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Michael Lai
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Why shouldn't we call it UX design or us UX designers?

I came across multiple different reasons why UX design should not be called design or why a UX designer is not really the designer of user experiences.

For example:

User experience (UX) cannot be designed or crafted because:

  • UX depends on the user and each user is different
  • UX depends on the context in which the product is used
  • UX evolves over time
  • ... (add reasons yourself)

Can it be that the above reasons make it very hard for us to design a good user experience but not necessarily make it impossible to do so?

Let's consider it is not possible to design, but can we influence it?

UX design/designer is a buzzword. But isn't this a good thing? Buzzwords get things sold (see cloud-computing) and is giving the field a lot of positive intention.

If we are aware of our limitations, for example: that a user's experience depends on a lot factors which we cannot directly influence), should we be concerned about using the right terms?

What other terms are available to pick from? (for field (UX design) and function (UX designer)

N.B.: I know a lot of different subquestions are included, but they all relate to my first questions. Feel free to pick all or just a few to answer.

Reference article on Smashing Magazine

Dennis Gommé
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