Why I Do Not Avoid UI Design as a UX Designer

Just recently I read an article where UX Designers have been accused of not paying enough attention to details and distancing themselves from the outcomes — sleek and smooth UI and visuals.

And although I understand these accusations do have a ground, I have to say a few words about UX Design, the industry, and probably everything everybody knows already.

I am not a UI/UX Designer

The term UI/UX makes UX Designers cringe. Especially the ones who practice the craft of navigating though wareframes, research, and a constant problem-solving cycle of user interviews and insights.

It feels like the sleek outfit, the final point of what was carefully crafted in this UX Design process, takes the first place, gets all the applause, becomes the only part that matters. That others see as the only real work that was done.

Funnily enough, nobody would ever tell a UI designer why they have no interest in UX design, or maybe, even coding. Why not? When you say that you are a UX designer, you are expected to produce high fidelity prototypes AND be able to do all the groundwork hidden behind the result.

I think it’s rather unfair.

How many times I told you I didn’t?

In reality, UX Designers stand on a rather slippery slope where everyone can come and tell them what to do. The easiest way for us to highlight the worth of what we do is to hide from sleek UIs.

“No, I do not do UI.”

“No, high fidelity is not for me.”

“No, I am doing a different type of work.”

And although we all understand that the final result of all the work a UX Designer does is the final UI, it’s still important to see the difference. And understand why when you marry it together, the latter suddenly becomes more valuable and more praised that the other.

More importantly, when UX Designers refuse to do UI, they are accused of not being designers at all because they do not make things beautiful.
And I naively thought of the design as a problem-solving discipline rather a decorating one.

But you said…

I know what I said. I said that I do not avoid UI.

But I also understand how easily the work behind the UI loses the value as soon as people see pretty pictures. And, if you are a UI designer spared from knowing anything about human psychology, I can explain why.

People like things that are initially aesthetically pleasing. We love beautiful pictures, smooth animation, etc.

Until the moment we need to do something quickly and effortlessly. When we have a task and have no interest in the beauty of the tool, we are going to use.
Suddenly, it disappears for us, and the only thing we have in mind is “how can this help me do what I want?”

Do you care how pleasant the leather seats are in your taxi and how whimsical the sparkling ornament when you are counting minutes to get to the airport?
No, you don’t care. The urgency of your case — the feeling that you are late for your flight — does not allow you to enjoy the beauty of the surroundings.

In reality, we have to deal with lots of stress, pressure, and feeling that time is not playing to our advantage. If I need to order or (more importantly!) re-order the tickets and contact someone immediately, I do not care how much flash animation or moving pictures they have on their website.

It is something I would see as “beautiful” if I were not in a hurry.

I want to get to the website, get to my profile, change the tickets and be sure that I am safe. I want to be sure that it is working for me and my goals. And I do not care how beautiful it is.

If it is a beautiful — cool, big plus to you. But if it’s not — but I feel safe because of it — I don’t care.

So why did you say you do not avoid?

Simply because I have don’t think that beautiful UI is the actual threat.

My point is that I am sad when someone says “Okay, now we need some beautiful mockups,” when the idea is raw and underdeveloped. I understand that the time the UI designer is going to waste his or her time designing for nothing.

Why don’t we just try sketching something quickly and messy? Until we get to the right type of feedback and then, decide on what types of “beautiful mockups” we need?

In reality, once a designer shows mockups, they are never edited afterward, even when new changes happen.

Why?

It’s too beautiful! It looks finished, accomplished.

It means that a UI designer will have to go over again and create a new beautiful mockup. And if there are changes, he or she will have to do it again.

From the very beginning.

Because changing beautiful mockups is a crime against design, right?

Side note: internal documentation VS deliverables

The article also mentioned something about delivering internal documentation in a way that’s rarely pleasing or beautiful.

I have to agree here. The things you present to others should have a certain aesthetic. And be, you know, presentable. Not sexy and sleek, but something really clear.

The clarity in UX Design sometimes overlooked because of sketching mess and low fidelity.

It is fine to have some mess in the internal documentation circulating among people involved in the thinking process. However, when it comes to a presentation — whether within the company or not — it’s important to keep in mind that the mess should be substituted with clarity.

Not beautiful, sleek, and sexy things. But clarity.

Something that others can get through without any extra effort.

Because you know what? Clarity is the basis of UX Design.