UI Still Is Not UX
If you tell me you're a UI/UX designer, I assume you're an expert at neither. UX belongs to humanity. It existed before software, before Figma, before computers.
UI/UX shouldn't be a title or role.
Focus on the experience of the human using the product or service, or focus on the design of the interface itself. If you are doing both, then you're practicing UX with limited resources. If you're only designing interfaces without considering the needs of the humans you're designing for, you are designing UI, and just letting the UX naturally occur without strategy or risk assessment.
If you tell me you're a UI/UX designer, I immediately assume you are an expert at neither UI nor UX. Pick one. There isn't enough time in the day for one human to do both roles well.
For many years, I started my university courses by making students research and write a paper on the similarities and differences between UI and UX. A lesson I'll bring back since I am teaching again this semester.
UI design is not the same as UX design.
Product Design also is not UX.
Service Design also is not UX.
So what is UX?
UX is simply humans designing for humans, to improve the experience of being alive.
UX existed before software developers, before software engineering, and before computers.
UX was here before Figma existed. Before Sketch and Adobe. Before Lovable crawled to the surface.
UX evolved from theater, ancient knowledge, psychology, ergonomics, arts, and humanities.
If all computers disappeared, UX would still exist. Experiences don't need screens.
UX does not belong to technology.
UX belongs to humanity!!
UX professionals are not limited by technology, or software development, or product and engineering leaders.
UX has one goal: make the world better.
Don Norman says UX should die because it's not what he wanted it to be. He prefers XD (Experience Design).
Brenda Laurel, the creator of User Experience, says: "Does it really fucking matter? Let's just do the work. Let's make the world better."
UX has become too much about interface design and not enough about people.
Making an app or a website doesn't make you a UX designer.
I say: instead of killing UX completely, let's kill UI/UX instead. It should have never existed.
You can find out more about this true history of User Experience in my book Conscious UX.
AI is incredibly good at UI design. Not only can you design with AI, AI can design UI without you. AI can test variations, generate interfaces from requirement docs, and test with real humans, all in hours. All without you.
In the age of AI, the value of UX is human-centered design. The future of User Experience is Conscious UX, not screen design (buttons, colors, fonts, layouts).