"무슨 일하세요?"
"사용자 경험을 설계하는 일을 합니다."
"......"
정말 어렵다. 내가 무슨 일을 하는지 설명하기 위해서는 질문한 사람을 붙들고 한 시간은 떠들어야 대충 이해할까...
"UI디자인하시는군요! 쉽게 얘기하시지..."
'이 사람이 User Interface Design은 제대로 이해하고 있는 걸까?'
"웹디자인? 웹기획? 뭐 그런거 하시는건가요? 쉽게 얘기하시지..."
'그냥 그렇다고 할까? ㅠ.ㅠ'
User Experience라는 분야가 원래 Multidisciplinary 분야이기도 해서, 설명하기도 어렵고 그 범위를 이해하기도 어려운 것은 사실이다.
Kimmy Paluch가 정리해놓은 내용에 따르면, 아래와 같은 분야의 일부들을 모두 더한 정도의 범위가 될 수 있을 것 같다. 이 말은 전체적으로 아래 언급된 분야를 포함하기도 하지만 포함하지 못하는 일부 영역도 있다는 얘기다.
1. Interaction Design
Interaction design is a sub-discipline of design which examines the role of embedded behaviors and intelligence in physical and virtual spaces as well as the convergence of physical and digital products. Sometimes referred to by the acronyms “IxD” or “iD”… Wikipedia definition
2. Information Architecture
Information Architecture (IA) is the art and science of structuring knowledge (technically data), and defining user interactions. Wikipedia definition
3. Usability
Usability is the measure of the ease with which particular people can employ a particular tool or other human-made object in order to achieve a particular goal. Usability can also refer to the methods of measuring usability and the study of the principles that may predict whether an object is found usable in practice. Wikipedia definition
4. Accessibility
Accessibility is a general term used to describe how easy it is for people to get to, use, and understand things. It is not to be confused with usability which is used to describe how easily a thing can be used by any type of user. One meaning of accessibility specifically focuses on people with disabilities, but there are other meanings… Wikipedia definition
4. Human Computer Interaction
Human-computer interaction (HCI) is the study of interaction between people (users) and computers. It is an interdisciplinary subject, relating computer science with many other fields of study and research. Wikipedia definition
5. Human Factors Engineering
Human factors engineering, also referred to as Ergonomics is the study of optimizing the interface between human beings, and the designed objects and environments they interact with. Wikipedia definition
6. User Interface Design
User interface design is the overall process of designing the interaction between a human (user) and a machine (computer). It includes graphic design, information design and a wide variety of usability methods. Wikipedia definition
Jesse James Garret이 The Elements of User Experience에서 보여준 유~명한 다이어그램을 보면, 각 분야별 상관관계를 더 쉽게 파악할 수 있을 것도 같다.
또한, Robert Rubinoff의 정리에 따르면 4개의 상호의존성을 가지는 요소로 구성될 수 있다.
구체적으로 User Experience Design에 종사하는 사람들의 Job Title을 보면, 정말 다양하다. 그 만큼 다양한 분야에 걸쳐져 있어 User Experience로의 접근경로가 다양하다는 점이다.
아래는 2003년 미국에서 조사한 자료로 UX관련 직업의 인기순위이다. 1위가 Web Designer인데, 대한민국의 Web Designer와는 R&R에 있어서 그 차이가 있다는 점을 알고 보면 좋겠다.
(대한민국의 Web Designer 직군은 Visual Designer에 가까우며, 업무영역에서 Graphic 작업쪽으로 치중하는 성격이 강하다. 모두 그렇다는 것은 아니고... ^^;)
Top 25 UX Position Titles & Job Roles
- Web Designer: 797,000 results
- Graphic Designer: 489,000 results
- Art Director: 400,000 results
- Creative Director: 189,000 results
- Information Architect: 40,100 results
- Interface Designer: 21,800 results
- GUI Designer: 13,200 results
- Visual Designer: 10,600 results
- User Interface Designer: 7,570 results
- Information Designer: 7,020 results
- Interaction Designer: 6,690 results
- Usability Engineer: 5,370 results
- UI Designer: 4,820 results
- Usability Specialist: 3,050 results
- Brand Designer: 2,480 results
- Content Designer: 1,950 results
- Experience Architect: 1,790 results
- Experience Designer: 1,760 results
- User Experience Architect: 1,220 results
- Brand Strategist: 1,050 results
- User Researcher: 571 results
- Content Strategist: 849 results
- User Experience Designer: 505 results
- Interaction Architect: 369 results
- Experience Strategist: 298 results
참고로, Oracle의 User Experience Design관련 구인안내문을 보면 실제 기업에서 원하는 인재가 어떤 사람인지 감을 잡는데 좋을 것 같다.
Senior Interaction Design Leads/Senior Usability Engineering Leads
Will be responsible for planning and executing designs and usability engineering results through the UCD process. This position will take a leadership role and coordinate with team staff including Interaction Designers, Usability Engineers, Product Strategists/ Managers, and Developers to continuously improve the User Experience of Oracle's enterprise products. Design and UE Leads will evangelize and instill UCD processes within Development and Strategy and lead multi-stakeholder project teams to deliver a world-class user experience.
Usability Engineers/User Researchers
Will have a passion for bringing the users' perspective into the design of new technology products. This position will be responsible for all aspects of product usability, outlining usability research, test plans and test reports and will contribute towards user requirements gathering, coordinate site visits, surveys, focus groups and conduct workflow analyses, usability evaluations, prototype reviews, cognitive walkthroughs, and user research
Interaction Designers
Will drive the design of compelling and industry leading user experiences for Oracle enterprise users. This position will be responsible for UCD activities through the product development lifecycle including needs analysis, task analysis, conceptual modeling, and cognitive walkthroughs. Designers will work on producing storyboards, scenarios, wireframes, prototypes, and UI specifications. They will also work closely with the larger UX team to define front-end research activities and contribute towards design patterns, guidelines and standards.
Visual Designers
Will be responsible for designing appealing UI's and visualizations for Oracle's next generation applications. This position will work on design concepts keeping requirements, objectives and contemporary aesthetics in mind. The person will work with interaction designers and develop wireframes, interactive prototypes, visual spec, style sheets, icons & other visuals and also contribute towards Design Patterns and guidelines. The Visual Designer will also act as a Liaison within the UX team and the development organization for advanced visualization techniques and accessibility issues.
UI Developers
Will be a 'design-sensitive' programmer, with strong expertise in DHTML, Advanced CSS, JavaScript & XML/XSLT and a creative inquisitive and explorative mind. This position will compliment the UX team, with his energy and desire to deliver high-quality interactive prototypes and responsible for all aspects of design, development and quality of the new interaction features and also contribute to Oracle's next generation applications UI framework. UI Developer will also act as a liaison within the UX team for Ajax / Flex / RIA related technology aspects.
마지막으로...
"UX를 공부하고 싶은데, 뭘 공부하면 좋을까요?"라고 묻는 사람들에게...
User Experience Design은 접근방향이 다양한 관계로, 현재 자신이 가장 가깝거나 유사한 Position을 시작점으로 잡으면 좋을 것 같다는 얘기를 해주고 싶다.
참고로, 관련이 있는 교육기관의 과정이라면...
1. Industrial / Product Design (UCD관련)
2. Visual Design
3. Interaction Design
4. Industrial Engineering
5. Human Factors
6. Media / Communication
7. Computer Science
8. Psychology
9. Statistics
10. Library
11. MIS
...
(실제로 이러한 전공을 가진 사람들이 필드에서 뛰고 있다. ^^;)
