Blog

Author: Chris Davis – Principal Designer, Mindforge

Introduction

As the healthcare sector becomes increasingly digitized, UX professionals face unique challenges in designing user-centered solutions that meet the needs of patients, providers, and healthcare organizations. While the promise of improving healthcare experiences through technology is immense, healthcare systems often present substantial obstacles that need careful navigation. From technical limitations and legacy systems to provider resistance and regulatory constraints, UX designers in the healthcare space must adopt creative and strategic approaches to overcome these challenges without sacrificing user experience or innovation.

The structure of the design engagement proposal plays a critical role in setting the tone and trajectory for the entire initiative. A well-framed proposal does more than outline scope and timelines—it proactively addresses the complexities of client commitment, product delivery, regulatory and stakeholder engagement. By clearly defining decision-making roles, outlining phased delivery tied to client readiness, and embedding checkpoints for clinical, legal, and technical input, the proposal becomes a shared blueprint for accountability and progress. It signals to the client that you're not just designing a solution but actively managing the conditions for its success.

Navigating Technical Limitations and Legacy Systems

Legacy systems are a significant challenge in healthcare environments. Many healthcare organizations still rely on outdated, cumbersome systems that were not designed with user experience in mind. These systems can be incompatible with modern technologies, creating obstacles for implementing innovative UX designs that would enhance the user experience for both patients and healthcare providers.

UX professionals must approach legacy systems with a deep understanding of both the technical constraints and the needs of the users who interact with these systems. And while UX designers should have a good understanding of the technical aspects of their projects they need to collaborate closely with a diversity of stakeholders, including IT teams, administrators, clinicians, and patients, often with conflicting needs and priorities. Senior UX designers must align these groups by facilitating collaboration and advocating for solutions that balance user needs with business goals.

One of the best practices for navigating technical limitations is conducting a thorough assessment of existing systems and their capabilities. This allows UX designers to identify the systems' strengths and weaknesses, providing a roadmap for designing a more seamless user experience within the constraints of these technologies. Whereas the Business Model Canvas focuses on the core components of a business such as customer segments, value proposition, and revenue streams, Service Design takes a broader approach. For instance, service design is focused on improving service delivery by aligning the needs of users, the goals of the organization, and the capabilities of the service. When dealing with legacy systems, service design considers the entire experience across all touchpoints, including people, processes, and physical environments and can help to identify pain points and areas where technical limitations might be addressed or mitigated. Essentially, the canvas is a framework for the business model, while service design is a more holistic approach to crafting customer experience within that model.

Additionally, Design Thinking workshops tailored to healthcare stakeholders encourage a deep understanding of user needs and the context in which the product will be used. It also stresses the importance of working within existing technical limitations, as designers and product strategists collaborate with stakeholders to identify realistic and feasible solutions. For example, a team at Cerner (now Oracle Health) used Design Thinking to integrate their EHR (Electronic Health Records) system with Apple's HealthKit. The team empathized with healthcare providers’ frustration with siloed data and technical limitations in legacy systems, defining the challenge of creating a seamless experience. By prototyping solutions and testing with users (healthcare professionals), they were able to implement an integration that allowed providers to access real-time health data while adhering to system constraints. This approach helped the team innovate within legacy system limitations and meet users' needs.

Adapting to a Digital Health Product

In the context of a mental health app for a digital startup, where users track mood, receive CBT-based guidance, and connect with coaching or therapy support, aligning product delivery with clinical and regulatory expectations is critical. Consider structuring delivery in tiers—starting with a non-clinical MVP (Minimal Value Product) to test onboarding, journaling, and habit-forming nudges, while developing a separate module that requires sign-off from licensed clinicians for content targeting higher-acuity symptoms. This dual-path delivery helps to maintain velocity while showing clinical partners you’re serious about safe design. Learn to sync your release cycles with your healthcare partners’ timelines—such as their quarterly product reviews or internal ethics board meetings—so you’re not pushing new features into a void.

Healthcare companies often involve multiple stakeholders. Client commitments need to be reframed in terms of shared accountability. Piloting with integrated behavioral health teams at clinics, your champion—a clinical innovation lead—may not be the person to sign off on data sharing workflows or content moderation policies. This can delay the launch until you clarify who owns those decisions. Consider building stakeholder mapping and RACI (Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, Informed) planning into your kickoff: identifying not just who has decision-making power, but who feels accountable for patient risk. For example, a medical director might need to vet any user-facing advice that could be construed as diagnostic. Also consider the value in running simulated “what if” walkthroughs—e.g., “What happens if a user reports suicidal ideation?”—to align the product’s logic and escalation pathways with the client’s care protocols and risk tolerance.

Balancing Healthcare Provider Resistance with Innovation

UX designers can and often should lead change programs, especially when the change is focused on improving user experience within a product or service, as their deep understanding of user needs and ability to design intuitive interfaces makes them well-suited to navigate the change process and ensure user adoption. That said, during a time when health care is undergoing the most sweeping change ever, health systems, not surprisingly, are struggling to overcome resistance to change.

Healthcare providers, often overburdened and resistant to change, pose a challenge to UX professionals. Many healthcare professionals are hesitant to adopt new technologies or workflows, especially if the technology adds complexity to their already demanding tasks. This resistance can be even more pronounced when they are faced with systems they have used for years, even decades.

Research and the experience of McLeod Regional Health shows that engaging those most resistant to change—by empathizing with them, understanding the roots of their resistance, and helping them view change in a positive light—is an effective approach. To effectively balance provider resistance with innovation, UX designers must focus on building trust and demonstrating the value of new technologies. By encouraging stakeholders to share their perspectives on what worked and what didn’t, you empower them to take ownership of the initiative and contribute to driving it forward. The design thinking process, often employed by UX designers, encourages empathy, experimentation, and iteration, which are valuable skills for navigating change management.

Approaches to Regulatory and Compliance Challenges

Healthcare UX designers also face the challenge of designing solutions that comply with strict regulatory and compliance challenges. UX designers need to work closely with their compliance department, whose function is to monitor adherence to regulatory and compliance standards. However, regulatory and compliance challenges do not need to stifle creativity.

