My name is Ivan Repin, I have a digital agency, and I have been living in Thailand for 5 years. On my YouTube-channel I share useful tips for business and freelancing.
In this article, I've tried to explain in simple terms how we at Repin.Agency understand User Experience (UX) and why it's often confused with UI, CX, and CustDev. If you haven't heard these trendy abbreviations before, I'll help you understand them. This could be useful for aspiring entrepreneurs, freelancers looking to find themselves, and those who see UX as just another marketing gimmick.
First, I'll answer an important question:
In this article, I've tried to explain in simple terms how we at Repin.Agency understand User Experience (UX) and why it's often confused with UI, CX, and CustDev. If you haven't heard these trendy abbreviations before, I'll help you understand them. This could be useful for aspiring entrepreneurs, freelancers looking to find themselves, and those who see UX as just another marketing gimmick.
First, I'll answer an important question:
Why talk about UX again? So much has already been written about it.
Many see UX as 'adapting' users to fit their business, which is fundamentally incorrect. For example, using psychological tricks to make someone stay on a website or make a purchase without them noticing. This isn't 'improving user experience. I'll try to share our subjective view on these processes, which can bring more benefit to both the client and the business. And we'll include some visuals :)
Let's start with the story.
Let's start with the story.
Where did user experience come from?
UX's grandmother is traditionally considered to be ergonomics, which gained popularity in the 1920s. During that time, as people began moving to cities and working with complex machinery, "devilish" machines broke down, workers suffered injuries, and productivity plummeted. Rules and principles were needed to make machines more user-friendly. Ergonomists stepped in to help: they proposed solutions to enhance worker safety, comfort, and productivity.
By the 1940s and 1950s, ergonomics became a popular science with prominent followers.
Among them were Alphonse Chapanis (Chapani) and John Karlin.
During World War II, Alphonse focused on aviation ergonomics. He noticed that levers for opening landing gear and raising flaps were very similar and located very close together. Pilots confused them, leading to aircraft crashes.
By the 1940s and 1950s, ergonomics became a popular science with prominent followers.
Among them were Alphonse Chapanis (Chapani) and John Karlin.
During World War II, Alphonse focused on aviation ergonomics. He noticed that levers for opening landing gear and raising flaps were very similar and located very close together. Pilots confused them, leading to aircraft crashes.
Airplane control panel
Earlier, these incidents were attributed to pilot inexperience and stress. It was Chapanis who showed that the problem was in the cockpit design.
John Karlin also has a fascinating story. In 1945, he started working at Bell Labs, a renowned company researching telecommunications. He was tasked with designing the keypad layout for a telephone with touch-tone dialing. Here are the options he considered before settling on the one we know today:
John Karlin also has a fascinating story. In 1945, he started working at Bell Labs, a renowned company researching telecommunications. He was tasked with designing the keypad layout for a telephone with touch-tone dialing. Here are the options he considered before settling on the one we know today:
The keypad options for the stationary telephone from Bell Labs
"The second option had the fewest errors during typing, but it was the slowest. Option number 5 was the fastest, but users didn't like it at all.
In the end, the familiar Option 1 went into production because it had the best overall performance across all metrics. This is how Karlin replaced the old-fashioned rotary dial and established a standard for many future devices (now we see this layout on ATMs, gas stations, etc.).
Of course, ergonomics and industrial design had many more cases; here I've presented just a part as an example. If you want to learn more, read about lean manufacturing at Toyota or the story of the top industrial designer of that time, Henry Dreyfuss.
And now we move on to the next stage of UX development. The 1970s brought the era of computer technologies to us. This gave rise to another popular field — Human-Computer Interaction. It combined ergonomics, computer science, and cognitive sciences into what we now know as usability. In simple terms, usability means a product's ability to help users achieve their goals efficiently and enjoyably.
In 1973, engineers at Xerox's research center created the first graphical user interface and computer mouse (which Steve Jobs, and later Bill Gates, famously emulated). Xerox significantly influenced the direction of personal computers as we know them today.
