It seems like every couple of months or so a firestorm breaks out when one of the gurus of the Web industry tweets or blogs something controversial. The latest is Ryan Carson’s tweet and blog post, ‘UX Professional’ isn’t a Real Job which has spawned The pollution of UX and I’m sure a couple of hundred tweets and other posts.
In my opinion, the discussion is just about semantics. When I started my career in the Web world people that built Web sites were called Web Designers or Webmasters and these days that role is usually fragmented into information architects, interaction designers, visual designers, usability researchers, content strategists and so on. Does that mean an information architect can’t make graphics or a visual designer can’t conduct a usability test? No, but it means that someone who is truly gifted that can create a beautiful graphic may not have the skill set to talk to strangers and interview them well. Same goes for the information architect who couldn’t draw to save their lives. The Web world is made up of individuals and all have their strengths and weaknesses and it is a new industry as well which just makes titles and job descriptions that much more ambiguous. I see user research and interaction design as the brains of a user experience design and the visual design as its soul. They all contribute to the overall user experience,but in different ways. Is it possible that there are rock stars out there that can perform all of these function at the utmost level? Maybe, but I haven’t encountered them yet.
One of the comparisons that has been tossed around a lot is comparing UX designers with being a chef. As Top Chef proves though, most chefs can’t make pastry, thus pastry chefs. Baking is a much more exact type of cooking and needs a very different skill set than say a fry cook. Same goes with the comparison to the medical profession. If you have a cold, you can go to a general practitioner, but if you needed brain surgery who would you go to?
The Web is a big place and there are many different types of sites out there. The bigger, more interactive sites need these specialists. A simple content site that just shows content with no interaction can get away with one person doing it all from graphics creation to development. Are all of these people called the same thing? It really just depends on the company.
It’s all about titles really. They keep changing as the industry evolves and people outside of it start learning and appreciating our contributions more. Your skill set and what you can bring to a Web site is the most important thing, not matter what you call yourself.
I just hope the next trend in titles has the word superstar in it.
