The document discusses user experience (UX) design, emphasizing its importance in creating enjoyable and efficient interactions between users and products. It highlights Apple’s influence on the tech industry, particularly Steve Jobs' philosophy of prioritizing customer experience. Additionally, it provides an overview of the job market and salaries for UX designers compared to web developers and designers in Seattle.

1. USER
EXPERIENCE:
WHAT IS IT, ANYWAY?
Sam O’Hara, UX Designer
PACIFIC LUTHERAN UNIVERSITY
@sambidextrous
@samofsorts

2. The Wikipedia Definition *YAWN*
“User Experience Design is the process of
enhancing user satisfaction by improving the
usability, accessibility, and pleasure provided
in the interaction between the user and the
product.”

3. OK, now in
normal people
words.
You know how an
iPhone feels like it
was meant to
bring joy every
time you use it?
The design is sleek, it’s
easy to figure out how
to do something, and
it’s the same across
every iProduct.

4. See - way back in the day, Steve
Jobs introduced something to the
technology industry with Apple
that no one had seriously thought
about before.
“You’ve gotta start with
the customer experience
and work backwards to
the technology.”
-Steve Jobs, 1997

5. The rest of the
industry slowly
caught on.
Companies started
to realize that they
couldn’t just make
websites, software
and apps without
consulting and
observing the
people actually
using them.

6. UW was the first university in
the area to recognize the need
for a formal education
program in the field.
“The University of Washington started offering a Graduate
Certificate in User-Centered Design in the Winter of 2003.”
- UW Website

7. And then, everything
EXPLODED.

8. Tech companies still
needed web
designers and web
developers.
But students had been able
to get degrees in Web
Design for over a decade,
and Computer Science for
far longer.
User Experience education
(as it related to technology)
had only been around for a
relatively short time, and
popular for an even shorter
period.

9. What do salaries look like?
In Seattle:
Web Designers
$61,556
User Experience Designers
$96,425
Web Developers
$77,419
$0
$10,000
$20,000
$30,000
$40,000
$50,000
$60,000
$70,000
$80,000
$90,000
$100,000
Web Designers User Experience
Designers
Web Developers
Average Mid-Career Salary
According to glassdoor.com
Seattle Nationally

10. What does demand look
like?
Hiring In Seattle:
Web Designer positions
4
UX Designer positions
38
Web Developer positions
34
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
Web Designers User Experience
Designers
Web Developers
Current job demand in Seattle
According to indeed.com
Seattle

11. Pretty telling, huh?
And, as we as users start to expect EVERY thing we interact
with to work well and be enjoyable to use, it’ll only get more
valuable from here.

12. SO HOT RIGHT NOW
USER EXPERIENCE DESIGNERS

13. So, how about we explore
what tools a User Experience
Designer uses?