WEBVTT 00:00:01.053 --> 00:00:06.742 Design is arguably *the* defining human endeavor  that separates us from all other species. 00:00:06.742 --> 00:00:10.263 Take a look around you right now and you'll notice that  *everything* has been designed 00:00:10.263 --> 00:00:13.766 – from how you sleep to how you eat and to how you communicate; 00:00:13.766 --> 00:00:16.602 everything around you has been designed by someone. 00:00:16.602 --> 00:00:20.563 In other words, user experience design, or UX design, is  *everywhere* 00:00:20.617 --> 00:00:24.380 – from how you interact with your smartphone to how your home is designed. 00:00:24.380 --> 00:00:27.388 Of course, not all experiences are *well designed*. 00:00:27.388 --> 00:00:32.320 And that's why UX design is such an incredibly exciting and  rewarding field to be in. 00:00:32.427 --> 00:00:36.398 We can trace UX design all the way back to the ancient Romans. 00:00:36.438 --> 00:00:40.027 They developed theories of aesthetics to construct amazing buildings 00:00:40.027 --> 00:00:42.101 that have stood the test of time. 00:00:42.101 --> 00:00:47.101 Vitruvius, a renowned Roman architect who wrote the first-ever book on architecture, 00:00:47.181 --> 00:00:51.680 asserted that good design must have the qualities of *durability*, 00:00:51.760 --> 00:00:52.776 *usefulness* 00:00:52.776 --> 00:00:54.160 and *aesthetics*. 00:00:54.211 --> 00:01:00.191 These qualities are *as* important to UX design today as they were millennia ago. 00:01:00.191 --> 00:01:06.394 From the early 1970s to '80s, UX design was known as "human-computer interaction", or *HCI*. 00:01:06.434 --> 00:01:09.788 HCI rose to prominence just as personal computers 00:01:09.788 --> 00:01:12.320 became mainstream, and that was not a coincidence. 00:01:12.320 --> 00:01:15.995 You see, before the 1970s computers were just large machines 00:01:15.995 --> 00:01:19.113 that were operated by punching lines of code. 00:01:19.113 --> 00:01:22.400 So, for most people, computers were really, really hard to use. 00:01:22.400 --> 00:01:26.812 But in the 1970s, Xerox PARC introduced the first personal computer. 00:01:26.812 --> 00:01:31.401 And it was not only small, but it utilized the first *graphical user interface*. 00:01:31.401 --> 00:01:35.520 Instead of lines of code, you used Windows icons and a mouse. 00:01:35.520 --> 00:01:37.527 And it started a revolution! 00:01:37.527 --> 00:01:41.708 Soon, companies like Apple and Microsoft were heavily borrowing from the Alto 00:01:41.708 --> 00:01:44.019 to create their own personal computers. 00:01:44.019 --> 00:01:47.895 This explosion of personal computing in the 1970s and 1980s 00:01:48.000 --> 00:01:52.310 led people to ask questions like "How should people interact with computers?" 00:01:52.310 --> 00:01:57.000 and "How can we make that interaction as intuitive as when we interact with other humans?". 00:01:57.000 --> 00:01:59.739 As people started finding the answers to these questions, 00:01:59.739 --> 00:02:03.281 the field of human-computer interaction, or HCI, started to grow. 00:02:03.443 --> 00:02:07.231 Originally, HCI practitioners were mostly from fields such as 00:02:07.231 --> 00:02:09.798 cognitive psychology and computer science, 00:02:09.798 --> 00:02:13.193 and they were mostly focused on the concept of *usability*: 00:02:13.193 --> 00:02:16.200 how to make computers as intuitive as possible. 00:02:16.240 --> 00:02:20.363 As the field of HCI grew, designers quickly realized that 00:02:20.363 --> 00:02:25.360 designing intuitive computers required a greater understanding of other fields such as *motion graphics*, 00:02:25.360 --> 00:02:27.360 *storytelling* and *linguistics*. 00:02:27.360 --> 00:02:34.822 UX design today is really just  a continuation of what was called *HCI* in the 1980s 00:02:34.862 --> 00:02:38.543 and *interaction design* in the 1990s. 00:02:38.543 --> 00:02:41.616 Today, we're dealing with a whole new set of products and services, 00:02:41.656 --> 00:02:44.798 the smartphone, virtual and augmented reality 00:02:44.798 --> 00:02:46.895 and artificial intelligence. 