The key to overcoming regulatory hurdles lies in designing with compliance in mind from the very beginning of the project. This means integrating privacy protections, safety and security features into the design, rather than attempting to address them at a later stage.

For instance, AliveCor a company specializing in mobile ECG devices, navigated FDA regulatory approval for its KardiaMobile product while maintaining a creative user experience design and business model. The compliance team worked closely with the FDA to ensure that the device met all necessary health and safety regulations. AliveCor also focused on designing a simple, intuitive app interface that would make complex health data accessible to a broad user base. By balancing regulatory needs with user-centered design, AliveCor succeeded in bringing an innovative product to market.

In the mental health space, it’s easy to inadvertently cross regulatory lines—especially when mixing educational tools with symptom monitoring or mood tracking. For instance, an early feature may offer daily mood-driven affirmations that, while helpful to users, raise red flags about implied clinical guidance. It’s important to consult with legal advisors, creating distinct pathways: one for general wellness (not requiring clinical oversight), and another for provider-linked interventions, where your messaging is reviewed and approved by a licensed therapist. Consider embedding lightweight HIPAA and 42 CFR Part 2 compliance checks into your prototyping cycle—ensuring, for example, that metadata like message timestamps or location tracking is explicitly opted into and encrypted at rest. These early investments in “compliance by design” will pay off during due diligence with health plans and potential channel partners.

Conclusion

Navigating the complex landscape of healthcare UX design requires creativity, patience, and a strategic approach. By embracing best practices in handling technical limitations, addressing provider resistance, and managing regulatory challenges, UX professionals can deliver meaningful, user-centered experiences that improve the healthcare ecosystem for all stakeholders.

Further Reading and Resources

1. Case Studies:
   • Mayo Clinic’s Move to a Single Enterprise-Wide EHR – by Shannon Counselman, MBA, unit manager, Mayo Clinic; Emily Hamilton, MA, principal health systems engineer, Mayo Clinic; Sonia Martindale Mathern, MHA, MBA, senior principal health systems engineer, Mayo Clinic; and Kassandra Young, MS, senior health systems engineer, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn.
   • From Smartphone to EHR: A Case Report on Integrating Patient Generated Health Data – by Eric E. Schadt and Yu-Feng Yvonne Chan
2. Articles:
   • How One Health System Overcame Resistance to a Surgical Checklist – by Kate Hilton and Alex Anderson, Harvard Business Review
   • Cedar Sinai’s Real-Time ER Feedback Platform Helps Improve Patient Satisfaction - by Bill Siwicki, Healthcare IT News
   • Healthcare UX Design: 10 Tips to Achieving HIPPA Compliance in 2025 – by Arushi Sethi
3. Books:
   • Reinventing Organizations – by Frederic Laloux
4. Tools:
   • The Five Steps to Service Blueprinting – by NN/g
   • How to Prototype a New Business – from IDEO
   • Customer Journey Maps – from The Interaction Design Foundation

Read Part 1

Author: Chris Davis – Principal Designer, Mindforge

Introduction

Healthcare is deeply personal yet often feels anything but. Patients encounter long wait times, confusing digital interfaces, and fragmented systems that make accessing care more stressful than it should be. This is where User Experience (UX) professionals have a unique opportunity to lead change. By applying empathy-driven design and focusing on seamless, patient-centered solutions, we can help humanize healthcare and create experiences that not only meet needs but resonate emotionally.

The State of Healthcare Experiences Today

Navigating healthcare often feels like trying to put together a puzzle without knowing what the final picture looks like. Each piece—appointments, test results, billing, and communication—exists, but fitting them together to form a cohesive experience is overwhelming and often frustrating.

Providers face challenges too. Clunky EHR interfaces and inefficient workflows pull them away from meaningful patient interactions. Meanwhile, Payer organizations risk losing patients to competitors who offer more user-friendly solutions.

The good news? UX has the tools and frameworks to turn these pain points into opportunities. By redesigning healthcare experiences, we can simplify processes, enhance trust, and improve outcomes.

The Building Blocks of Human-Centered Design in Healthcare

1. Empathy as the Foundation

Effective healthcare design starts with understanding the emotions and needs of everyone involved—patients, caregivers, and providers.

• Empathy mapping: Conduct unstructured interviews to capture what users say, think, feel, and do at each stage of their healthcare journey.
• Ethnographic research: Spend time in clinics or with patients to observe real-world challenges and uncover insights that surveys can’t reveal.

Scenario: A pediatric hospital revamped its patient portal after realizing parents felt overwhelmed by medical jargon. The redesigned portal included plain-language explanations, visual progress trackers, and a direct chat with nurses.

2. Creating Seamless Experiences Across Touchpoints

Healthcare journeys span multiple interactions, from scheduling an appointment to receiving post-treatment care. UX professionals can ensure these touchpoints connect seamlessly.

• Use journey mapping to identify friction points, such as redundant paperwork or unclear next steps.
• Advocate for integrated systems, like apps that sync wearable data with electronic health records (EHRs) for better continuity of care.

Scenario: A telehealth app allowed patients to schedule virtual visits, review prescriptions, and securely message providers—all in one place. As a result, the app boosted patient satisfaction and reduced the administrative burden for clinics.

3. Prioritizing Inclusivity and Accessibility

Healthcare serves a diverse population, so inclusive design is critical.

• Apply inclusive design principles to ensure systems work for everyone, from older adults to users with limited health literacy.
• Consider cultural factors when localizing interfaces to meet the needs of diverse audiences.

Scenario: A diabetes management app added multilingual support and voice-controlled navigation for users with visual impairments. These features expanded its reach to underserved communities, improving adherence and outcomes.

4. Humanizing Digital Interactions

While technology can improve efficiency, it can lack the human touch patients need.

• Design empathetic chatbots to assist users while making them feel heard. For instance, using calming language and context-aware responses.
• Balance automation with opportunities for human interaction, such as easy escalation to live support.

Scenario: A behavioral health platform included guided meditation exercises delivered through a friendly conversational AI, paired with a “Talk to a Therapist” button for personalized help.

5. Building Trust Through Transparency

Patients want to feel informed and in control of their care. Transparency is key to achieving this.

• Design interfaces that simplify complex information, such as lab results, using visuals and plain-language explanations.
• Clearly communicate data privacy practices to build trust.

