Guardian Careers Live Q&A on UX Careers

The rise of the user experience design sector
6 August, 1pm—4pm BST (British Summer Time GMT+1)

The user experience design field has lots of different career routes — find out more about them in a Guardian Careers live Q&A.

Post your comments and questions now at: http://bit.ly/bQhJJt. To post a question you will need to register on the Guardian website (http://www.guardian.co.uk/ - please find the sign-in function in the top left hand side corner) and then follow the link to the forum.

Although many of us don’t put much thought into why we prefer one website over another, or why we opt for a particular model of mobile phone, those working in user experience design are working hard behind the scenes to enhance our experience with technology.

If you’re intrigued by a role in this area, but don’t really know what it entails, Whitney Hess, a user experience designer based in New York, recently explained how this is common problem and offered some explanation.

She wrote on social media news blog Mashable that, when met with blank stares when mentioning what she does, she tells people “I make stuff easy and pleasurable to use” — though admitting this is a gross oversimplication of what user experience designers actually do.

A blog by guardian.co.uk information architect Martin Belam further explained how the emerging field of user experience design “recognises that a good digital service isn't just about functionality. It is about how people feel as they use a digital service, and about the way it does things, not just what it does”.

There are many different areas of expertise which provide the elements of an overall user experience; just a few examples of the work people do include making sure technology is easy to get to grips with, that it responds quickly, and is a pleasure to use.

So, if you’d like to hear more about these roles, and find out how to start a career within the user design experience field, join our panel of experts on August 6 at 1pm BST.