It isn’t really surprising to me that people sometimes think I handle usability for web sites. You know, I make sure they work right and do what they are suppose to do. To a large extent, that is true. Making sure the links work, the navigation makes sense, SEO plans are in place, testing the site with users to make sure it doesn’t break – all of that is part of what I do. But it’s not necessarily what gets me excited about UX design. And it is most definitely not what the “X” stands for in UX design.
So what does the “X” stand for? Experience right? As in User Experience design. Yes, that’s also true. UX designers are bent on creating design around experiences and that is getting much closer to what I do. It’s the idea of gathering all that research and putting on the shoes of your target audience and creating experiences for them on a website.
But I think there is at least one more (probably a lot more than one more) meaning of “X” and that is “extraordinary”. Setting the foundation of a semantic, standards-based web site that is functioning correctly, designed to give a targeted audience an extraordinary experience. That’s what my goal is every day.
If you find me arguing in the boardroom about a design element that makes us miss that mark, now you know why. My friends, it not about my taste, or the designer’s ego, or the client’s ideas even. It’s about the end user. To the extent those tastes, egos and ideas support the end user, we have no issues. But, it’s about extraordinary experiences for them not us. That’s where success is found.