Scenario: An oncology center created a dashboard for patients that visualized treatment milestones, explained test results in plain English, and provided links to relevant educational resources.

The Measurable Impact of UX in Healthcare

By reimagining healthcare experiences, UX professionals can deliver tangible benefits for all stakeholders:

• Patients: Less stress, clearer communication, and better health outcomes.
• Providers: Streamlined workflows and stronger patient relationships.
• Payer Organizations: Higher patient retention, cost savings, and a reputation for compassion and innovation.

Practical Tips for UX Professionals in Healthcare

1. Understand the Ecosystem: Familiarize yourself with healthcare’s unique complexities, from insurance regulations to clinical workflows.
2. Start Small: Demonstrate the value of UX by improving a single touchpoint, like simplifying appointment confirmations.
3. Advocate for Design Thinking: Partner with clinicians and IT teams to co-create solutions that balance user needs with operational goals.

Conclusion

UX professionals have a unique opportunity to make healthcare more human. By focusing on empathy, accessibility, and seamless experiences, we can create systems that truly support patients, providers, and payer organizations. As UX designers, we’re not just improving interfaces—we’re shaping a future where care feels personal, connected, and compassionate.

Further Reading and Resources

1. Articles:
   • Healthcare UX Design Challenges and Solutions – by UX 4Sight
2. Books:
   • Design for Care: Innovating Healthcare Experience  – by Peter Jones
   • Health Design Thinking: Creating Products and Services for Better Health – by Bon Ku and Ellen Lupton
3. Tools:
   • Accessibility and Inclusivity Study Guide – by NN/g
   • Journey Mapping Toolkits – from IDEO
   • Customer Journey Maps – from The Interaction Design Foundation

Read Part 2

Author: Caleb Furlough, PhD

Advancements in AI continue to generate excitement for those in tech and product-focused fields. Coming along for the ride with that excitement is proportionate anxiety for many^[1], especially those in UX. New AI advancements and employer expectations raise various concerns that tend to fall under the larger banner of something like “will AI reduce the need for UX designers and researchers?”. Thomas Stokes at Drill Bit Labs reports a year-over-year increase of almost 7% in UX job postings mentioning AI^[2]. Are User Experience and related fields like Human Factors and Human-Computer Interaction in the early phases of being relegated to the sidelines? While I understand and empathize with this concern, I also believe it is often misplaced. Fundamental economic principles and recent historical patterns suggest something more nuanced and optimistic. The UX workforce is more likely to see its daily job responsibilities and overall market positioning transform and evolve than become outdated and marginalized. 

My goal for this post is simply to offer a few thoughts on the future of UX based on proven economic principles and historical examples I hope will inspire optimism.   

Foundational Economic Principles

Taking a look at recent economic history, technological advancements have consistently transformed rather than eliminated human work. I will briefly highlight two relevant economic principles to this transformation: Ricardo’s Comparative Advantage and Kremer’s O-ring Theory. 

Comparative Advantage: In 1817 renowned economist David Ricardo demonstrated that even when one side of an economic trade has an absolute advantage in everything they produce, both sides will benefit when each specializes in what they do comparatively better. In other words, even in the extreme hypothetical that an AI agent was better at every UX task than its human counterpart, it would still be more efficient to utilize the AI for only the tasks it has the largest comparative advantage in (and likewise for the human UXer). This principle helps us see how, even as AI capabilities increase, economic forces will create a division of labor between AI and humans rooted in their respective strengths (even in the unlikely, doom-and-gloom scenario in which AI has become absolutely better at everything). 

O-ring Theory: Nobel Memorial Prize winning economist Michael Kremer proposed the O-ring theory of economic development in 1993^[3]. Using the Challenger space shuttle disaster of 1986 as a prime example, O-ring theory shows how a single point of inefficiency in a product team can dramatically impact the success of the end product. For example, even if 9 out of 10 team members do their job with incredible efficiency, a single team member working inefficiently can cause the otherwise high performing team to produce a mediocre product. Applied to our AI and UX context, Kremer’s theory demonstrates that even if we were to efficiently outsource 90% of UX tasks to AI, the relative impact of the human UX designer or researcher would not decrease, but actually increase!

Takeaway: Comparative Advantage and O-ring theory provide two economic rationales to believe there will always be considerable value to be gained from human UXers, even in the event humanity reaches sci-fi levels of AI capabilities. 

Historical Examples of Role Transformation

Theories and principles are helpful, but let’s turn for a quick look at some historical examples showing what happens when technology automates human tasks.  

1. Automation and mechanization in manufacturing is a familiar example. When mechanized task automation became the standard manufacturing it did not simply eliminate jobs, but instead bifurcated the market. Yes, mass production was automated and job roles were lost as a result. However, this simultaneously created new demand for artisanal and specialty manufacturing roles. It is estimated that in the past 25 years roughly 1.7 million manufacturing jobs have been lost due to automation^[4]. However, it is also estimated that 133 million new jobs (some, not all, in manufacturing) will be created, many of which will shift from low-skills and low-pay to higher-skilled and higher-paid manufacturing positions ^[5]. 

2. The banking industry gives us one of my favorite examples of transformation over elimination. When ATMs became widespread in the 90’s many spoke of the impending doom of the bank teller. The number of ATMs sharply rose from zero to over 400,000 in the course of just a few years, bolstering fears of job loss. Instead, as documented by economist James Bessen^[6], the number of bank tellers in the United States increased at a rate higher than that of the average workforce. ATMs reduced the cost of operating a bank branch, allowing banks to open more branches. Teller responsibilities transformed from handling cash to relationship management and more complex financial services. These were high-value responsibilities that ATMs could not perform at the level of a human or, in Ricardo’s language, in which humans held the comparative advantage. 

