What Is an Experience Designer?

Nicholas Jitkoff says an experience designer may be the most accurate name for this work, even though people say software and the title is a mouthful. The work is people's engagement with software, the hardware it runs on, and the environment around it. The most interesting problems span software, hardware, and environment together. Thinking only about software is limiting and not interesting.

Marketing, onboarding, the first experience of something, how people get into using a product, and the context of use all belong in the same picture. Design and programming cover part of it. What is interesting is how a product fits into the wider system. The role almost always means working with other people, including a marketing team, learning how they think, and seeing how they could position a product. It sits inside a constellation of people trying to guide how people experience something.

There are many ways in. Someone can come from the software side, the hardware side, or pure design and aesthetic experiences. Each path contributes to the whole.