Can U be a UX Designer?

A few years ago, I was visiting a friend’s home in Mumbai. His apartment was near the airport and we could hear the loud noise of planes taking off. I asked him how often you experience this. He consoled me stating, “So often that we don’t even realize it.”

How often do we ignore these adjustments that have become a part of our daily lives? The bendy, bad textured plastic spoons in our office cafeteria that ruin the joy of eating tasty food or the fact that such spoons never tell you how hot the soup you are going to gulp down is.

As humans, we get used to such adjustments and don’t notice tiny problems. Jerry Seinfeld’s whole career was based on noticing such little things in life and using humor to highlight them.

Would you like to make a career out of noticing and solving such problems?

If the answer is yes – we call them User Experience Designers. As a UX designer you would:

• Empathize with the user – for the UXers it’s all about how the users like their products. You will play ‘User’s Advocate’ when approaching usability problems.

• Identify problems – use a keen eye to identify problems in a user's life. The way a user interacts with a product, software or the way they react – leads to a success or failure of a product. UXers identify the root cause of a problem. Without a problem, there is no solution.

• Solve problems – being a UXer is a perfect balance of the left and right brain. You get to solve the problems creatively (right brainer) and analytically (left brainer).

• Do something different every day – no user is the same, no problem is the same. You get to solve each problem differently so every day starts with an adrenaline rush.

• Love technology – if you are up-to-date with the latest technology trends used in the digital market – you get to apply your tech knowledge whilst designing intelligent and usable products and interfaces.

• Be creative – you don’t have to be an artist to be creative. Creativity can manifest in many forms and as a UXer you have to apply some out of the box thinking to solve daily design problems for the user.

If you have checked all the points above – then you have great potential to become a UXer. Come join the ‘UX Pride’ and help make a difference in the life of users/humans!

(With inputs from Amrutraj Pujari, Delivery Manager, Experience Studio)

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