UX is taking over the world
TL:DR: Google Trends data shows how consistently UX has grown over the last decade, surpassing the growth of "UI" and more traditional business metrics like "conversion rates".
Hey 👋
I'm a UX consultant, and over the last few years I've seen the popularity of the field grow considerably. So this morning I sat down to look at some of the data.
Here's some evidence that UX is taking over the start-up world, and what you can do as a founder:
Firstly, let's define UX (user experience). It's not 'pixels on a screen', but rather 'making stuff work beautifully'.
UI = how stuff looks.
UX = how stuff works.
The two coexist, and are often handled by the same person internally. But that's normally because a company doesn't appreciate the nuance of UX, and hires one person, instead of two.
(Side note: being a UI and UX designer is the equivalent of a 'full stack' developer. It exists, but if you really want to build something great, you have dedicated front end / back end developers).
1. The data
So, is UX growing?
Yes—look at the following Google Trends charts, showing search trends over the last decade.
"UX" = steady growth.
"UI" (User Interface—remember, this is a different skill, and should be a different role).
Not much growth at all, other than one bump.
Here's a fun one.
Board rooms are full 'walking suits' talking about "conversion rates", as if that's the most important metric to a business.
Guess what, it's not the most talked about thing any more. (I'll get onto this in more detail in a bit).
"Marketing ideas" = stagnated.
"If UX is so important, surely people are hiring more UX designers, right?"
Yes, you're god damn right.
LinkedIn even listed "UX" as the 5th most sought after skill in 2020.
Let that sink in: UX is more valued to a business right now that marketing, business analysis and sales.
2. What are businesses doing?
Is this actually impacting the business landscape?
In my opinion, businesses have realised that creating beautiful products normally wins. Or rather, it massively increases your chances of winning.
Instead of spending millions on 'guerilla marketing', they're investing in building great product.
To be clear, marketing spend isn't dying by any stretch—it's actually growing steadily. But repeatedly, we see winners and disrupters winning without a marketing budget. The marketing helps scale, the product helps them win.
Remember the search trends graph of "conversion rates" declining?
Successful companies are redefining how they think about conversion rates. UX isn't considered as a 'hack' anymore—it's about building great stuff.
3. What should founders do?
Okay, so UX is growing, cool. But you're not a UX designer, so how do you hustle and apply this to your start-up? Especially if you don't have $50,000 to invest in design.
As a founder myself, and my experience helping other product teams, I think these are the most impactful things that you can do:
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As a founder (or product owner), you need to learn more about UX. Read books, blogs, watch YouTube videos and listen to UX podcasts. Immerse yourself into the UX of industries other than your own (i.e., you can learn a lot from the UX of gaming, or eCommerce).
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If you do raise money, instead of assigning a large marketing budget, consider shifting some of that into design. Either to get external help, or hire internally.
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Be obsessed with your own product. If something annoys you, it probably annoys someone else. It doesn't mean that your MVP has to be perfect, but aspire to fix those pesky bugs.
I can help with #1. I regularly publish free UX tips and teardowns. I also have a newsletter, if you prefer it to come your inbox.
There are hundreds of other great resources out there too. Many well-documented here on IH.
You're already doing the right thing, by reading an article like this—just do more of it.
Phew, you made it to the end—thanks for reading. If I could ask a small favour: I tweeted this earlier, and would love it if you could drop me a like. If you can't be bothered, I totally get it, if I'm honest, I probably wouldn't either.
Peace, keep hustling out there!
In my underbelly, I feel the same. Apple and Airbnb are my best examples.
Though I work in crypto, and the biggest player, Binance, is not the one with the best UX (opinions about UX obviously can differ). There are other fields in which this applies too (booking.com, Amazon to a certain extent).
My gut feel says there is a customer segment which cares about UX, and that customer segment is growing. But if you're aiming for other segments (eg the lowest-price customer), UX probably won't help you.
Wait, are you saying Airbnb is one of your top two examples of UX? Because that is always my example of UI vs UX - to me Airbnb has a beautiful UI but one of the worst user experiences in tech 🤣
To each their own I guess! Glad it's working for some people though and they aren't completely rogue
Curious to hear your thoughts, why do you believe Airbnb has bad UX?
