Week 04: Podcasts Podcasts & Audio Recording

Host Alena: 

Hi, and welcome to my first podcast! For my week 4 e-learning assignment. I will be doing an interview podcast featuring a special guest, who is not only an experienced UX designer, but it's also my fiancée. Welcome to the show, Alex!

 

Guest UX Designer, Alex: 

Thanks for having me. Happy to be here.

 

Host Alena: 

Thanks, Alex. So I'm going to be asking you a couple of questions about your experience and your thoughts on UX design, and the future of it. So my first question is what drew you to UX and what does it mean?

 

Guest UX Designer, Alex:

Well, so UX stands for user experience. It means a lot of things but what drew me to it is the idea of having to work having work for the people. You know, I've always wanted to make an impact in people's lives. And I felt like this was a great way where I can combine my creativity and learn design while advocating for users and people.

 

Host Alena: 

So you've been in UX for almost a decade. What are some major changes you've seen in the industry?

 

Guest UX Designer, Alex:

Well, the changes are  very rapid. Since the beginning I got into the field, UX design and its nature is perpetually changing and adapting. So I can't point to one thing, but obviously technology changes year by year, so we've had to adapt to it every year.

 

Host Alena: 

Sounds like a great field and choice for a post pandemic world right. Do you think the post pandemic world has made UX even more popular?

 

Guest UX Designer, Alex:

Yeah, because people are working a lot more remotely now. And things are just less and less face to face communication, but as UX designers, I think part of it is for us to not make it totally remote, where we can still be humans and still communicate face to face. And with technology, we have ways to do that where we might not be actually in person, but we can make it seem as though we are in the same room and keep that human element in our communications.

 

Host Alena: 

Do you think that UX design will ever disappear or do you think it will increase?

 

Guest UX Designer, Alex:

Oh, UX is never going to disappear! It's a relatively new field. It's definitely going to increase because it's like it's like it's it's, it's in parallel with technology. Technology's not going to disappear. It's only going to get bands and more generations ahead of us are going to only use more technology and UX is going to be like, directly in parallel. And so where there's technology that's gonna be

 

Host Alena: 

Interesting. Do you think that there are any challenges when it comes to UX design? 

 

Guest UX Designer, Alex:

Well, the biggest challenge is that there are so many different personas, like all of us are obviously different. And all of us have different needs. As UX designers, we kind of try to generalize it but also take into account the outliers that you know, that we try to design for, really, it's those outliers that if we can pinpoint those and design for them, we know that we can meet the needs of the general general populace.

 

Host Alena: 

And I've heard a UX designer but I've also heard a graphic designer, are those two similar or are they completely different?

 

Guest UX Designer, Alex:

They're completely different. Well, graphic design is a skill, it's a hard skill. You train your eyes, you came into software with software's, whereas UX design is a lot more research. It's a lot more intuitive. It's a iterative cycle, really never has an ending. And you basically tried to design for a certain persona, and then you test it out, see if it works. See what doesn't work. Take that information and repeat the process.

 

Host Alena: 

Thank you. Is there anything you'd like to share when it comes to UX, the future of it, any words of wisdom, maybe even to anyone who might be listening and interested in becoming a UX designer?

 

Guest UX Designer, Alex:

Well, I don't want to advocate people keep coming into UX design because it's becoming very saturated. No, it's a it's a growing field. It's a fun field. I think more the more people get to know it, the more people are going to want it. And I think the future for UX design is very, very frightening.

 

Host Alena: 

Well, thank you so much for being here today and being my first podcast guests.

 

Guest UX Designer, Alex:

I'm honored! 

 

Host Alena: 

Thank you everyone for listening!

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