt really care how this impacts the end userโ? Probably not.
Everything we create, from the simplest social media graphic to the most complex website, is meant to have a specific impact on the end user. Thatโs why we choose the colors, shapes, fonts, and nearly anything else that goes into our final design.
Itโs also why good designers spend so much time researching: not just learning about the client and what they stand for, but learning about what their clientโs clients are looking for, to ensure that there is no gap between what the client is doing or saying and what the clientโs client needs.
Strong design is focused on having a certain impact on users and has been for over 30 years. Since our founder (Chris Lo) started his career in 1989, and from then until now, the goal of influencing users toward certain actions with design has been constant. We have been using UX concepts to get clients results since long before UX was a buzzword – and not only us, but the โAngry Designersโ themselves!
So Why is UX Design a Thing?
In recent years, UX design has become its own entity, for better or for worse. Unfortunately, much of UX design is centered around websites and apps, but truth be told, thatโs more like user interface (UI) design than UX design.
Why? Because everything a person comes in contact with requires thought about the user experience, whether itโs packaging, a trade show booth, or the digital assets that UX has been more readily associated with. Tangible products and digital products both result in a user experience, but โinterfaceโ is more commonly applied to digital offerings.
Today, UX designers and graphic designers seem almost contrary to each other – but they shouldnโt be. Skillful UX designers are efficient (not prone to overly testing before implementation, even if they do plan to iterate a few times afterward), and smart graphic designers have the end user in mind every time they create something.
A graphic designer who doesnโt think about the user is just an artist. Plain and simple.
How to Prioritize UX in Every Design
Here are some steps you can take to prioritize UX more:
- Research the target audience. Think about what they do, how they act, and what they need first. Once you know exactly who they are, youโll have your springboard.
- Learn UX design principles and processes. There are reasons why UX works (and, spoiler alert – a lot of UX design principles came from graphic designers).
- Map out user journeys. Know where the ideal customer is going to go, what will draw their eye first, and how you can make it better for them.
- Prioritize usability. Weโve said it a hundred different ways: a fancy font is useless if no one can read it. A cool logo is worthless if it confuses people about what you do.
- Be clear about your reasons. If your client asks why you made a specific design choice – or even before they ask – discuss your research and findings with them.
- Consider using wireframes. Think about the user experience first (before the design). Develop design around the messaging and the overall user experience.
Graphic Design + UX = Matcha Design
Not sure how the two worlds – graphic design and UX – intersect? As designers who have been in this for a long time, we remember when user experience was an intuitive part of graphic design. If youโre not sure how to link the two (or youโre working on a DIY design project and struggling), please contact us! Weโd be happy to offer our expertise.
