The phrase “I’m a UX designer,” can be met with a inquisitive stare. But while the term ‘UX designer’ is relatively new, the concept has been around for some time.
Think of the supermarket as an example. Using a mix of research, data and design, stores are structured for the most streamlined and pleasant user experience possible. In the same way you instinctively know how the checkout lines work at the supermarket, UX designers work to make sure you can easily navigate your way through a company’s website or app.
A day in the life of a UX designer can vary hugely depending on where you work, but there are some constants across companies. These include things like wire framing, prototyping, creating personas, writing scenarios, defining information architecture and product testing.
To get a more concrete perspective on what a UX designer does, we asked Mat – our resident UX pro here at OpenClassrooms – to take us through a day at the office.
Take it away, Mat…
07:20am: I’m on my commute to work but no time is wasted. Armed with my hotspot, I take a look over everything the team has accomplished the day before. We use a tool called Abstract to make sure we’re keeping up with what is being developed by other teams.
08:30 am: Need to stay informed! I check out Medium to see what’s new and hot in the product design world to make sure OpenClassrooms’ UX is at the top of its game.
09:00 am: I get to work and settle at my desk with a coffee.
09:15 am: Stand-up time! The team gets together to talk about what they have done the day before, what they are working on now and any problems they have. It sets us up for a productive day.
10:25 am: I’m working on a bunch of projects, so I run between offices to present wireframes, get feedback and check-in on deadlines.
12:00 pm: Healthy body, healthy mind. I take an hour out to hit up the swimming pool. You’re working with a lot of different people as teams as a UX designer, so empathy and being in a good mood are essential. Working out helps me stay positive.
2:00 pm: Back to my desk (or the sofa, depending on my mood) to work on an interface prototype for our iOS app. Armed with Sketch, Flinto and a good YouTube playlist, I’m down for 1.5 hours of pure concentration.
3:00 pm: …followed by a quick foosball game with colleagues.
3:15 pm: Time for some information architecture work. I use card sorting to help define the structure of a new feature we’re launching. Thankfully, our students are really reactive, so I’ve got lots of insights to help me.
5:00 pm: I have a call with a former student who is now using a different platform to help figure out what’s working and what isn’t. Feedback isn’t always easy to take, but it is essential to improving UX. From here, I can start working on composing personas to help guide our future projects.
6:40 pm: Back on the train and it’s time to catch up on Slack conversations and emails from the day or a podcast before the journey ends and I’m home.
Sound tempting to you?
Dive deeper into what kind of projects you could be working on as a UX designer by taking a look at our master-level program. Starting salaries are at $40,000 in the U.S. and with almost every company in need of a UX designer, you would be high in demand.
