I have noticed recently that most people (at least in my country) do not understand the abbreviation UX (User Experience), others just refer that to UI (User Interface)!

Well, I must say that they are obviously mistaken!
The only relation between both is that UX might be a result of UI but not necessarily, we can achieve UX even when there’s no UI at all!

UX is about user feelings and perceptions.
UI is about interaction controls for the user.

Who is the UI Designer?
He is the person who has the talent to create elegant interface elements to appeal the user.
Practically, his role is about shape and color, and it is a unique criteria, requires long experience and large amount of time to satisfy various tastes.
His tools should be freehand sketching and digital design software like Photoshop and Illustrator.

Unlike the UX Designer, who has the knowledge of human psychology in terms of reactions and responses to designs, his role is about defending the user rights and controlling his perceptions about designs (specifications, user scenarios, wireframes, ..,etc).
His tools are the same as UI Designer in addition to OmniGraffle, Axure, .., etc.

Unfortunately, some employers not just treating UX Designer as UI Designer, they also require a full set of skills in scripting and mark-up languages in order to develop the actual UI interfaces, much like they combine UX Designer, UI Designer, and UI Developer in one role! sometimes they even require much more technical skills like advanced server scripting languages like PHP, Perl, .NET, ..,etc!

I am in fact one person who do believe that each UX Designer should have background about technologies and development, it helps to fully understand how to implement certain designs according to the latest available technologies ..
But not to do the whole task starting from conceptualization going through design and ending with final interactive product! it’s simply a huge waste of time and much higher expectations from a single talented person ..

It would be more efficient if the UX Designer works closely with Marketing Directors, Information Architects, and Creative Directors ..
It’s about time to emphasize the business needs by satisfying the actual users, the global competition went too high due to the wide production for different designs, the users are increasingly get lost and that affects business needs for sure ..

Related articles about wider perceptions that covers this subject:

Interaction vs. Interactive Design
Reactive / Responsive / Interactive

As per my previous post here, I was trying to make my own approach to the facts behind the most confusing perspectives (Reactive, Responsive, and Interactive) ..

I’ve been led to a point where Interaction and Interactive terms are quite different yet related, and as I said it is a literate issue from my point of view ..

Interaction – noun.
Interaction Design is referring design to interactivity (designing the interactivity).

Interactive – adjective.
Interactive Design is referring interactivity to design (interacting the design).

I think I need to explain more ..
If we agree with my definition to the term “Interactive” to be a two-way flow of information (communication channel) between objects and users, in other words, how information flows from objects to users and how users respond to it.
On the other hand, if we define the term “Design” to some sort of specification to an object.
Then we can say:

Interaction Design is referring to the specification of interactive objects (objects responsive to users).

Interactive Design is referring to the information flows in response to the object’s specification.

For an instance, a cell phone is in fact is an interactive object, which means it responds to user’s actions ..
Specifying how users can interact like how many buttons, shape, size, color, .. ,etc.
I call that Interaction Design.
Controlling how information flows to users based on those specifications like visual interface, sounds, vibration, animation, .. ,etc.
I call that Interactive Design.

The way I see it, when we talk about designs in which the user can interact like Architectural Design, Industrial Design, and Graphic User Interfaces, then we are in fact designing the interactive objects (Interaction Design).
And when we talk about use cases and scenarios to control the user response to certain designs like Visualizations, Animations, Sounds, and Movements, then we are in fact interacting the designed objects (Interactive Design), in other words, Moods, Expectations, and Know-how.

There is a thin line between both perspectives, but the obvious part is “Interactivity”, it is necessary for both terms (Interaction and Interactive), if the user can not interact with objects then there is no place for neither Interaction Design nor Interactive Design.

Reactive is acting in response to a stimulus without proper observation (emotional over mental)
Responsive is taking appropriate action in the moment after discern and differentiate relative priorities (mental over emotional)
Interactive is allowing a two-way flow of information between parties (emotional, mental, and physical)

Interactive Design actually refers to the communication channel produced by certain design, unlike Responsive Design which creates a single reaction controlled by design.
Reactive Design is something completely different, there’s no specific actions needs to be taken in response to design, hence it’s all about emotions, so to speak!

In other words, Interactive Design could be described as a set of Responsive Designs!
To control all possible reactions there must be a well managed flow of information (Information Architecture), and to deliver those reactions there must be a well designed User Scenarios (User Experience).

In case we refer the common abbreviation IxD to Interactive Design as well, then:

IxD = IA + UX

Interaction Design and Interactive Design are not quite similar, in fact it’s a literate issue ..
Interaction Design is designing the objects with which the user can interact (Architectural, Industrial, User Interface).
Interactive Design is designing the communication channel in which the user can interact with objects (Presentation, Visualization, Advertisement).

Alternatively, Interaction Design is essential to Interactive Design, without the interaction objects there’s no place for the interactive channel!

Have you ever wondered about your career?
About who you really want to be?
Have you reached your goals? have you fulfilled your purpose?
Did you know that there is a major difference between your goals and your purpose?

Unfortunately, most people live and die without fulfilling their purpose, and sometimes without achieving any goals ..
I just mentioned in context that purpose needs to be fulfilled unlike goals which need to be achieved, besides that each one of us has only one purpose and free to have many goals ! don’t you agree ?
You may ask how, and what is the difference anyway?!

