Title: The fall and rise of user experience
Context: Put some coffee on and sit back for this epic analysis of the past, present and future of the UX profession.
Synopsis: In many ways UX is a victim of its own success. It has become a catch-all for just about every aspect of the customer interaction lifecycle, while it simultaneously parses itself out in pursuit of differentiation between disciplines. This represents a debilitating paradox in our profession, a schizophrenia that forces us to either look outward, vigilant against slights, both real and perceived, and eager to expand our influence, or we become insular navel gazers, enamored of our own obvious importance and incredulous to the inability of everyone else to see it. Fortunately, these shortcomings can be chalked up to mere growing pains within a profession that is still maturing its own, independent identity. Once we become comfortable with our understanding of not just the design aspects of business, but of business itself, we will be able to shed the self-cultivated aura of mystery we use to keep the uninitiated at arms length and confidently assert ourselves into operational leadership roles, equivalent in influence to those which we already own in executional practice.
Best Bit: “Now the economic clouds seem to be thinning, companies are looking to design to provide competitive advantage. Seeing the success of design-led products and the failure of those that neglect it, executives naturally want a piece of the action.”
via cennydd.co.uk
Leave a Reply