UX Designer: EXPECTATIONS VS. REALITY!

Even if the topic of UX design is covered in many articles on the Internet, we don’t always understand its ins and outs. With the constant evolution of the Web, new professions are emerging, such as the UX Designer one. And if there are people in a good position to discuss this vast subject and its objectives, it is the UX designers themselves.

The UX Designers at World of Digits

At World of Digits, we work with passionate UX/UI Designers with their different strengths and expertise. Some are more oriented in digital design, others in graphic design & UI, user research… Where some are pure UX analysts. Their common goal at the end is to create a stunner user experience. It’s the core of their work and passion at World of Digits. With our UX tribe, we ensure that all of our UX/UI Designers will continuously learn from UX tools and methodologies. The tribe is run by a local UX leader in each country.

Formerly the Web Designer, the UX Designer is in charge of the User Experience. This means, an online platform specifically designed to meet the expectations of the user. Above all, the UX is about the experience between the user and the brand. UXers are therefore responsible, as designers, of meeting the expectations of a brand’s users in terms of navigation on web platforms.

Lampiris, AXA, Proximus, Deutsche Bank, ING, RTBF, … These are examples of clients where consultants from World of Digits had the opportunity to learn and to practice the role of a UX Designer. Different structures for as many differences on the vision of the role of this profession!
This being said, let’s discover the vision of the UX Designer at World of Digits through the different professional experiences of Nicolas, Maxime and Sofie, 3 UX designers at WOD.

What are their projects?
Their missions?
How is their daily life composed by?

UX Designer – The function

What are your daily responsibilities as a UX Designer?

Nicolas: In my case, my workday consists more of designing than anything else. Like most people, replying to emails and attending meetings is part of the daily routine. But for me, my real work and responsibility are:

– working on UX wireframes,
– testing them through usability tests,
– creating UI designs,
– keep on testing and iterating.

I work with more experienced designers which I help to facilitate design sprints and other workshops. Also, WOD gives the opportunity to improve your UX skills.

Maxime: My responsibilities go from doing user research (interviews, user testing…) to drawing out customer journey maps, building information architecture and creating wireframes. Every day is different!

What kind of project did you have the opportunity to work on?

Nicolas: WOD allowed me to start my career as a UX/UI Designer. During my first months, I worked on multiple projects in the Web Team for clients like Dilaco, Child Focus, Greyling, and Volvo. I was mostly in charge of designing websites, visuals, leaflets, banners, etc. After 6 months though, I got the opportunity to start working for my first client, Lampiris. I joined Lampiris almost 1 year ago now.

Sofie: I worked at Toyota as a UX Researcher to research the opportunity of a new dashboard feature in hybrid cars (oct 2020 until dec 2020) and I am now at ING as a UX Designer thinking about how people would interact with new digital features on ing.be.

In which sector/company did you work?

Maxime: Since I’ve started at World of Digits, I’ve been able to work in a lot of different sectors. My most important clients have been Belfius (financial) and Proximus (telco), and next to that I’ve been able to work on multiple projects in the automotive and mobility industry (STIB/MIVB, AW Europe…).

Nicolas: Well currently I work for Lampiris. It’s an energy company that’s sells gas and electricity to customers as well as solarpanels, Electric vehicles etc.. It’s my first mission, so I haven’t worked anywhere else as a consultant.
Before that I worked in the webteam of WOD. So at the office of WOD, not at the client. In that function I designed websites for Child Focus (which still isn’t live yet ☹) and Dilaco. I also worked on other smaller projects.

What were your expectations when joining WOD as a UX Designer?

Nicolas: I expected lots of projects and following them up, from sketching the first concept to testing the final product.

Maxime: I was looking for an opportunity to work on real projects to improve my UX skills!

Sofie: I thought I would be a combination of UX/UI designer/researcher and also that UI, UX, research and design were overlapping expertises and you should do all of them as a designer.

Did the assignments/challenges correspond to what you could have imagine?

Sofie: A little, but I did not expect that we should deepen our knowledge on one expertise (UX or UI, research or design) for each new project/client. In my case, I found my passion for UX design at ING. I also learned that what you design is only as good as the teamwork with other people involved in the project (copywriters, developers, POs, UX researchers, etc).

Nicolas: Yes, so far all the projects I handled followed the same process I knew. I still love doing what I do, no matter the project or the client. Initially, I thought working at clients would be stressful because they all assume you to be a master. But in reality, I feel quite at ease. The trust and respect you get from colleagues is quite satisfying.

Maxime: Yes, the advantage of working in large companies is that you have a lot of skilled colleagues from whom you can learn a lot! Thanks to them I’ve been able to fully develop my skills as a UX Designer.

In brief…

As you have read, the role of a UX Designer can turns into a researcher, analyst or a UI, depending on the client and the project you are working at.
However, WOD makes every effort to specialize the consultants in their functions and in what they do feel best. Since there are several with the same functions, they can exchange best practices on internal projects.
We foster collaboration between each consultant thanks to the tribe system we have set up.

Interested?

Join us as a UX