Bessen concludes 

“Many people suppose that if technology automates tasks . . . then widespread computer automation must be associated with major job losses. But this view fundamentally misunderstands what has been happening. The evidence shows that computer automation of an occupation is associated with increased demand for that occupation . . . The net result is that computer use is associated with a small increase in employment on average, not major job losses.” (pp.29-30)

3. When thinking of large-scale automation in North America, the agricultural revolution is one of the most dramatic historical examples. Agricultural employment fell from roughly 41% of the U.S. workforce in 1900 to less than 2% today, due in large part to technological advances in automation^[5]. The end of humans working in agriculture, right? Not quite, as both The Bureau of Labor Statistics and economist David Autor note that while traditional agricultural jobs did experience decline, new jobs and responsibilities were created focusing less on physical labor and more on higher-order thinking^[8],[7]. This is not to mention the significant rise of new jobs and skill sets in other sectors as a result of this market shift.

4. Lastly, a historical example more directly applicable to what we see happening is UX is the transformation of accounting. As standard bookkeeping has become increasingly automated, accountants have evolved into new and sometimes different, or more highly skilled, roles such as strategists, analytics, and advisors^[7]. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports employment among accountants has grown and is expected to continue to grow at an above average rate despite automation of many daily tasks^[10]. Traditionally trained accountants are increasingly focused on higher-order responsibilities like interpretation, strategy, and personalized financial advice. It is not difficult to see how a similar strategic shift could happen in UX. 

These historical patterns suggest UX may begin to bifurcate into AI-driven standard solutions and value-add, human-crafted experiences. This would follow the economic principle of comparative advantage that has a proven track record through many technological revolutions.

The Current State of AI in UX

Today's AI tools are capable of performing, at varying degrees of efficiency, different core UX tasks like generating wireframes and prototypes, sketching design concepts, creating synthetic users, moderating 1-on-1 interview sessions, mapping user journeys from qualitative data inputs, drafting moderator guides, analyzing quantitative data, creating research reports, ideating new design directions, and the list goes on. 

However, as we stand today, AI struggles with certain aspects of UX like facing unique design challenges, cultural and contextual nuance, novel user behaviors, and ethical considerations. Jakob Nielsen comments on some of the current limitations in AI in UX Research, 

"The reason we conduct user research instead of relying solely on the 10 heuristics and other usability guidelines is that humans always have unexpected behaviors. How do we know what people want, need, or prefer? This cannot be predicted, any more than we can predict the future.” ^[11]

Perhaps these limitations reflect Ricardo’s principle of comparative advantage at work. AI handles routine tasks along with some creative tasks while humans retain the advantage in other areas of higher-order thinking. I try to avoid making specific predictions about the future, but  this seems like a reasonable possibility given what we have seen happen in other technological revolutions. 

Looking Forward

I will end by offering a few parting considerations for looking at AI transformation in UX moving forward. UX professionals navigating current advances in AI should consider adopting the lens of tried and true economic principles for guidance. Focus on developing skills where humans maintain comparative advantage. Do not become fixated on the absolute advantages of AI. Focus on core UX skills that make you part of the O-ring of production to multiply your impact on the end product. Focus your energy not solely on displacement, but also on newly created opportunities. 

As bank tellers and accountants embraced evolution in their roles through a changing technological environment, we UX professionals should too - with optimism. 

References

[1] https://www.reach3insights.com/blog/ai-anxiety

[2] https://substack.com/home/post/p-162155396

[3] Kremer, M. (1993). The O-ring theory of economic development. The quarterly journal of economics, 108(3), 551-575.

[4] https://teamstage.io/jobs-lost-to-automation-statistics/

[5] Jiang, H., Ge, Y., Yang, C., & Yu, H. (2024). How automated machines influence employment in manufacturing enterprises?. PloS one, 19(3)

[6] Bessen, J. E. (2016). How computer automation affects occupations: Technology, jobs, and skills. Boston Univ. school of law, law and economics research paper, (15-49).

[7] Autor, D. H. (2015). Why are there still so many jobs? The history and future of workplace automation. Journal of economic perspectives, 29(3), 3-30.

[8] https://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2019/beyond-bls/changes-in-the-us-occupational-mix-from-1860-to-2015.htm

[9] https://www.getcone.io/blog/the-evolution-of-an-accountants-role-modern-accountant

[10] https://www.bls.gov/ooh/business-and-financial/accountants-and-auditors.htm

[11] https://jakobnielsenphd.substack.com/p/ai-can-cannot-do-ux

2024-2025 Nomination for Triangle UXPA Executive Council Offices

You can nominate yourself or someone else, with their knowledge and participation, until 11:59 PM, Friday July 26th, 2024. Descriptions of the offices are on our website at https://triuxpa.org/Triangle-UXPA-Board-of-Directors-Roles and more general volunteer position descriptions at https://triuxpa.org/page-1843504. 

You must be a member of Triangle UXPA to run for office and to vote in the election. The 2024-2025 term runs from August 14th, 2024 through July 1st, 2025.

Note: This year that some of the roles are not options. Current council members are staying for a second-year to help build continuity in our association's offerings.

View the nomination form here. 

Archana Shah and Cindy McCracken facilitated discussion of AI for design and research at Lexis Nexus on May 10, 2024. What follows are Cindy's meeting notes. 

Summary

Based on the provided notes, here are the summarized themes from the discussions: 

Successful Uses of AI for UX 

AI has been successfully used to organize documents, enhance productivity, and conduct competitive analysis. Examples include Firefly AI for meeting summaries and Google Bard for enhancing user experience. AI's role in job hunting and itinerary planning also showcases its practical applications in everyday tasks. 

Failures in Attempting to Use AI for UX 

Failures noted include issues with AI-generated bias, hallucinations in content generation, and the inability of AI to cite correctly. Challenges also arise from AI's unpredictability and lack of transparency, leading to trust issues among users. 

Key Things to Keep in Mind While Designing the UX of an AI-Based Product 

The importance of trust calibration, maintaining user privacy, and ensuring data protection are emphasized. Designers are advised to consider the legality of content and integrate AI in a way that enhances rather than complicates the user experience. 

Ethics of Using AI 

Ethical concerns include the pace of development outstripping the establishment of general regulations, copyright and trademark issues, and the ethical implications of AI-generated content, especially when adapted to artists. The potential for AI to reinforce existing biases is also a significant concern. 

Future of UX in AI 

The future discussions revolve around AI complementing rather than replacing human roles, with a focus on maintaining the human element in UX design. The necessity for ongoing education and adaptation to new tools is highlighted, with a call for UX professionals to embrace changes and utilize AI as a supportive tool rather than a replacement. 

