Don't call it UX design!

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UX design is a growing field that is getting a lot of attention, especially in the digital realm. Brands are realizing that the user experience of their website or app is part of their brand identity and can influence conversions. But is the term “user experience design” appropriate?

Abigail Posner, a Harvard-educated cultural anthropologist, Google executive, and public speaker, is a contributor to the UX Design Foundations, an online UX design course. She takes an anthropological and human-centered approach, reminding us that we need to think about who we are designing for.

Her big tip for successful user experience design? First, stop using the word “user.” Remember, you can learn more from Posner and the rest of her UX Design Foundations experts. Be sure to complete our short 2-minute survey to win a prize for your course.

Abigail Posner, Google Creative Works Director — (Image credit: Future)

Despite working in user experience, Posner doesn’t like the term. instead of the word “user”. His director of Creative Works at Google likes to say “human” unless he’s actually designing products for bots to use. “Language is culture. That’s Anthropology 101,” she says. “When you actually change the language, you can see how important the words are, and I would say that it is the humans who will take advantage of this technology.”

Posner argues that this is more than just semantics. According to her, the problem with the term user is that it focuses on her one limited aspect of user behavior: the moment a user interacts with a product. What we really need to design a better user (or human) experience is to consider the values, concerns, interests, passions, and backgrounds of those people, and also learn about those who have left the product.

“When we use the word ‘user’ it means when the person is using the device. The device is the story. The user is the person using it. If you think about it, the kind of research we use will be much broader, deeper, and really understanding the people who use the technology and the software.”

User remains present even when not connected to the device (Image credit: huePhotography via Getty Images)

Posner’s approach to human-centered UX design begins by considering the role the product being designed plays for the people who use it. “When we think about actually making something, be it technology or furniture, what role does it play in culture and what do humans really need from it? I always ask,” she says.

This stems from her background as an anthropologist and could mean that she takes a different approach than designers. As an example, she compares how an anthropologist, an engineer, and her interior designer design a table. “We all have the same briefs, but we each have a different approach,” she says.

“An engineer probably thinks of the ergonomics of an ergonomic table in terms of the room versus the person to make sure the measurements fit perfectly. Anthropologists and those who think in terms of humanism will think about the role of the table in people’s lives.What role does it play in us? What value does it bring to us? How do we use it in different ways?”

A big focus is thinking about the purpose of what is being created for the person who uses it. What is the purpose of being successful in life?”

For Posner, UX design is more about understanding people than understanding devices, interfaces, styles, or trends. And that requires deep research (see UX research and testing tips). “Truly delve into who this person is, what drives them, what makes them angry, upset, aroused, happy, delightful. By trying, you can empathize with the person.