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The Rise of the UX Gold Rush

This article is more than 6 years old.

There's gold in those hills

Death to The Stock Photo

UX design is one of the most in-demand disciplines but hasn’t always been the hot topic it is today. The term was created in the 90’s when psychologist Don Norman joined Apple. Norman wanted a term that covered all aspects of a person’s interaction with a device: physical, technical, and psychological. Soon, other industry leaders like IBM and Facebook put design-thinking front and center; and as studies began to suggest that design-driven companies could out-perform their competitors, executives across industries jumped on board.

Now UX is considered a key to successful product strategy. But how does it apply when you’re creating something the world has never seen before? Emerging technology is challenging the young conventions of user experience, and designers everywhere are excited to take on that challenge and define what’s next.

The result? A gold rush.

Illustration by Propoint designer John A.

The Consumer Is Now The User

Consumer technology is becoming a status symbol, and with AI and the Internet of Things, that technology is only becoming more complex. Smart devices can include everything from connected home appliances to wearables, and UX designers are responsible for making them intuitive and useful. In a world where people are still a little wary of AI and its safety, tailoring experiences to meet the needs of end users is more important than ever. Devices should feel effortless to use and easy to incorporate into our lives.

It seems like a groundbreaking product is introduced every day, and the market is crowded with devices that didn’t exist last year. Designers have to figure out what UX means for that brand new smart refrigerator, and that means they have the open space to create the new norm.

The Rise Of New Tools

Along with this influx of new products comes a corresponding influx of tools suited for UX and UI design. For quite a while, designers and developers relied on heavy hitters like Photoshop and Illustrator and adapted them for a wide spectrum of disciplines. Now designers everywhere have access to newer tools like Sketch and Invision which are suited to their specific workflows, and more options are constantly being released.

These new tools are making interaction and experience design more accessible than ever while empowering designers to use whichever tool feels best. Now designers everywhere are excited to stretch the conventional boundaries of interfaces and define what’s possible in concept and practice.

UX Is The New Black

As connected products are integrated into more aspects of our day to day lives, UX will be responsible for translating strategy into intuitive experiences. It's already beginning to shape what we’ll soon learn to expect from AI and IoT.

It’s like the Wild West of the design world, and creatives everywhere are ready to take on the task.

Learn more on our Deep Thoughts blog.

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