These themes reflect a broad spectrum of insights, from practical applications and successes to ethical considerations and future prospects for AI in the UX field. 

Tools

Various AI tools like ChatGPT, Bard, and tools for itinerary planning such as Wander.ai are mentioned. Specific tools for tasks like organizing documents, meeting summaries, and boosting productivity are also highlighted. 

1. ChatGPT - Used for various tasks including content generation and interaction enhancements. 

2. Bard (Google Bard) - Utilized for querying and generating responses based on a large dataset. 

3. Firefly AI - Noted for meeting summaries, helping to condense and recap discussions. 

4. Figjam - A tool used for collaborative design and brainstorming sessions. 

5. Perplexity.ai - Mentioned for its use in generating content and providing citations. 

6. Goblin Tools - Tools for productivity, possibly involving task management, great for focus. 

7. Wander.ai - Specific for itinerary planning, demonstrating AI’s utility in travel and scheduling. 

8. UX Buddy - A design tool integrated within wireframing practices to enhance user interface development. 

These tools are applied across different stages of UX design and management, from initial brainstorming and design to content management and summarization, highlighting the diverse applications of AI in enhancing user experience processes. 

Triangle UXPA is introducing a new feature: guest blogs by TriUXPA members who have insights to share! Our first guest blogger is Kyra Catabay, product designer at Micah Group. She attended the recent FluidMemory AI demo.

If you're a member of TriUXPA and would like to contribute a blog post, reach out and name your topic.

Generative AI is a hot topic, and forward thinking designers and researchers are figuring out its possible impact on our workflows, the industry, and how it might shape our digital and real worlds.

We had a packed room at the new TEKsystems office in Raleigh to demo FluidMemory—a cutting edge AI tool that streamlines once manual research processes. The demo was led by founder Piet Kruithof. We started off with an overview on AI, examples of prompt engineering, and learning more about FluidMemory. 

What is generative AI?

Broadly, generative AI is a form of artificial intelligence that can create text and other types of context in response to a prompt. It sources from vast amounts of content available on the internet, comprehending language, patterns, styles, and structures from human communication.

ChatGPT is OpenAI’s GPT model for generating text in a conversational context. You can write messages and receive a response from the model, much like a conversation.

Generative AI can create new content and often serves as a jumping off point to help you get started. It can also serve as a way to automate tasks that were once very manual, a problem that FluidMemory solves for researchers. 

A good prompt is gold 

Piet started off the demo with an introduction into ChatGPT4.0 and prompt engineering. Creating a great prompt is essential for using generative AI. In the demo, we worked together to craft a prompt for buying a car in 35 accurate steps. 

Here are some tips for crafting good AI prompts that we used during the demo: 

• Experiment and iterate: Try different prompts and iterate based on the model’s responses. Small changes can sometimes lead to big differences in responses.

• Add context: Include background information or constraints to help the model understand your intention. Better context can lead to more accurate and useful responses.

• Review and refine: Review the model’s response and refine your prompts based on the output. Save great prompts for later!

• Ask the model to think step by step: Try asking the model to provide a detailed or step-by-step explanation. This can help with providing coherent and structured responses.

• Specify format: If you want responses in a particular format (e.g. list, spreadsheet, or even word cloud), specify it in the prompt to guide the model’s output.

There have been instances of AI creating inaccurate or even fabricated responses (sometimes called “hallucinations”). As we use AI, we should be aware of its limitations and its potential to create unusual and incorrect responses. It’s important to double check the output when working with AI.

If you find a good prompt, don’t forget to save it for later!

FluidMemory: a solution inspired by short-term memory loss

As the founder of FluidMemory, Piet’s team is developing a software solution aimed at automating research, hypothesis testing, and presenting results for students and professionals alike. FluidMemory is powered by Google Cloud and utilizes ChatGPT along with GPT 4.0 to aid in data analysis.

It’s currently targeted for researchers (such as grad students), but its use case can definitely expand into other means and professions. It can provide a way for a researcher to capture, store, and keep information, as a compendium of data for current and projects. You might read a publication in grad school, and then use FluidMemory to recall that exact article and piece of needed information 15 years later. FluidMemory can also analyze vast amounts of the data that you’ve collected--saving you valuable time.

Piet spoke candidly about a short-term memory disability that led him to creating FluidMemory and his hope that FluidMemory can help other folks with these types of memory challenges in the future.

You can check out FluidMemory here:https://fluidmemory.ai/

Co-Authored by Dr. Guiseppe Getto and Dr. Suzan FlanaganAs a college professor who does research into UX and content strategy, I’m very interested in the conditions local UX folks work in. That’s why, starting in 2017, I’ve partnered with TriUXPA to conduct a UX salary survey. Our survey has done more than just track salaries, however. It’s also tracked what UX professionals in the Triangle Area do for a living, including what skill sets they use. It’s also tracked basic demographic information including age, gender, ethnicity, and education level. Finally, it’s tracked what industry local UXers work in (i.e., finance, education, computers, etc.) and where in the Triangle Area they work (i.e., Raleigh, Durham, Cary, etc.).

In addition, we’ve started doing some analysis to compare trends, such as whether work experience correlates to a higher salary. You’ll see that analysis represented below in the “trends” sections.

If you attended the TriUXPA UX Y’all Conference in 2021, you might have already heard me present on some of these findings with my co-researcher, Dr. Suzan Flanagan. 

If not, or if you’re just curious to learn more, I present below the findings of the TriUXPA Salary Survey for 2021!

Age

The majority of the UX professionals in this study were between 26 and 45 years old, with 41.4% of them between 26 and 35 and 28.2% of them between 36 and 45. Only one person reported being in the over-65 age range. Figure 1 shows the breakdown of the participants’ ages.

Gender

Nearly two thirds of the survey respondents (there were 174 responses) self-identified as female (64.9%). Slightly more than one third of the respondents self-identified as male (33.9%) and 1.2% self-identified as nonbinary.

Ethnicity

Survey respondents were overwhelmingly White (79.3%). In comparison, in the 2017 survey, 90.4% identified as White. Other ethnicities represented in the survey include the following: Asian (13.8%); Black or African American (3.4%); Hispanic or Latino (2.3%); multiracial (1.2%); and Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander (0.6%). One person did not report their ethnicity.

