The myth of the unicorn, the pure steed with the single spiralling horn, goes back to antiquity, with legends of unicorn hunts memorialised in medieval tapestries … now a ‘unicorn’ often refers to someone or something exceedingly special and worth seeking.
Ben Zimmer, Wall Street Journal
A UX unicorn is a term used to describe a professional in the field of user experience who possesses a wide range of skills and expertise across various aspects of UX design and research. These individuals are often considered well-rounded and versatile in their abilities, combining skills such as user research, interaction design, usability testing, information architecture, visual design, and more. In essence, a UX unicorn is a multi-disciplinary expert who can tackle many aspects of the UX design process, from understanding user needs to designing, creating and testing user interfaces. This term is often used to highlight the value of individuals who can bridge gaps and work effectively in diverse UX roles.
Anatomy of a UX unicorn, Philip Likens
https://uxplanet.org/what-is-a-ux-unicorn-do-ux-unicorns-exist-and-should-you-become-one-73a7e2bcc9b4
Ten skills you need to be a UX unicorn, Conor-Ward
https://medium.com/@uxmuch/ten-skills-you-need-to-be-a-ux-unicorn-f7ec555981b0
Research Questions
Through my research, I would like to explore the broad field of user experience design. What is UX design? What do UX designers do? What differentiations exist? What qualities should you bring to the field? What soft and hard skills do I need to become a UX designer? What methods are used? What does the past of UX design tells us and what does the future hold? Which principles and rules should you follow? What trends can be identified? And why do we actually need UX design?
Subsequently and based on this, I will take a closer look at the term UX unicorn and provide answers to related questions. What is the role and impact of UX unicorns? How do UX unicorns collaborate with other team members? What value do UX unicorns bring to cross-functional teams? What skills and competences define a UX unicorn? What challenges and obstacles do UX unicorns encounter in their role? What is the importance of UX unicorns?
Personal Motivation
The overall goal is to create a comprehensive guide to UX design. I would like to deepen and expand my knowledge in this area in order to subsequently apply what I have learnt to a practical example. I aim to create a pathway to the best possible preparation for the working environment in this field. I am curious to see what insights two years of research will bring and how my knowledge in this area will change in order to pass it on to others.
Relevance
In the design industry, the demand for UX unicorns – professionals who are trained in multiple disciplines – is generally increasing. These individuals not only bridge the gaps between the different design areas, improving team collaboration and dynamics, but are also always up to date with new trends and developments. Their holistic understanding of user-centered design leads to superior user experiences and reflects the evolving requirements in this area. Studying UX unicorns can provide valuable insights into innovative problem solving and inform design education to better prepare designers for these multifaceted roles. As an overarching goal, the results can also be transferred to collaborative design teams to see where and how to work professionally as an UX designer.
Challenges
Within the research of the topic UX unicorn a few challenges could arise. As the term is not widely recognized and has no universally accepted definition, I need to clarify what exactly it means within my research. Furthermore, as I am working with this relatively abstract concept like the UX unicorn, it could be challenging to define clear objectives and the scope of my research. Last but not least navigating the vast amount of existing literature in the field of UX design in general can be a challenge, as a thorough and time-consuming review is required to ensure that my research is both solid and clear.
Relevant Institutions
- https://www.interaction-design.org
- https://uxdesign.cc
- https://careerfoundry.com/en/blog/ux-design/
- https://www.nngroup.com
- https://www.coursera.org/professional-certificates/google-ux-design-de
Preview
In the next step, I want to dive into the topic of UX unicorn. I would like to organise my research topics and approach the topic of UX unicorn step by step. Possible further topics could be the following: role and responsibilities of UX unicorns, skills and qualifications of UX unicorns, the impact of UX unicorns on product development, effective work practices for UX unicorns, challenges and obstacles for UX unicorns, the future of UX unicorns, case studies and practical examples, comparison with other approaches in UX, evaluation of tools and methods for UX unicorns, role of ethics and sustainability in the work of UX unicorns.