Another giant in the early UX field was Apple. In 1984, they released the Macintosh — the first mass-market PC with a graphical user interface, built-in screen, and mouse.
In the end, the familiar Option 1 went into production because it had the best overall performance across all metrics. This is how Karlin replaced the old-fashioned rotary dial and established a standard for many future devices (now we see this layout on ATMs, gas stations, etc.).
Of course, ergonomics and industrial design had many more cases; here I've presented just a part as an example. If you want to learn more, read about lean manufacturing at Toyota or the story of the top industrial designer of that time, Henry Dreyfuss.
And now we move on to the next stage of UX development. The 1970s brought the era of computer technologies to us. This gave rise to another popular field — Human-Computer Interaction. It combined ergonomics, computer science, and cognitive sciences into what we now know as usability. In simple terms, usability means a product's ability to help users achieve their goals efficiently and enjoyably.
In 1973, engineers at Xerox's research center created the first graphical user interface and computer mouse (which Steve Jobs, and later Bill Gates, famously emulated). Xerox significantly influenced the direction of personal computers as we know them today.
Another giant in the early UX field was Apple. In 1984, they released the Macintosh — the first mass-market PC with a graphical user interface, built-in screen, and mouse.
Macintosh. 1984
But the biggest contribution to UX history wasn't even the Macintosh; it came from one of its employees. His name was Don Norman, and he made the concept of User Experience in 1993. Today, Norman is a co-founder and consultant at Nielsen Norman Group, and a central figure in the UX community.
We're gradually approaching the modern understanding of UX. In the next part, we'll discuss what Norman contributed to the term UX and what we think about it.
We're gradually approaching the modern understanding of UX. In the next part, we'll discuss what Norman contributed to the term UX and what we think about it.
How do we understand UX today?
So, the definition of UX from the guru:
Donald A. Norman
User experience is an ongoing process that encompasses all aspects of interaction between the end user and a company, its services, and products.
Here's a simpler explanation: product user experience is literally any interaction you have with it, from hearing an ad, placing an order, receiving it at home, sharing your thoughts with friends, and so on. This applies to all kinds of products.
What does this mean?
What does this mean?
Users continuously gain experience interacting with a product, so it's important to gather information about the user, their pains, and desires at every stage of development, sometimes even multiple times.
UX starts with how a person learns about your product, and ends when they no longer need you (the need is gone);
The end user is someone who directly uses your product. There was an attempt to separate the concepts of customer and user. Let me explain it with an example:
In this case, the parents are the customers, meaning those who purchased the product. However, the end user is the child, and as we can see, their experiences are quite different :) We'll talk more about Customer Experience (CX) in detail a bit later.
And lastly here: the user interacts not only with the product but also with the company. This process is called Brand Experience (BX), and it's also part of UX.
I've adapted Norman's definition for myself: working with UX is s striving to make the product best suited to the user's thinking. By eliminating all bad experiences, we invite them to return to us again. This is the company's main principle, around which other business processes are structured, not the other way around. The main challenge of working with user experience is here: you always need to balance between the interests of the business and the interests of the user. There will always be tensions in one direction or another, you should accept it and strive to maintain balance.
If we delve into the essence of UX, the concept seems quite philosophical: doing good for the user results in good for the business. It's a golden business rule of morality. But what kind of "good" does the user need and how can we deliver it?
As an example, I'll mention one of the most popular UX design quality checklists, specifically the usability part of the product. These are Jakob Nielsen's 10 usability heuristics — named after the co-founder of Nielsen Norman Group. A product that meets these criteria always stands out in the market.
Now about the "good" for the business. Of course, it's high conversion rates, gaining more new customers, and increasing repeat visits to your website/app. There's an excellent study on this topic by McKinsey. Over the past 5 years, they've studied the business processes of 300 public companies worldwide and found a direct correlation between successful UX design decisions and company profits.
If we delve into the essence of UX, the concept seems quite philosophical: doing good for the user results in good for the business. It's a golden business rule of morality. But what kind of "good" does the user need and how can we deliver it?