Education

Nearly half the UX professionals (48.9%) reported that the highest degree they held is a bachelor’s degree. More than a third of them (37.9%) hold a master’s degree and 7.5% hold a PhD. None reported having only a high school diploma or GED. Four reported they had completed some college, while two said they have associates degrees, two have graduate certificates, one has a professional degree, and one has a technical or vocational degree.

Full-Time UX Work Experience

The largest group of survey respondents has been working 2–7 years in UX and most have been working full time during those years. (See Figure 2 for a detailed breakdown of respondents’ work experience.)

Industry

More than three quarters of these survey respondents work in five industries: software (37.4%), healthcare or medical (12.6%), banking or finance (12.6%), IT consulting (8.6%), and education (5.2%). The remaining respondents work in the following industries: insurance (4.6%); computers or hardware (4.6%); retail or e-commerce (2.9%); advertising, marketing, or public relations (2.3%); non-IT consulting (1.7%); government (1.7%); publishing or media (1.1%); and eight other industries (less than 1% per industry).

Work Location

The survey asked UX professionals where, within the technology hub, they work. The majority reported working in Raleigh (43.1%). Durham (25.3%) was a distant second. Cary and Morrisville were tied for third place with 9.2% each. The remaining survey respondents work in other cities (8.6%) or Chapel Hill (4.6%).

Base Salary

When the survey was conducted in 2017, the combined average base salary was $144,754, and the median salary was $90,000. In 2021, the combined average salary for full-time and part-time UX professionals was $111,347 and the median salary was $109,000. The 2021 base salary figures for full-time and part-time workers are shown below.

Full-time (36+ hours) workers, (148 responses)

• Average: $117,940

• Median: $110,500

• Lowest: $50,000

• Highest: $195,000

Part-time (< 36 hours) workers, (23 responses)

• Average: $88,226

• Median: $90,000

• Lowest salary: $33,900

• Highest salary: $174,000

 For both full-time and part-time workers in this study, the base salary ranges are similar. The difference between the highest and lowest full-time salary was $145,000 compared to $140,000 for part-time UX professionals.

Job Title

The survey participants reported 95 different job titles; of those, 70 were held by one participant only. The most common job titles were UX Designer (22), Senior UX Designer (17), Senior Product Designer (9), UX Researcher (6), and Product Designer (n = 5).

Within the software industry, 29.7% of the participants had variations of UX Designer job titles (19) and 10.9% held the job title Senior Product Designer (7). The job title Senior UX Designer appears most often in the banking and finance industry (5; 23.8%) and in the healthcare and medical industry (4; 18.2%).

Job Tasks

The UX professionals in this study performed a diverse range of tasks. Each respondent reported performing at least three of the 19 different tasks listed on the survey. More commonly, the UX professionals reported being responsible for 5 or more tasks.

Most of the UX Designers and Senior UX Designers reported that their jobs involved every task shown in Figure 3. In contrast, most of the Senior Product Designers did not perform animation or UX writing tasks; those tasks were more frequently performed by UX Researchers. Figure 3 shows the frequency of other tasks performed.

Hours Worked

The majority of the survey respondents work full time (86.5%). In this study, we’ve defined full time as working 36 or more hours per week. The respondents typically work 40–45 hours per week. Only 23 of the respondents work part time (13.5%).

Teamwork

Most of the survey respondents (85.6%) work as part of a UX team. The composition of teams skewed slightly in favor of men. Of the 133 respondents who work on UX teams, 31 reported equal numbers of males and females on the teams; 50 reported a higher number of females on the teams, and 52 reported a higher number of males on the teams. The number of nonbinary team members were not analyzed because the data were not reliable.

Trend: Base Salary by UX Work Experience

As one would expect, base salaries generally increase with years of experience. In this data set, that prediction does not hold true for UX professionals with 21 or more years of UX work experience (see Table 1). It is unclear whether these lower-than-expected base salaries are anomalies or whether bonuses offset those salary differences.

Trend: Base Salary by Gender and Education Level

Table 2 shows the potential effects of education and gender on base salary levels. In some cases, the data are insufficient to make inferences. For example, only two respondents reported associate degrees as their highest education level: one male and one female. While only two UX professionals in this study identified as nonbinary, notable difference in salaries for those with bachelor’s degrees indicate further investigation is needed.

Trend: Base Salary by Gender and Company Age

Table 3 compares base salaries for each gender working at companies of different ages. Again, we must be cautious when interpreting the data due to sample sizes and other factors that may not be obvious. For instance, only 5 people worked at companies less than two years old.

Trend: Base Salary by City

Table 4 presents the average base salaries for each city in the area studied. While the $20,466 range between highest and lowest salaries may seem minimal, the cost of living and cost of housing varies considerably between these cities. For example, housing costs the least in Durham and the most in Chapel Hill. Overall, Cary is the most expensive place to live [31]. UX professionals who commute from less expensive locations will need to factor those added transportation costs into their evaluation of the net value of potential salaries.

Trend: Base Salary by Industry

UX work appears to be more lucrative in some industries than others. At face value, the data in Table 5 suggest that start-ups offer the best opportunities in terms of base salary; however, only one survey respondent reported working for a start-up. At the other end of the salary spectrum is AV, and again, that figure represents a single worker.

Trend: Base Salary by Age and Company Age

Tables 6A and 6B show average base salaries by worker age and by company age. This data includes part-time and full-time workers salaries. The lowest figure represents one part-time worker. The intersection between company age and worker age appears to have little impact on salaries across all groups.

Trend: Base Salary, Gender, Company Age, and UX Teamwork

Finally, our analysis revealed a few notable findings for UX professionals working on teams in specific situations:

• Those working on teams at companies less than 2 years old and between 2 and 5 years old earned significantly higher salaries.

• Those who performed UX work at companies that were 11 or more years old worked on teams that included two to three times more women.

• Those who worked for companies with 2,501 to 10,000 employees worked on teams that included twice as many men as those working in companies with 1,001 to 2,500 employees.

• Those who worked on UX teams typically earned more than those who did not work on teams.

