For the sake of level-setting, or managing expectations, if you will, let's go ahead and define user experience (UX) as I practice it.
First, UX is an outcome, not a process. It's the sum total of your end user's — your customer's or client's — interaction with your company. It includes objective measurables, which are the domain of usability and conversion-rate optimization: Time to complete tasks, number of errors, number of abandons, etc. It also includes subjective values, which are the domain of design: How do people feel about you; how do they rate your credibility; and how likely are they to do business with you again or recommend you. All of that has a direct effect on your company's bottom line. It affects your revenue; your brand; and (usability in particular) your costs.
A word on the “user” in user experience. This is not some abstract entity, she's a customer, which is why I make no effort to distinguish between customer and user experience. You'll see me post on anything from ads through brick-and-mortar experiences to the UI stuff you typically expect from a UX blog. It makes no sense to me to separate out UI as if it were something completely different from the rest of your customer experience, so I'm deliberately blurring the lines between branding, usability, and everything in between.
Executive takeaway: The objective is a higher-quality product. UX design is a hybrid discipline that takes experience, knowledge, and skills in business analysis; usability; organizing information and interactions; and visual design. Bonus if your designer also writes good copy.
So. UX not a process but an outcome, and customer and user experience are both parts of the same package. What does a UX designer do, then? UX design, or user-centered design (UCD), is the craft of shaping that outcome. It is more than look-and-feel, it is more than UI,and it is more than usability. UCD or UX design includes all of the above.
You can not do UCD or UX design. Just skip it. Save the money, time, and aggravation. You know what you like and what a Web page should look like. Lots of companies do. Sometimes they do just fine, sometimes they fail. There is no rule that says you will fail without UCD. Here's what is a rule, though: Your products have a user experience whether it's designed deliberately or not. The difference is that with no UCD, no UX designer, the outcome is much less predictable. A competent and seasoned UX designer will dramatically increase the odds of success. It comes down to one question you have to ask yourself: Do you feel lucky?
Let's for the sake of argument say you don't feel lucky, and you want to include UX in your product development. Honesty time: The proof of the pudding is in the eating. The user experience is what the user experience is when your product meets the customer. No amount of undoubtedly sincere concern for the end user will affect that if you don't have the experience and knowledge on staff and you take your UX designer's advice and you allow time to do iterative design before you start coding. The reward is not only a better user experience but also more complete and better thought-through requirements, which means less rework and gotcha moments once you're in development. But that's for another post.