00:02:46.895 --> 00:02:51.091 But the questions we are asking as UX designers are *exactly the same*. 00:02:51.091 --> 00:02:57.286 It's still about "How can we make the experience of interacting with a computer, a smartphone, a product, a service 00:02:57.286 --> 00:02:58.718 as *intuitive*, 00:02:58.718 --> 00:02:59.840 *smooth* and 00:02:59.840 --> 00:03:01.520 *pleasant* as possible?". 00:03:01.589 --> 00:03:05.814 Don Norman, the prominent designer who coined the term "user experience", 00:03:06.000 --> 00:03:09.020 once said that *design is everything*. 00:03:09.020 --> 00:03:14.120 What he meant was that UX designers are not only concerned 00:03:14.120 --> 00:03:16.948 with the product *when* it is being used 00:03:16.948 --> 00:03:21.440 but also *before* the product has been purchased and *after* it has been used. 00:03:21.440 --> 00:03:24.384 Let's think about the smartphone, for example. 00:03:24.384 --> 00:03:27.160 As UX designers, we care not only about 00:03:27.200 --> 00:03:30.125 making the software easy to use; 00:03:30.125 --> 00:03:34.026 we also care about *designing the right marketing campaign*, 00:03:34.160 --> 00:03:37.737 about *creating a great unboxing experience*, 00:03:37.737 --> 00:03:41.880 as well as *making troubleshooting as painless as possible*. 00:03:41.920 --> 00:03:47.867 Of course, on top of that, we need to make sure  that the product or service that you're offering   00:03:47.934 --> 00:03:51.978 actually addresses the need of the user in the first place. 00:03:51.978 --> 00:03:55.420 If not, you'll just be designing in a vacuum 00:03:55.460 --> 00:04:01.019 and no one will care how smooth or pleasant the experience is. 00:04:01.019 --> 00:04:05.255 This is why UX design has become such a huge umbrella term 00:04:05.255 --> 00:04:07.966 which encompasses many fields, including 00:04:07.966 --> 00:04:09.080 *visual design*, 00:04:09.080 --> 00:04:10.080 *usability*, 00:04:10.080 --> 00:04:11.995 *psychology*, *sociology* 00:04:11.995 --> 00:04:13.458 and *aesthetics*. 00:04:13.591 --> 00:04:16.739 If you're interested in the *questions* that UX designers ask 00:04:16.779 --> 00:04:18.800 and if you're excited about finding the *answers*, 00:04:18.800 --> 00:04:20.800 then we have some very good news for you! 00:04:20.800 --> 00:04:25.600 The first piece of good news is that because  UX design is such a multidisciplinary field, 00:04:25.600 --> 00:04:28.035 the barriers of entry are very low. 00:04:28.035 --> 00:04:31.000 It doesn't matter where you come from or what you majored in; 00:04:31.000 --> 00:04:34.744 you'll always have something relevant to bring to the field of UX design. 00:04:34.811 --> 00:04:37.454 All you need is a constant drive for absorbing 00:04:37.454 --> 00:04:40.160 new knowledge and constantly improving yourself. 00:04:40.160 --> 00:04:45.390 The second piece of good news is that it's extremely challenging and rewarding to be a UX designer. 00:04:45.453 --> 00:04:47.480 There's an endless depth to the job, 00:04:47.480 --> 00:04:51.000 and you'll always be coming up with new  possibilities and new solutions. 00:04:51.059 --> 00:04:54.053 And, finally, the great news is that you can start *right now*! 00:04:54.053 --> 00:04:56.720 You can start learning UX design *today*. 00:04:56.760 --> 00:05:00.034 At the Interaction Design Foundation, because we're a non-profit 00:05:00.034 --> 00:05:04.002 we're able to deliver online UX courses at an extremely high quality 00:05:04.040 --> 00:05:06.451 and at a surprisingly low price. 00:05:06.451 --> 00:05:10.720 You can also pick up a few books at your library, or you can read some articles online. 00:05:10.793 --> 00:05:13.158 The point is you can take action right now. 00:05:13.158 --> 00:05:16.304 You can start learning UX design, and then you can make the world into 00:05:16.304 --> 00:05:19.145 a better design place than when you found it.