UX 101
User experience (UX) design is the process of creating digital products that are clear, intuitive, and genuinely useful for the people who use them. Good UX design is not about trends, colors, or the latest visual style. It’s about reducing friction, answering questions before users have to ask them, and building interfaces that feel natural and supportive.
This page introduces the core concepts of UX, explains why user research matters, and shows how thoughtful design improves both usability and accessibility.
What UX really is
At its core, UX is about understanding people. How they think, how they move through a page, what they expect, what delights them, and what frustrates them.
UX design focuses on:
- How clearly information is presented
- Whether users can complete tasks without confusion
- How predictable and consistent the interface feels
- Whether the product supports real human behavior
- How effortlessly someone can learn and use a system
UX is psychology, not decoration. It’s about the human mind — attention, memory, perception, and decision-making — and designing digital experiences that respect those realities.
Why “expert-driven” design often fails
Many products fail because they were designed by experts who assumed they understood what users needed. Stakeholders, product owners, and subject-matter experts all play an important role — they understand the business, the content, and the constraints better than anyone. But even with deep expertise, they are not actual users. They know too much, they navigate differently, and they bring assumptions real users simply don’t have.
You’ve probably had the experience of wondering:
“How did this ever get released?”
That reaction usually happens when something was designed for people, but never tested with them.
One example from my own life is my car’s safety alert system. In theory, it sounds great — warn the driver when their eyes aren’t on the road. But in practice, the car beeps at me whenever I look toward the direction the road is turning. I’m driving attentively, doing exactly what I should be doing, yet the system thinks I’m not paying attention.
On paper, the feature makes perfect sense.
In real use, it’s frustrating — because it wasn’t tested with enough real drivers in real situations.
No designer, no matter how experienced, can anticipate every behavior. That’s why UX depends on observing real people, not relying on assumptions.
Why user research is essential
User research gives insight into:
- What people actually do — not what experts assume they do
- Where users hesitate or get lost
- Which words or labels make sense to them
- What they expect to happen next
- Why someone abandons a task
- How they feel while using a product
Without user research, you’re guessing. With it, you’re designing for reality.
The goal isn’t months of studies or huge budgets. Even five users can uncover the majority of usability problems. Observing just a few people trying to complete a task often reveals issues that no designer could predict.
User testing doesn’t have to be time consuming
Modern tools have made research faster and more accessible than ever.
Today, you can:
- Conduct short, focused user tests over Zoom
- Have users record their screens as they complete tasks
- Use AI to synthesize interview notes and extract themes
- Generate insights from multiple transcripts in minutes
- Quickly identify patterns and friction points
- Iterate without waiting for lengthy reports
Good UX isn’t about the size of the study. It’s about listening, observing, and responding.
UX + psychology: why design choices matter
Design is a form of communication. UX uses psychology to create experiences that are:
- Clear instead of overwhelming
- Predictable instead of surprising
- Informative instead of confusing
- Reassuring instead of stressful
- Efficient instead of demanding
A well-designed interface helps people:
- Recognize where they are
- Understand what they can do
- Know what will happen next
- Recover easily from mistakes
- Feel confident using your product
UX draws on cognitive psychology, visual perception, memory limits, and human behavior — often more than it draws on aesthetics.
How UX and accessibility overlap
When UX is done well, accessibility naturally improves.
Both disciplines aim to:
- Remove barriers
- Support different ways of perceiving and interacting
- Simplify navigation
- Reduce cognitive load
- Make processes predictable and consistent
Many WCAG requirements — such as clear headings, predictable navigation, proper labels, consistent layouts, and meaningful link text — are simply good UX principles. A user-centered site ends up being more accessible because it’s built around real human needs.
Conversely, ignoring accessibility usually creates a poor user experience for everyone.
UX and accessibility share the same foundation: designing for people, not assumptions.
Why UX matters for your business
A strong user experience:
- Reduces errors and support requests
- Increases trust and credibility
- Boosts conversions and engagement
- Makes your product easier to learn
- Helps users feel successful — and return again
- Reduces risk by identifying issues early
- Supports accessibility compliance by default
UX isn’t an aesthetic upgrade. It’s a business strategy.
Getting started with UX
You don’t need a massive research project to improve UX. You can begin with:
- Watching a few users try to complete a task
- Asking people what confused them
- Reviewing analytics to see where people drop off
- Mapping out the ideal user journey
- Running quick A/B tests on labels or layouts
- Letting AI summarize feedback and highlight patterns
Improving UX starts small. If you’d like help reviewing your site, planning usability sessions, or turning initial findings into meaningful updates, feel free to reach out — I’d love to support your next steps.
If you’re planning a new website or a redesign, working with someone who understands UX from the beginning can make an extraordinary difference. A user-centered approach leads to clearer content, smoother navigation, stronger accessibility, and a website that feels effortless for people to use. If you want a site built with thoughtful UX baked in from day one, I can help with that too.