As an example, I'll mention one of the most popular UX design quality checklists, specifically the usability part of the product. These are Jakob Nielsen's 10 usability heuristics — named after the co-founder of Nielsen Norman Group. A product that meets these criteria always stands out in the market.
Now about the "good" for the business. Of course, it's high conversion rates, gaining more new customers, and increasing repeat visits to your website/app. There's an excellent study on this topic by McKinsey. Over the past 5 years, they've studied the business processes of 300 public companies worldwide and found a direct correlation between successful UX design decisions and company profits.
McKinsey company growth chart
This concludes our brief dissection of the essence of UX processes and moves on to discuss other trendy abbreviations that UX is often confused with: CX, UI, and CustDev.
UI (User Interface)
UI is User Interface. This term applies to all products, but it became popular in the digital. On websites and apps, UI designers create the style of screens, pages, and visual elements like buttons or icons. In the past, a product with good UI could succeed just because of its "pretty picture," but those times are gone. Now, to compete successfully, you need to first identify user problems and then solve them using design. If a UI designer creates cosmetics, the beautiful packaging, a UX designer researches and finds out if such packaging is needed at all, and if yes, what it should be like. Often, the same person handles both roles in a company — UX/UI designer: first, they conduct research, then create prototypes, design them, and finally check usability. Skipping UX stages can lead to this:
And if you neglect UI, it will look like this:
(Imagine a cake without frosting or any decorations — it might taste good but it's quite boring :/ )
The key point is UX and UI cannot be compared or set against each other. UI is an essential part of UX. UX design takes the lead in the product development process, followed by the user interface.
(Imagine a cake without frosting or any decorations — it might taste good but it's quite boring :/ )
The key point is UX and UI cannot be compared or set against each other. UI is an essential part of UX. UX design takes the lead in the product development process, followed by the user interface.
CustDev (Customer Development)
Customer Development is quite an interesting thing.
It first emerged as a stage in the Lean Startup methodology developed by Steve Blank. Its essence is to conduct research on potential startup customers and validate hypotheses about the market, customer problems, and related issues. In the Russian-speaking business community, this tool has been reinterpreted and is now applied not only to startups. Today“casting” means conducting interviews with users or testing MVP or new product features. In other words, it's about conducting research.
UX researchers (surprise!) engage in similar activities. Both validate design and product hypotheses and gather valuable data. The difference lies in UX research using more research methods, different types of sampling, and data analysis.
In conclusion, CustDev is a discipline we've come up with, which in fact is part of UX research. At the same time, it's a highly effective tool for businesses. If you want to learn more about effective casting, I recommend watching lectures by Ivan Zamesin (Telegram: @zamesin). It isn't an advertisement.
It first emerged as a stage in the Lean Startup methodology developed by Steve Blank. Its essence is to conduct research on potential startup customers and validate hypotheses about the market, customer problems, and related issues. In the Russian-speaking business community, this tool has been reinterpreted and is now applied not only to startups. Today“casting” means conducting interviews with users or testing MVP or new product features. In other words, it's about conducting research.
UX researchers (surprise!) engage in similar activities. Both validate design and product hypotheses and gather valuable data. The difference lies in UX research using more research methods, different types of sampling, and data analysis.
In conclusion, CustDev is a discipline we've come up with, which in fact is part of UX research. At the same time, it's a highly effective tool for businesses. If you want to learn more about effective casting, I recommend watching lectures by Ivan Zamesin (Telegram: @zamesin). It isn't an advertisement.
CX (Customer Experience)
Customer Experience (CX) is simply the overall experience a customer has.
It's commonly considered that UX is part of CX. However, for me, they represent two different approaches with distinct perspectives on people — as customers and as users. UX is rooted in behavioral psychology, often using qualitative methods like interviews, focus groups, and observations. CX, on the other hand, relies on marketing research and quantitative methods such as surveys. Historically, UX is closely tied to digital products, while CX focuses more on gathering customer feedback and shaping business processes.
These approaches share a common goal: ensuring that people buy products, enjoy using them, and return or recommend them to others.
