UX, UI & Co: What they really mean today

Let's start with the core: UX. UX stands for User Experience – the experiences people have with a product.

The DIN EN ISO 9241-210 defines User Experience as "a person's perceptions and responses resulting from the use and/or anticipated use of a product, system or service." This includes all emotions, beliefs, preferences, perceptions, physical and psychological responses, behaviors and accomplishments – before, during and after use.

The goal of every product development: the most positive user experience possible. The process that leads there is called User Experience Design (UXD). The person responsible for it is a UX designer.

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UX today: More than design

UX is no longer purely a design field. Today, UX is a strategic success factor for digital products, services and entire organizations.

Anyone who wants to create good UX must understand who the users are:

• what goals they pursue
• what needs, expectations and knowledge they have
• in what context they use products or services

This creates requirements that form the foundation for good UX design. This is where UX researchers come into play. They research needs, experiences and usage contexts – qualitatively and quantitatively – and translate insights into design and product decisions.

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Usability, UI and IA: How everything connects

A good user experience requires usability. Usability ensures that a product can be used efficiently, effectively and satisfactorily.

This is where usability engineers operate: They analyze, test and optimize the interface between human and machine – the User Interface (UI). UI design, in turn, shapes the controls and interaction patterns: buttons, menus, feedback. UI designers ensure that the application is visually clear, accessible and consistent.

Equally important: Information Architecture (IA). Information architects structure content, define navigation logic and create orientation. They determine how information is found and understood.

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Disciplines with fluid boundaries

UX design, UI design, usability engineering and information architecture interlock. In practice, tasks frequently overlap:

• UX designers also test usability
• Usability engineers design interface elements
• Information architects conduct user interviews
• UX researchers provide input for visual design decisions

Clear boundaries rarely exist. What matters is that everyone works together toward one goal: a better user experience.

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Human-centricity vs. pure customer-centricity

Good UX puts people as users at the center, not just paying customers. A common mistake: systems and services are designed primarily for customers (= the buyers) and the actual users remain underrepresented.

When product design becomes too oriented toward marketing or sales goals, dehumanization threatens: users are reduced to "customers", human-centered principles (such as error tolerance, interpretability, consistency) fade into the background.

Therefore: UX must come before CX. This means: first, the experience must be designed for all users, then communication, sales or customer retention can follow.

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UX in 2025: From discipline to mindset

Since this article was first published in 2014, much has changed. UX is no longer a niche topic but a central component of digital product development. Topics like accessibility, AI-driven interfaces, ethical design or UX KPIs show how broad the field has become.

UX is not just a discipline. It's a mindset: designing products so they work for people. With empathy, understanding and responsibility.

In short: Good UX emerges when technology truly serves people.