Communications Studies and User Experience (UX) Design as a pairing. Is there a link between the two? 🤔 While not obvious at first, I believe these fields have much in common and can blend together cohesively, almost like a power couple👫. With my background in polytechnic (which sparked my passion for UX 🔥) and as a Communication Studies student at NTU’s WKWSCI, I find myself constantly drawing links between these fields. The key commonality between the two is understanding how humans react and problem solving. In Communication, the core is figuring the best way to get a message across attract support 🗣️. Be it selling a product or a sales pitch, you need to plan. To maximise outcomes, how do you appeal to your target audience? The sky's the limit ☄️, from drafting marketing plans, tweaking the business pitch📈 in accordance to audience preferences, to attaining a notable figure’s endorsement ☁️. Additionally, part of comms is Public Relations, building a positive brand image. How do you induce trust? This is a common dilemma. I recently saw some ExxonMobil ads, where they brand themselves as a company that can help with clean energy. I realised, this was how they wanted to pivot away from the negative press that their oil spills have given their brand. This was their solution to the problem. UX 🧑💻revolves around understanding how they use a product. You design with the user in mind🧠, how and why they do what they do, to provide the best UX possible. There is a reason why most apps have no features on the top left of the phone screen📱, that is a position that can’t be easily reached 🤳. That is understanding how your user interacts with your product. Both fields are very human-centred and essentially operate in response to human nature. In UX, design thinking processes used are centred around user’s "pain points 😖” and "gain points 😊". Ideation is done to come up with ways to alleviate the user’s "pain points" aka problems that cause a negative user experience. For example, kiosks used to alienate wheelchair-bound👨🦽 users due to out of reach touchpoints at the top of the kiosk. This has changed since kiosks that can now angle or move down, solving the problem while improving the overall experience and improving accessibility 👏. The Future 🔮 I look forward 👀 to what other parallels I can draw. Personally, I think UX and Communications are both key aspects to our lives and shape our daily experiences. Combining and understanding both sectors will definitely be beneficial👍🏻. Especially in a job🧑💼 climate where versatility is key, being skilled in both is like marrying a corporate and a creative side to solve issues. Knowing the feasibility and nuances of each field and creating an interdisciplinary and well-rounded solution 🔑, will go a long way. 🤭 #UXdesign #communicationsstudies #ntu #ntuwkwsci #ux #designthinking #publicrelations #PRwriting #CS2101 #WritingforCorporateCommunication
Meg-Gayle Dean
7mo
Thanks for sharing this, Jordan! Really gave me an insight into the thinking process behind UX and I look forward to seeing how you’ll combine more of UX and communications in the future 🤩
Lee Lionel
7mo
Love how you managed to draw the link between two seemingly related fields that are different in their respective rights too! Great job Jordan 👏
Absolutely agree! The synergy between UX design and communications is powerful, bringing effective problem-solving and human-centered approaches to the forefront. 🚀
It's great that you're so familiar with the nuances of these two fields, it really shows your expertise Jordan! 😮
Student at Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information
7moThat’s an interesting parallel to draw! It would be intriguing to see what other parallels can be drawn and what other topics communications can be compared to 🤔