Besides the nice UI, IMO it's a straightforward and intuitive booking experience. Maybe that's my experience because the industry benchmark is low, eg Booking, Agoda, Expedia 🤣
Reasons below - personally I find Booking.com's UX fantastic. There is no confusion about how to book a room. I find their UI horrendous though 😅
Oh my I'm getting frustrated even just thinking about using the app 🤣 this is all from memory and just what comes to mind
Thanks for sharing!
Totally agree. That segment of UX-centric companies is growing. Will it be 100% ever? No, because the 'budget' version of stuff will still exist.
But now is a great time to focus on UX, if you don't want to be solely winning on price.
This is why Binance is crowded.
yes, but Binance is not only crowded in the Asian world, also in the western world.
it was founded in Chine.
Yes but they're not really going to change for each market, that would get expensive, unless the current market really cares about the differences. I've used Binance in the US and it's good enough for me.
Yes, the user segment for whom 'good enough' is sufficient is what Binance is tapping into.
Out of curiosity, why do you prefer Binance over for example Coinbase, which in my opinion has a way better UX / UI?
Coinbase fees are a ripoff, ironic considering they sell stuff that purports to have "very low fees" by "cutting out the middle man."
This comment was deleted 2 years ago.
UX rules! And even more - it converts ideas into outstanding products.
You advised founders to learn more about UX. I'd recommend those free courses (I've passed them at the beginning of my UX journey):
They are helpful for UX beginners. p.s. it is not an ad, just my recommendations :)
And many thanks for sharing the article - it is worth reading.
This is a good read, learnt a lot also in the comments
Thanks Collen :)
I guess that lately, the term UX is overused as there are more and more digital products being built. For eons, there have been designers who are always thinking and working to make products more usable and not just good-looking. The same should apply to digital products as well.
I like to call them product designers as they not only have to think about how the product works but think through various aspects like what is the pain, is the solution the right one, is the user understanding the task, does this sort of segment exist, and so on.
Bottom line is, if as a founder you are not focusing on the design, what are you doing!
Well said. If I find it as a pesky problem, someone else may. This is exactly how I feel!
I think all indiehackers should read Steve Krug's "Don't Make Me Think" and "Rocket Surgery Made Easy." These are classics on web usability and user testing.
This section was super useful, many thanks!
More than welcome!
I like the old design of indiehackers better. Simple, clean, and lots of negative space. Now it's just crowded.
Time to give that feedback to indiehackers' product team!
Thanks for sharing!
As I'm working on my current project - BotMeNot - I'm trying to have in mind all the lessons I've learned from my other projects.
This, among other things, refers to what my users want/like and what they do not.
Obviously, every project has its own story and there is no 1 single recipe for UX success. I do agree, it is important to distinguish between UI and UX, but I think that one should have both in mind, especially when launching a SaaS (as is the case with me).
Worth reading. Understood what's UI & UX! :)
Thanks!
Welcome
nice
Hi Pete, to the point. Thanks a lot for sharing! Couldn't agree more as a UX-Architect myself :)
Most likely, all the sub-roles in ux (ux writing, ux strategy, ui design etc.) will merge into "product experience" or "experience owner" - UX is the process, not the role! Equally crucial for all the different stages and parts in building a product or a service.
Hi Pete, to the point! Thanks for sharing. Have been in the field since 2012 and observe a similar phenomenon.
A simple explanation of what's UI and UX. Thanks for sharing!
I thought React was taking over the world.
And that software was eating it.
Just wanted to say I disagree. Sometimes the complexity of separating the two makes for worse things. Just because they can be separated doesn't mean they should be for better results. It all depends.
What if you can do UI/UX, design + full stack..
nice work, I'm working on Nolly.io to help designer gather insightful ideas from clients while they are working on their product
feel free to share some feedback
I think the solution isn't just to hire more UX designers, but to make sure everyone in a product-focused company understands UX concepts. I'm currently a marketing specialist, but I was trained in anthropology and UX research + design. My UX background helped me a lot as a product manager before too.
I don't think UX is going anywhere, but I do think anyone who's not UX minded will become more and more irrelevant. If we look at this from a company's perspective, every company should provide UX training to their employees, especially for small startups.
Very true, we need everyone to have the "experience mindset" !
Thanks!
I feel like there's another point worth mentionning that Isn't mentionned directly in the article.
Where's this definition from? It rings a bell but I can't place it.
I don't think it's from anywhere, it was me summarizing my thoughts, but it might be something I read from somewere else and it stuck.
It's great UX definition, I love it. Thanks a lot.