UX Design: Common Misconceptions and Myths
Kate Kolody
Principal Product Designer | Data-Driven UX Specialist | Balancing Creativity & Analytics for Scalable Digital Solutions
Have you ever wondered what the first thing a user notices in your digital product is? It's the interface, of course. Modern users don’t care how many sleepless nights you spent building the app's architecture, how beautiful the code is, or how elegantly the designer arranged the interface elements. What matters most is that everything is intuitive and works seamlessly. This is a fascinating topic that deserves its own article. While we're preparing case studies for publication, I invite you to read and discuss the popular myths and misconceptions about UX design.
My Experience and Approach
In web design since 2007.
Since 2014, I've been designing user interfaces. At our agency, ZAYATS, we focus on UX consulting for small and medium-sized businesses and the digital transformation of offline companies. We use a scientific approach to design, helping our clients create a seamless customer experience (CX) at every stage of interaction with potential customers.
Over all these years, we have accumulated enough knowledge to tell you about the most common misconceptions in the field of UX design.
Trend
It seems that "UX" is still a trendy buzzword in many companies – "We don't just need a designer," declares the VP of New Products. "We need a UX designer!" Everyone in the meeting gasps, nods in agreement, and secretly Googles "What is UX design?" and "What does a UX designer do?". By the way, I detailed what a UX designer does in this comparative article.
Of course, most people now know that UX stands for user experience. But just knowing the term doesn't explain what a UX specialist really does, what UX design encompasses, and how it functions. Moreover, explaining in simple terms what user experience design involves or what a UX designer actually does is quite challenging. However, let me share my favorite example from Elizabeth Gerber.
What is UX Design?
Simply put, UX design is about the interaction between users and products. Elizabeth Gerber from the University of California San Diego gives a great example: Imagine you’re at a gas station trying to refuel your car while entertaining your crying three-month-old baby. You need to fill up your tank and figure out how to pay. Do you need to go inside, or can you pay at the pump?
Often, we go through experiences without much thought. Trying to complete a simple task involves a series of events. First, you turn off the car, then figure out the payment system. Can you use your credit card at the pump, or do you need to pay inside? If you pay with cash, you have to go inside. Then, you enter all the necessary information on the screen and start refueling. But wait, you dropped the gas cap. Haven’t we all done that a million times?
After picking up the cap, you might place it back and, knowing you'll soon hold your baby, use hand sanitizer from the car’s side door. Notice the sequence of events. Refueling isn’t as simple as it seems. Many other things happen simultaneously.
The goal of UX design is to understand these details and think carefully about how we can simplify the experience. The entire process, from researching and understanding the problem to creating a system that improves the customer experience, is UX design.
In short, UX is the users' perception of all aspects of a system. Companies strive to achieve positive, consistent, predictable, and desirable outcomes through user experience, which can include the interface, industrial design, physical interaction with the product, and much more.
UCD
Another widely used term you might have heard is UCD (User-Centered Design) – a UX design process centered around the user, shaping the overall design thinking. Typically, this practice includes user behavior research, sketching, wireframing, interaction design, visual design, prototyping, user testing, and an iterative design approach.
Understanding what UX design is – and what it isn't – will help everyone involved in it create excellent products with exceptional user experiences. With this goal in mind, let's explore some common misconceptions and myths about UX design:
Myth 1. User Experience (UX) is the same as User Interface (UI)
The interface alone is not the solution. While UI design often plays a crucial role in the work of a UX designer, it is not the only element. Metaphorically speaking, UX design is the journey, while UI is the destination. Another Good Example: UX is like the architecture of a house – the layout of the rooms and the construction plans. UI, on the other hand, is the interior design – the wall decor, furniture, and artwork.
Do you know how to spot a bad UI design? In fact, the perfect interface design is one that goes unnoticed by the user. The user should navigate intuitively without being aware of the design. The design acts as a supporting function, aiming for native integration and simplicity. The interface should not draw attention to itself; in other words, the ideal UI design is one that is invisible. If the user notices the color of your buttons or the layout of the blocks, it means you haven't achieved the goal of a native interface.
On the other hand, UX design is a multi-step strategic process aimed at creating a product or website that users find appealing, easy to use, and intuitive in terms of navigation and resource architecture. By employing UX design, we ultimately achieve an optimal UI.
At least 10 steps are necessary to create a final user interface (with an ideal ratio of 80% UX and 20% UI):
UX
UI
Finally, we obtain a user interface design that aligns with your company's financial goals.
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Myth 2. UX Design: It's Not Just About Aesthetics
A common misconception is that UX design is all about aesthetics and visualization. This myth stems from the belief that UI and UX are the same. But it's not. To start, we need to understand that aesthetics alone are not enough to ensure a high degree of usability. Aesthetics refer to the visual appeal handled by UI, whereas UX design encompasses the overall feeling of interacting with the product, which also influences the design's aesthetics.
Beautiful buttons, large images, and interactive interface elements are important, but they are only part of the solution. They contribute to but do not replace a product's usability. Remember the axiom about quadrilaterals? Every square is a quadrilateral, but not every quadrilateral is a square. The same principle applies here. It’s important to understand that UX influences UI, whereas UI does not impact UX. Both must be considered in the development of a digital product. Striving for aesthetic perfection without paying attention to usability ultimately does not matter.