Your goals are specific targets you decide to hunt using tactical steps, but your purpose is the one talent waiting for you to find it using strategic thinking, which means you can not decide your purpose !
For an instance, you can decide your profession, where to live, who you marry but you can not decide to be an artist, singer, brilliant, in short, any talented character ..
Actually you can find out, takes time yes, but you will find your own talent if you start searching for it ..
Everyone has a talent, your purpose is to make use of it for the good of mankind ..

If that is quite obvious, then why only few of us have found their purpose ?
Here is exactly where I must speak of opposites, there are many meanings defines our personalities, I’ll pick only the following:

Bravery and Cowardice
Daring and Conservation
Enthusiasm and Reluctance

Only positive meanings from above separate a purpose finder from the rest of us !
Beware of a common trap hides in there, you may fall into the following instead:

Haste and Dawdle
Reckless and Cautious

In this case both meanings positive and negative applies !
If you do, you will not find your purpose, you will deviate yourself far from it ..

Some may find my perspective pretty awkward, may be it is, personally I never looked at it that way ..
What if I’m right? wouldn’t that change someone’s life?
At least ask yourself what is your talent? there must be an answer ..
Just don’t be afraid of finding it, and for those who already know the answer, don’t be afraid of bringing it out to the world ..
Life is short, one day it’s gone ..

What is multitasking? it is the practice or capability of handling more than one task at the same time ..

It is said that our brain is capable of performing certain dual multiple tasks at the same time, for example, listening to the radio while writing an email, increasing the amount of tasks was one of the very basic reasons for inventing the CPU from the first place ..

Well, I completely disagree, actually there is no such thing as multitasking, only context switching which simulates multitasking, even for the CPU!
Let me explain ..

Human brain and CPU are quite different, our brain is more complicated, so I will take the CPU for an easier example ..
Consider that you need to perform 2 tasks on your PC, each requires exactly 10 seconds ..
The total time required will be 20 seconds for both tasks if running sequentially, first task will be completed after 10 sec and second task after 20 sec ..
But if you run both tasks simultaneously with the use of what called CPU multitasking, the CPU will do a context switch between both tasks, in other words, breaking down each task to segments and switch back and forth between them, assuming that each task will have 10 segments, each segment requires one second, then first task will be processed at odd seconds (1, 3, 5, ..) and second task at even seconds (2, 4, 6, ..), in that case we will have first task completed after 19 sec and second task after 20 sec, considering that the switch takes no time at all !!

Imagine the above procedure in our brain with the unexpected time required for the context switching, there is no accurate numbers but obviously the sequential approach will take much less processing than the simultaneous one, using only one switch between tasks !

On the other hand, human context switching (what I call distraction) means spreading attention among tasks, like talking on the phone while driving a car, since 2003 car accidents increased about 40% because of cell phones!

Observation:

• CPU can not actually perform simultaneous tasks, it uses context switching to simulate multitasking, even with mutli-core processors, yet each core still performs exactly the same.
• Context switching will not reduce the total time required for all tasks, it just adds an extra time for the switching operation.
• Multitasking more accurately refers to Managed Tasking!
• Human context switching consumes much more time than the CPU, in addition to the continuous partial attention.

Conclusion:

Never think or act simultaneously!

Facts:

• “Multitasking hurts brain’s ability to focus” – The Seattle Times – 6 Jun 2010
• “Divided Attention” – The Chronicle – 28 Feb 2010
• “New research shows multitasking is counter-productive” – CNET Asia – 26 Aug 2009

I can find no words to describe how I feel when I find my kittens asleep, very much like a calming potion ..

Zorro: abnormally active and extremely stupid ..

My kitty bit me while giving him a bath, my blood ran out of my vessels intensively, I hit him badly for that, I felt panic watching his left eye turning red from my torturing! what a sadistic person I am! I deserve a special place in hell I suppose! I really do!!
Next morning, he recovers extremely fast! and he came to me plays like he never did before! and he still does!!
But ..
My thumb doesn’t look that good, the swelling turned my left thumb to a mini red balloon, the pain is awfully annoying, now I’m taking all the bloody shots for Tetanus and Rabies, also trying to escape doctors who strive to trim that thumb out of my god given body! by having proper cleaning, treatment and medication, I hope that works without losing that thumb!
Who says that humans are the strongest creatures?! kill that guy for me please!!

For the first time I ask myself how to escape my great depression?! despite all what I’ve read about such emotional feelings, I still find it more like a lightening strike, we do not really know when it hits us ..

Who am I anyway, what really describes me best right now .. struggling between being plugged into technology and being shot into space .. living in a mad house in Egypt called Cairo .. hiding behind my mysterious imaginations .. and most of all .. suffering from a frequently brain-freeze status!

I used to believe that everything happens to me is because of some reason I’ve actually created myself .. I know that I’ve been buried between a keyboard and a screen for a long time .. and this is exactly what blocks my eyes from seeing so much in this world .. sometimes I feel like I can’t help it and I am addicted .. other times I feel like a prisoner .. how could I feel so much hesitation?

Hesitation .. I can’t ignore being afraid just by saying this word .. may be it’s my pride .. may be I’m writing this post trying to face it ..

I’ve always believed that there’s an answer to any question .. even if it doesn’t exist “yet” in human known history books .. even if it requires an extraterrestrial form of life .. and here I am seeking a new answer ..

Since my brain prefers the analytical behavior, then I might try acting like a seeker instead of talking like one .. and that requires taking off .. using my power of observation .. being exposed .. intentionally!