It's commonly considered that UX is part of CX. However, for me, they represent two different approaches with distinct perspectives on people — as customers and as users. UX is rooted in behavioral psychology, often using qualitative methods like interviews, focus groups, and observations. CX, on the other hand, relies on marketing research and quantitative methods such as surveys. Historically, UX is closely tied to digital products, while CX focuses more on gathering customer feedback and shaping business processes.
These approaches share a common goal: ensuring that people buy products, enjoy using them, and return or recommend them to others.
Let's consolidate everything with an example
Imagine a family living in an apartment where everything seems okay, but something feels missing, something is inconvenient, and some things just need updating. "We need to re-wallpaper, change the light bulbs, and buy a dresser," says the wife. It is changes in UI design.
The family calls a wallpaper specialist they found through an ad. He inspects the walls, clicks his tongue, and suggests that the ceilings might get damaged if they change the wallpaper. How about stretch ceilings? Don't like stretch ceilings? Why not? There are new generation options that are better. This is where CustDev comes into play.
The renovation clearly goes beyond just re-wallpapering, so they hire a team with a foreman. The foreman takes a thorough approach, inspects the entire apartment, suggests replacing yellowed windowsills, re-flooring the bedroom because it squeaks, and even rewiring. He works out options within the budget set by the head of the family. It's СХ.
As things grow more complex, they bring in a skilled designer. Instead of focusing on wallpaper and windowsills, the designer talks separately to the wife, husband, and children. It turns out the wife needs a calm place with natural light for makeup, and the husband wants a workshop corner. The older child absolutely refuses to share a room with the younger one, who is afraid to go to the bathroom at night because it's dark. There's also a morning traffic jam in the bathroom that annoys everyone, and the small kitchen isn't convenient for cooking.
Eventually, the idea of moving to a house with an extra room, a garage for dad, a full-length window for mom, two bathrooms, and motion sensor lights in the hallway emerges.
It's UX.
The project is approved by the owner who foots the bill. The specialists, led by the foreman, work on wallpapers, floors, ceilings, lights, and the dresser. Everything comes together — UI, customer development, CX, and UX.
And with that, I end the first article in the series introducing UX.
The family calls a wallpaper specialist they found through an ad. He inspects the walls, clicks his tongue, and suggests that the ceilings might get damaged if they change the wallpaper. How about stretch ceilings? Don't like stretch ceilings? Why not? There are new generation options that are better. This is where CustDev comes into play.
The renovation clearly goes beyond just re-wallpapering, so they hire a team with a foreman. The foreman takes a thorough approach, inspects the entire apartment, suggests replacing yellowed windowsills, re-flooring the bedroom because it squeaks, and even rewiring. He works out options within the budget set by the head of the family. It's СХ.
As things grow more complex, they bring in a skilled designer. Instead of focusing on wallpaper and windowsills, the designer talks separately to the wife, husband, and children. It turns out the wife needs a calm place with natural light for makeup, and the husband wants a workshop corner. The older child absolutely refuses to share a room with the younger one, who is afraid to go to the bathroom at night because it's dark. There's also a morning traffic jam in the bathroom that annoys everyone, and the small kitchen isn't convenient for cooking.
Eventually, the idea of moving to a house with an extra room, a garage for dad, a full-length window for mom, two bathrooms, and motion sensor lights in the hallway emerges.
It's UX.
The project is approved by the owner who foots the bill. The specialists, led by the foreman, work on wallpapers, floors, ceilings, lights, and the dresser. Everything comes together — UI, customer development, CX, and UX.
And with that, I end the first article in the series introducing UX.
Summary
UX encompasses every interaction with the user. It's fundamentally about how all other business processes should adapt to accommodate user needs;
UX has deep historical roots: people have always been interested in how to integrate technologies with those who use them. Historical case studies help us invent modern solutions;
UX, UI, CX, CustDev - all of these are important. First we understand each one, and only then we build a system of interaction with clients/users within the business;
In the next article I'll talk about UX in real and virtual life, break down our case studies and beautiful takeaways from other companies. Thank you for your time!