If user experience were only about aesthetics, usability would take a backseat. However, usability is a crucial quality indicator that determines how user-friendly a product is. Consumers are unlikely to care much about how a product looks if they cannot use it effectively.
Is the product useful? This factor is defined by the concepts of utility and usability. The first ensures that the product has the features people need, while the second determines how easy and pleasant it is to use these features. Design based solely on aesthetics and ignoring fundamental usability principles ultimately has a negative impact.
Myth 3: UX Design Just a Phase
UX design isn’t just a stage in the design process; it's a recurring, continuous application of design thinking to enhance the interaction between consumers and a company's products or services. This process never ends.
UX is an ongoing process. Interfaces become outdated, and user experiences evolve. Therefore, you cannot design UX once and consider the job done. Your digital product progresses as you continue to develop its UX.
"Most clients think UX design is a separate activity that can solve all problems by defining functional requirements or conducting some research. In reality, it’s ongoing work, a continuous process of gathering new user insights, responding to their behavior, and evolving the product or service," says Dan Brown, co-founder and director of EightShapes.
For example, at ZAYATS, we define UX design as: "The process of creating products that provide a satisfying personal user experience. This involves focusing on both the usability of the product and the enjoyment consumers derive from using it. Moreover, UX design is part of the CX (Customer Experience) system, responsible for all user-product interaction processes. This includes aspects such as branding, design, usability, functionality, automation, and personalization."
Myth 4: UX Design Is Only for Digital Products
It's a common misconception that UX design is only for digital products. While UX design initially emerged from the proliferation of digital products driven by the internet and social media, forming a new industry, the reality is much broader. Over the past decade, the field has evolved to encompass both digital and physical products. UX design is not confined to the screens of our devices nor is it just a single component of a product; it's a holistic experience that operates on all levels as a unified whole.
Traditionally, when we think of design, we imagine the physical aspects of an object, such as interior design or graphic design, where the focus is on tangible items. UX, however, is about designing an experience. It's not a chair or a brochure, but rather an intangible event. This lack of a physical form often makes it challenging to explain what UX is.
The essence of UX design lies in considering the human factor within a specific context, covering all aspects of the ecosystem where the product interaction takes place. It involves creating a cohesive experience, whether it's a digital interface or a physical interaction. The goal is to design events in such a way that users have a positive experience with the product. Whether that product is digital or physical no longer matters. For example, you could design the user interaction for selling bicycles offline using a well-structured online store.
User experience encompasses any interaction with any product or system, whether digital or physical. Essentially, UX in terms of interfaces is about crafting an experience.
Important to Know!
In the context of UX, we also consider the broader process of CX (Customer experience). CX covers all touchpoints along the customer journey, from the first interaction with a brand to the final purchase. UX is a significant and crucial part of CX, focusing exclusively on digital interactions. Simply put, if you sell bicycles in your Santa Barbara store, designing the online interaction with your brand (such as an online store) is UX. Meanwhile, CX includes live in-store consultations, customer support, and a banner along the road, that is, any interaction with the client, offline to online.
Myth 5: UX Design is Just About Usability
Undoubtedly, usability plays a significant role in the success of any user experience. However, UX encompasses much more than just usability. Usability is a result of good UX, derived from well-analyzed data. A user interface can be extremely user-friendly, but it may still fail to achieve its goals, such as delivering what the consumer needs at the right time and in the right way.
As I've often mentioned, a user interface can be aesthetically pleasing and enjoyable to use, but it might still fall short of meeting user expectations. In such cases, a detailed review of all elements that ensure different levels of interaction is necessary.
At ZAYATS, we use the DEXI method (Digital Experience Excellence Index). DEXI identifies flaws and gaps in digital products from a UX/CX perspective. We developed this method to assess the quality of the interfaces we create. Before each client presentation, we meticulously review all criteria. The DEXI method can be applied to any product. Essentially, it's an enhanced heuristic analysis that more accurately meets the criteria for evaluating digital products, making it the most precise method available today.
DEXI Levels:
Main Evaluation Criterion: At every level, the product should strive for 100% alignment.
If a product is inconvenient to use, consumers won’t want to engage with it, regardless of how good the visual design and micro-animations on the main screen are. However, if the product meets the DEXI criteria and is designed correctly, you will already be on the path to significantly improving the user experience. Such a product will have a much higher chance of success, which, in turn, will positively impact the overall financial performance.
“While usability is crucial, focusing solely on efficiency seems to obscure other important factors in the user experience – for instance, ease of learning, as well as subconscious and behavioral emotional reactions to the products and services we use,” says David Malouf, Interaction Design Professor at Savannah College of Art and Design.
These are just a few of the many myths about UX design that exist today.
It's essential to understand how the process of creating modern digital products works. Once all the myths are dispelled and misconceptions about UX design are debunked, it becomes clear that interaction engineering significantly impacts the overall development of a company and its financial performance. UX is a fundamental need for any modern digital product. Therefore, I recommend integrating UX into all processes within your company.
If you have any questions or need further guidance, feel free to reach out.
I don't just help. I collaborate, and make your brand as unique as you are without 1000 rounds of revisions and wasting money.
7 个月6. UX design is essential for any business with customer interactions, not just tech companies. It improves satisfaction, streamlines interactions, and boosts engagement across various touchpoints.