A letter against UX jargon
How I made a full-circle back to the simple, effective communication.
Early in my career I believed that the smarter I sound the better the clients and companies I'll land.
This was as far away from the truth as possible.
Most often saw right through me - for what I was, since most likely they've also been there.
So after a bunch of rejections, I came to the conclusion:
faking expertise sucks, I should focus on becoming an expert through learning.
And we all know design is a field that has great complexity. But what's the one thing that's turns complexity into usability - smart people.
And what's one common trait in smart people - intellectual elitism / snobbism.
List of fancy UX jargons and their lukewarm meanings
Here's a list of 10+ design terms that are overly-complicating the actual practices behind them.
1. Heuristic evaluation → using usability checklists to identify user problems
2. Contextual inquiry → observing and talking to users while they interact with a product
3. Fractional designer → designer who works on a part-time or project basis
4. Pattern research → analysing design patterns to identify trends and best practices
5. Mental models → understanding users’ ideas of how something should work
6. A/B testing → comparing two versions of a design to see which one works better
8. End-to-end design → designing every part of a product from start to finish
10. Gestalt Principles → rules about how people organize visual information into groups
11. Interaction cost → the effort users need to put in to use a product.
12. Information scent → how well users can guess what they will find in an interface
I can go and list tens more, but you get the point - the way how we call the practices often times more special than the practice itself
Five tips to show your skills without overusing fancy terms
1. Avoid overspecialised terminology
Using overly complex jargon doesn’t make you an expert. It often makes you look elitist and hinders cross-team collaboration.
2. Promote clear communication
Specialized design lingo understood only within design creates barriers in cross-functional teams, leading to friction in collaboration.
3. Simplify explanations
Explaining concepts in simple terms demonstrates and reinforces true knowledge. Relying on complex explanations indicates a lack of deep understanding.
4. Focus on practical experience
Engage in hands-on projects and real-world applications. Practical experience develops our skills best and provides tangible proof of your expertise.
5. Encourage collaboration and feedback
Work closely with cross-functional teams and seek feedback regularly. This will not only improve your designs but also demonstrates your ability to work well with others and adapt based on constructive criticism.
As a conclusion - UX terminology is there to stay and there’s nothing inherently bad about it. What I’m against is the misuse or overcomplication of terminology, to highlight one intellectual might in a work setting.
We’re designers. Our job is to build pleasant, factionless and simple experiences for our users. To do so effectively, we have to act in accordance to this standard while collaborating with others.
Catch ya next week,
Alexander