For over 15 years, I have identified professionally as a “UX Designer.”
I entered the field through a structured education in Communication Design at the Politecnico di Milano and gained extensive professional experience thanks to the sweeping Digital Transformation, which saw an accelerated peak during the pandemic. It was a period of exceptionally high demand for this profession, with individuals advancing their careers rapidly within organizations.
In the past year, it seems the hype around User Experience has definitively waned. This doesn’t mean it’s no longer needed or that everything has already been designed—quite the opposite. It’s needed now more than ever (no pun intended), and this is why I continue to embrace my professional label: “UX” highlights the focus, not the outcome. However, it must renew its qualitative value within the new product development processes currently unfolding.
These are my personal reflections. But to gain a comprehensive view of what the Italian professional community thinks, we, at the Experience Design Academy of POLI.design and the School of Design of the Politecnico di Milano, have launched a survey today. This is the precursor to a public presentation we’ll make in 2025, which I trust will outline new trajectories for where we are headed—or could be headed.