equal few UX
designers
Highlights
- Few UX processes
- Listen to your users
- Release early, often
Theory: Why Google and Facebook Can’t Find “Good UX Designers”
So… why is it that Google and Facebook can’t find good UX designers? Probably because most companies don’t value UX design enough to have user-centric processes and so UX designers are few.
What’s amazing to me (and frustrating, I’ll admit) is how product owners will point to products like those of Apple and say: “hey, why can’t we do that?” Maybe you can, but you must spend time not just building products, but also improving products.
Apple considers the user experience in everything they do, every step of the way. Nothing is overlooked, from opening the box to turning off the lights. Simply building features isn’t enough, they hone them. They put in, take out, test, rethink, again and again until they get things as right as they can. Few companies focus on the experience like Apple does and it shows. User experience for most companies is an after thought, a buzzword for the water cooler.
Google and Facebook obviously take UX seriously and are looking for seriously talented people. They realize that a good experience keeps people coming back and keeps them where their respective businesses need users to be. They know that good design isn’t necessarily about looking cool (they don’t), but being considerate. They’re paying close attention to user behavior – are you?
So without more companies grasping the need for good UX design, there will never be enough UX designers. Businesses will continue to assume they know what works and likely will never see the kind of fierce product loyalty and success that other more user-considerate companies enjoy. They will launch too many features without ever revising a single one. They’ll build fear into their products by putting everything and the kitchen sink up front, all at once, never letting the user discover anything.
Let’s take a stand for the user by retooling our processes so products can grow organically. Let’s watch and learn, not just guess, and not let our own feelings about how something should or shouldn’t be designed get in the way. We must understand the flow through the users eyes because without knowing how people use our products, we might as well be ignoring them.
Sorry Google and Facebook, the rest of us might still have a long way to go, but some of us are trying.
Further thoughts
Recently I’ve worked with an accomplished marketing professional who reminded me about message testing: trying out different marketing messages to see what’s connecting with audiences.
Depending on the state of the world and other circumstances, some messages may connect better than others and product owners could learn from this. Sites and applications are not immune to the changing behaviors and expectations of audiences, so you must be ready to adapt. Release early, release often, and start listening.