The User Experience Analyst: Enhancing User Experience
By Puja Mahendru Afuwale
User experience has proved to be a more important business driver in organizations than their profit margins. After all, organizations remain successful in the long run only if their customers come back to them for repeat purchases and spread positive word of mouth. Consequently, businesses are increasingly realizing the importance of keeping their customers in mind while creating their products.
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A good usability professional is able to capture the hidden or underlying needs of a user through various interviewing techniques.
User experience analysts seek to understand the needs of consumers and how they use a particular product by conducting interviews and observing consumers in the field through tools like textual and visual analysis. Their insights and observations are used by organizations to design and develop products that will best meet the consumers’ expectations and desires. The findings are also helpful in creating effective marketing campaigns as they are the closest any marketer can get to understanding the customer’s thought process.
Simply put, user experience analysts work to create a positive user experience. They help organizations to understand user needs in order to develop products and features that will help customers satisfy their needs quickly and easily. These professionals translate their understanding of user behavior and needs into data with which the product development team can work.
While the importance of a good user experience has long been accepted by organizations worldwide, it is only recently that they have started integrating it into their product development processes and giving it the attention it deserves. The user experience analyst profession is also seeing great growth of late because of the rapid influx of products and technology into the marketplace.
The Right Aptitude for a User Experience Analyst
Usability professionals have an inborn aptitude for observing the people around them and understanding their thought processes and working styles. A good usability professional is able to capture the hidden or underlying needs of a user through various interviewing techniques. He or she first understands the user’s needs and then converts these needs into a product or interface that reflects the user’s thoughts. Usability professionals are generally inquisitive, sensitive to their surroundings, and extroverted by nature. They are relentlessly curious about how to make products more user-friendly.
Primary Responsibilities
Encourage customers to participate in research and interview initiatives
Identify usage patterns of users through tools like surveys, log analysis, task analysis, field observation, etc. and identify user needs
Present the findings to the product development team, internal stakeholders, etc.
Coordinate the information-gathering process between the development team and users several times during the entire process
Document suggestions and requirements for improving user experience for a product
Work with the design team to convert usability requirements into process flows and graphic designs
Perform heuristic evaluations of designs by other teams on a variety of products
Integrate user requirements and designs into the development process for a satisfactory user experience
Skills and Knowledge
Expertise in user modelling, user-centered design techniques and tools, and usability engineering
Expertise in coordinating meetings and good presentation skills
Comfort in working with technical teams to close the gap between user and development needs
Good data gathering and analysis skills
Good interpersonal, written, and verbal communication skills
Proficiency in MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Vision
Ability to work independently
How to Get Started
There are many degree programs in usability available, and a master’s degree increases your chances of getting hired. Professional training programs and practical hands-on sessions also give you a way into the profession. Field experience in real projects is the best way to pick up the professional skills of a user experience analyst. Industry conferences are a great way to learn about the profession and get information about the opportunities available. Some of the more well-known industry associations include the Special Interest Group on Computer-Human Interaction (SIGCHI), the Usability Professionals’ Association (UPA), and the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society (HFES).
Who Can Enter This Industry?
People from various backgrounds become usability professionals. They may have degrees in computer science, library science, cognitive psychology, anthropology, or marketing. Professionals in product development, quality assurance, marketing, etc. also change their career paths to enter this profession.
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