What is UX Design? The Foundation
UX design stands for User Experience design. It is the practice of designing products — digital or physical — with a deep understanding of who uses them, how they use them, and what they need.
The simplest definition
Don Norman, who coined the term in the early 1990s at Apple, put it this way:
"User experience encompasses all aspects of the end-user's interaction with the company, its services, and its products."
That's broad on purpose. UX is not just about apps or websites. It's about every touchpoint a person has with a product or service.
UX vs. UI: the distinction that matters
This is the most common confusion beginners face:
- UI (User Interface) is about how things look — the colors, typography, buttons, and layout on screen.
- UX (User Experience) is about how things work — whether the product is useful, usable, and desirable.
A product can look beautiful (great UI) and still be frustrating to use (bad UX). Great designers care about both.
The three pillars of good UX
Think of UX as sitting at the intersection of three things:
- Useful — Does it solve a real problem for real people?
- Usable — Can people accomplish their goals without friction?
- Desirable — Does it feel good to use? Does it fit into people's lives?
If any one of these is missing, the experience suffers.
Why this matters for your career
Whether you're designing apps, websites, or physical products — understanding UX means you make decisions based on people, not assumptions. That shift in mindset is what separates a good designer from a great one.
Tomorrow we look at how AI tools are starting to reshape this workflow.