Why web design needs UX experts

A common refrain I've seen on social media is the notion that UX is everybody's responsibility. Who would argue with that? After all, the experience you have of a product is the sum total of all the work that went into creating it: the design, content, performance, QA. Of course UX is everybody's responsibility. These sentiments get tweeted and re-tweeted, and everybody nods along in agreement. 

But if everybody is responsible, why do we need dedicated user experience designers? Maybe UX designer is just a bullshit job title after all. This type of throwaway comment is actually quite insidious, and creates tension in the industry. It dismisses the contribution of an entire discipline, while causing confusion amongst new graduates as they try and make sense of the career paths ahead. 

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Andy Budd co-founded Clearleft, one of the first UX agencies in the UK. In 2015 he curated the dConstruct conference on the theme of designing for the future.