Basically, nicknames & specialization. Let’s break it down.

User Experience Design an umbrella to a lot of different disciplines, perspectives, and approaches that often result in variations in naming and a whole lot of acronyms but mostly come back to the same roots.

NICKNAMES

There are acronyms of that title like UX, UXD, UED, these are just nicknames.

User eXperience = UX
User eXperience Design = UXD
User Experience Design = UED

SPECIALIZATION

Some variations come from designers who focus or specialize in one aspect of the design process, usually they’ll work as a vital part of a bigger team. Here are a few examples:

UX Researcher
UX Strategist
User Interface (UI) Designer
UX/UI Designer
Interaction Designer
Website Designer
Physical Experience Designer
UX copywriter

PERSPECTIVES

While those examples all represent parts of the whole user experience design process, other variations are because of a difference in approach and perspective. A Customer Experience Designer (also known as: CX, CXD, CED) is like user experience designer, with the key difference being that first word. The language matters— as it implies, a cx designer considers and prioritizes the business side of things where a ux designer is focused on the human side. Check this out for a more detailed breakdown of what makes them different.

User experience design is a big tree, home to some really cool designers who design the world we live in, from mobile apps to physical spaces. With so much exciting stuff going on and how quickly things are evolving, there’s going to be some blurry-ness.

One thing’s for sure: it’s going to keep changing and I can’t wait to see where it takes us, but that doesn’t change the ambiguity that arises as a designer new to the industry or someone who’s in the market for one. My advice, communication. Make it super clear what your understanding of a role is and make sure you understand theirs as well. Ask all the questions and get all definitions and expectations in writing, if possible. It’s better to get it clear at the beginning than to realize you were misaligned when you’re in too deep and it’s too late.

We’ve been diving into the question “What is User Experience Design” to figure out why it’s so confusing and maybe find some clarity. Check back for updates or join the club to get it delivered.