We’re known as Interaction Designers, Information Architects, User Interface Designers, <insert favorite alphabet soup here>- but I believe that we’re all User Experience Designers, because we have the expertise and the skill set to fulfill user goals in complex interactive products. Its our primary responsibility to make stuff easy and pleasurable to use (credit: Whitney Hess)

We’re still evolving as a profession, heck we’re already one of the Best Careers for 2009 according to the fine folks at U.S News. Products like the iPhone are examples of how good User Experience can be a significant differentiator. Implementing the latest and greatest technologies and features won’t go far unless they solve a consumer problem.

So, what’s the catch? Well, we can’t decide what do we call ourselves! There have been more than a dozen names that have been floating around for years, but we’ve not been able to converge on one that we can all agree upon (a strong Designer trait!)

“This profession has a hard time agreeing on a name for itself. It’s called, for example, user experience specialist, interface designer, information architect, usability practitioner, user-centered design specialist, and usability manager” (US News)

Unfortunately, this has posed challanges on many fronts and is often an impediment to professional development. How many times have you had to explain why you’re not a Graphic Designer or a Web Designer?

Sure, there are differences between various branches, but I believe there is much to be gained by associating with the UX Tribe. This is an effort to explore what the UX community thinks. So- Do you believe in the UX Tribe?

(UX Tribe label credit: Andrew Hilton)

Readings

For the UX Tribe:

• The UX Tribe, Andrew Hilton
• Why I’m no longer calling myself an Information Architect, Chiara Fox

Against the UX Tribe:

• Enough UX Chumbaya, Dave Malouf

(If you have other relevant readings on this topic, send an email to iyervish [at] gmail [dot] com)