Trend: Breadth of Knowledge

UX professionals are expected to perform a wide variety of tasks. Most of our respondents reported leveraging a wide variety of UX-related skillsets, ranging from user interface design (73.6%) to user research (81.6%). Sizable minorities of participants also engaged in less common skillsets such as UX writing (40.8%). This could indicate that UX professionals are incredibly diverse professionals who use a wide variety of skills in their work lives and don’t particularly specialize.

Conclusions: A Skills-Diverse, Well-Paid Field

It’s clear that UX, at least in the Triangle Area, is a profession that requires a lot of diverse skill sets, but that is also well-compensated. And as people gain more experience and education, their wages also seem to go up. These are the types of trends we want to see in any healthy, professional field.

One open question that we are pondering on the academic side of things in light of these findings is: how can academics help train new UX professionals when they rely on so many skill sets? One answer: partnering with members of industry. If you are a UX professional and would like to be involved in educational initiatives, please feel free to email me at gettog@ecu.edu.

Regardless, we hope this blog is useful in your UX career!

Ask The Experts is a series in which we ask design leaders from our community common questions from UX professionals or those seeking a career in UX. This month we're covering how UX research fits in at local organizations. 

Yes, we do have career paths and standardized levels within each. Each level contains information such as key responsibilities, expectations, and skills/experiences, complexity, and expected impact at that level. UX Design has its own career path, its associated levels, and their descriptions. Individual contributors and managers have separate tracks as well. The company has programs to help (especially new) employees to navigate the career paths and make sure that they understand different job families in the company and that they assume the most fitting role as they grow professionally.

Design Managers have the main responsibility of providing timely feedback of job performance, and identifying employees’ strengths, interests, growth areas, etc. Design Managers set up ongoing weekly or bi-weekly meetings with their Designers to ensure that discussions happen, and issues are addressed in a timely fashion. More formal quarterly meetings for setting goals, check-ins and reflections are separately scheduled so that employees and their managers have dedicated time to discuss performance, career levels, and growth opportunities. The conversations around promotions and what are expected of the employees can happen either in the ongoing meetings or the quarterly meetings.  The general principle is that the employee should already be performing at the next level well enough before promotion is made to that level, so that employees can transition into the new level with confidence and a higher degree of success. Design Managers take time to explore and discuss the employees’ interests, strengths, and passion, and try to match that with the available projects so that Designers can shine and maximize impact.

Huifang Wang, Senior Manager of User Experience Design 
SAS

Career growth at Red Hat is at the very center of our culture and values. As life-long learners, associates are encouraged to grow in their careers and influence by taking on new challenges, enrolling in Red Hat University and LinkedIn Learning courses, expanding their skill sets, and accessing Red Hat's global tuition reimbursement program. As a part of Products and Technology (PNT) at Red Hat, UXD associates follow the Engineering Promotion Framework (EPIC) career growth model created and managed internally by a broad group of associates from across PNT.

The EPIC model includes document templates, timelines, and processes for promotion across all job levels, for both individual contributor and manager tracks. Competencies describe expected contributions at each level for such things as Business Impact, Scope of Work, Planning and Execution, and so on. Conversation helpers are document templates that lay out the expectations of a current role and the next level - allowing associates and their managers to identify gaps and steps needed to achieve a promotion. The process is created with fairness and equity in mind and provides a solid foundation for career progression.

Ask The Experts is a series in which we ask design leaders from our community common questions from UX professionals or those seeking a career in UX. This month we're covering how UX research fits in at local organizations. 

How does UX research fit in at your organization?

User research comes in different forms with the essential idea of understanding users through their expectations, their physical and organizational environment, and their feedback on design solutions. At SAS, in addition to creating design solutions, User Experience Designers also have the job of conducting user research, enabling them collect first-hand information from users. SAS has a User Research Lab where usability tests and user interviews can be conducted, recorded, and analyzed. A database of users and customers is maintained, and surveys are often sent out to users for specific products or areas. We also have a Research Ops program that aims to empower all Designers to conduct, track, and share research findings across products, areas, and personas over time.

 

Product teams typically care more about the design solutions we create, but good designs need to be grounded in user research. User Experience Designers plan the time and space for user research. We often partner with product managers, customer success managers and other customer facing teams to gain access to and build partnerships with key customers and users. It is often challenging to fit user research into the tight schedules necessitated by the agile development processes that we use. However, we find it helpful to plan and start larger research efforts ahead of time and make incremental progress during development stabilization sprints to continue with user research. It is also important to streamline user research efforts so that we can turn around results faster.

Huifang Wang, Senior Manager of User Experience Design 
SAS

At Red Hat, the UX Research team lives in a centralized User Experience Design (UXD) team under Engineering that supports the entire product portfolio. This puts our team in a unique position to break down silos, make connections across products and consider the end-to-end experience. The researchers work closely with designers, developers, and PM to conduct generative and evaluative research that influences the user experience with data and user insights. It’s exciting times. The research team has recently grown from a team of 5 to a team of 15 in the past year. They are a diverse team with different perspectives and skillsets, exploring new partnerships and maturing research practices in our organization.

User research is increasingly part of many teams at Lenovo.  For the Next UX team specifically, user research is an integral element of our work.  It is woven into our mission and cyclically into our processes.  Research goals and methods vary based on whether the project is in a discovery phase or validation phase (or in between), but we are always building our knowledge of users and their context.   We have UX research specialists who lead the way while we also work to democratize interest and participation in the research among collaborating designers and stakeholders.   Ultimately, user research is about steadily improving our insight to guide project direction and any recommendations into the business. 

Aaron Stewart, Director Next UX & UX Research 
Lenovo

We consider ourselves a digital agency, though most projects involve websites or web applications. What we pride ourselves in doing, however, is solving business problems. To successfully solve problems, user research is indispensable. Without an understanding of the needs and motivations of users, user experience design, and the functionality that drives it, would be based on guesses.

Among the methods we employ are online user surveys, client interviews, user interviews, and analytics review. 

While we don’t want to undertake projects without access to user research data, we don’t insist on performing it ourselves. Some of our clients perform their own, while others employ third-party agencies for strategy and marketing that perform the user research.

While user research is essential, we acquire the information through a variety of methods and sources.

David Minton, Managing Partner 
DESIGNHAMMER

What is accessibility?

Accessibility is the practice of making a website usable by as many people as possible. This often means providing more than one way to access information or complete a task on the website. People with disabilities may not be able to read, hear, or click a mouse. This may be a permanent disability, or a temporary disability caused by injury or environment. 

Similar to making accommodations for changes in technology like mobile phones or tablets, making websites accessible for people with disabilities should be considered equally essential.

Another way to think of accessibility is providing everyone with an equal opportunity to use your website no matter what their ability.

Why should a website be accessible?

Just as it is wrong to exclude someone from a physical building because they are in a wheelchair, it is also wrong to exclude someone from a website because they have a physical impairment.

Beyond the human concept of the right thing to do, it is the law in many places. Many lawsuits have been filed and won against businesses with websites that are not accessible. In the U.S., the American with Disabilities Act requires businesses to comply with web accessibility standards.

According to the Center for Disease Control, 61 million adults in the U.S. (1 in 4 adults) report having some form of disability. Accessibility ensures that all potential users, including those with disabilities, can access website information. This, in turn, can increase the customer base and market share.

Improving accessibility for people with disabilities has the added benefit of improving the experience for people using the website in less-than-ideal conditions. Some examples may be using a mobile device, being in low light, having a slow network connection, being in a loud or distracting environment, glare on a screen, etc. Implementing accessibility best practices also improves the usability of the site for all users. 

Types of disabilities

Making a website accessible includes considering several different types of disabilities (both permanent and temporary) that may impair someone’s ability to use the site.  Many people think of accessibility as adding options to a website for blind or deaf people. In fact, there are a wide variety of disabilities that affect individuals, and each requires its own assistance.

Below are categories of types of disabilities.

• Physical or Motor Skill disabilities – Limitations of muscular control such as tremors, paralysis, involuntary movement, or missing limbs. This may limit the ability to use a mouse or keyboard. Permanent examples are amputation, arthritis, and paralysis from a stroke. Temporary examples are repetitive stress injury, a broken finger, or an arm in a cast or sling.

• Visual disabilities – Limitations on sight such as blindness, low vision, or color blindness. This may limit the ability to read or see a video. Permanent examples are blindness, color blindness, or macular degeneration. Temporary examples may be forgotten glasses, eye injury, or low-light conditions in the environment.
• Hearing disabilities – Limitations of hearing such as complete or partial deafness, or an inability to hear certain frequencies. This may limit being able to hear alerts or audio content. Permanent examples are total deafness, or partial loss from a medical issue or injury. Temporary examples are an injury, bandaged ears, or noisy conditions in the environment.

• Cognitive/Neurological disabilities – Limitations in processing data. These users may have difficulty remembering information, may be easily distracted, and may have learning disabilities that affect how well they read text. Permanent examples are ADHD, Dyslexia, or an anxiety disorder. Temporary examples are emotions, task related stress/anxiety, or distractions in the environment.

• Seizures – Some users may be prone to photo-epileptic seizures, so that flashing, strobing, and blinking graphics are a danger.

Best Practices

Accessibility should be part of design and development of a website from the beginning. It is more difficult and costly to address accessibility after the fact. Below are some guidelines for how to approach making a website accessible.

The W3C WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines) POUR principles create the functional accessibility necessary for people with visual, auditory, mobility, and cognitive disabilities to access website content, and applies to all platforms.

The principles to be followed are:

• Perceivable – Information and user interface components must be presentable to users in ways they can perceive. It can’t be invisible to all their senses. (Example: For a blind person, a screen reader should be able to perceive a button.)
• Operable – User interface components and navigation must be operable. The interface cannot require an interaction that a user cannot perform. (Example: For a person who can’t use a mouse, there should be a way to perform actions using the keyboard.)

• Understandable – The information and the operation of the user interface must be understandable. The content or how to perform the operation cannot be beyond their understanding. (Example: Using clear and simple text to explain required actions.)
• Robust – Content must be robust enough that it can be interpreted reliably by a wide variety of user agents, including assistive technologies. As technologies and user agents evolve, the content should remain accessible. (Example: new accessible keyboards for paralyzed users.)

Some good guidelines to consider for making accessible digital content are below.

For Physical impairments:

•     Provide information in multiple formats. For example:

   Provide visual access to audio content (captions, transcripts).
   Provide transcripts for audio content.

• For mouse actions, also provide a keyboard-only solution.
• Provide strong color contrast and sufficient font size for content.
• Do not rely on color alone as a navigational tool or to differentiate items.
• Functionality should be accessible through mouse and keyboard and tagged to worked with voice-control systems.
• Images should include Alt Text in the markup/code, and complex images should have more extensive descriptions (possibly captions or a summary in an accompanying paragraph).
• Sites should have a Skip Navigation feature for screen readers.
• Consider 508 testing to assure your site is complying (Section 508, Rehabilitation Act of 1973).

For Cognitive impairments:

• Deliver content in more than one way, such as by text-to-speech or by video.
• Provide easily understood content, such as text written using plain-language standard.
• Focus attention on important content (possibly with headings or placement).
• Minimizing distractions, such as unnecessary content or advertisements.
• Maintain consistent webpage layout and navigation across the website.
• Use familiar web elements for easy recognition, such as underlined links in blue.
• Divide processes into logical, essential steps with progress indicators.
• Make website login/authentication as easy as possible without compromising security.
• Make forms easy to complete, with clear error messages and simple error recovery.

Sources / Related Reading

What is accessibility? - Learn web development | MDN (mozilla.org)  

Types of disabilities: Understanding accessibility: Accessibility: Indiana University (iu.edu)

Accessibility Basics | Usability.gov

Accessibility Principles | Web Accessibility Initiative (WAI) | W3C

Types of Disabilities | Usability & Web Accessibility (yale.edu)

Web Accessibility Laws in the U.S. (rev.com)

Home | 18F Accessibility Guide

Beyond Accessibility: Treating Users with Disabilities as People (nngroup.com)

Accessibility Standards - Santa Barbara City College (sbcc.edu) 

3 Great Reasons to Make Your Website Accessible - SitePoint

Accessible Websites Are Better for Everyone (And Better For Business Too) (forbes.com)