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Clarifying the UX Ecosystem: Roles, Definitions, and Stories

Clarifying the UX Ecosystem: Roles, Definitions, and Stories

By Paulina Contreras•

In digital product and service design, there are many overlapping terms (UX, UI, Research, Product Design, UX Writing). Here I seek to differentiate them with examples to understand “who does what” and how to collaborate better.

1) UX: The Umbrella

UX (User Experience) is the total experience of a person before, during, and after using a product or service. It seeks to be useful, usable, desirable, credible, findable, and accessible. Key elements:

  • Philosophy + process: centered on people from conception to evaluation.
  • Multidisciplinary: psychology, HCI, design, anthropology, sociology, business.
  • Mental model (Norman/NN/g): helping people understand what to do and what’s happening.

2) UX Research: Foundation for Decision-Making

UX Research is the discipline that systematically investigates needs, motivations, and behaviors to inform decisions. What it does:

  • Defines problem and objectives, chooses methods (qualitative/quantitative), collects and analyzes data, delivers actionable insights.
  • Early impact: researching at the start changes the course (and the ROI). Example: when an e-commerce redesigns only “look & feel,” bounce rates increase. With usability tests + interviews, the real pain points appear and the project gets on track.

Difference from UX: UX = strategic umbrella; Research = how you generate evidence for that umbrella.

3) UX vs UI (and How They Coexist)

  • UI (User Interface): the visual layer and its consistency (typography, color, layout, states). What you see on screen.
  • UX integrates both and cares for the emotional and cognitive experience end to end.

4) Key Roles (Lots of Acronyms)

  • UX Researcher (UXR): designs studies, conducts interviews/tests, analyzes, translates findings into decisions. Skills: synthesis, stakeholder communication, ethics, agility.
  • Information Architect (IA): defines structure, navigation, labels. Tools: card sorting, tree testing. A robust IA increases conversions and reduces friction.
  • UI Designer (UI): designs the visual layer, accessible and consistent with the brand (design systems).
  • Product Designer (PD): bridges UX + business + technology; prioritizes with PO, writes user stories, cares for scalability.
  • UX Writer (UXW): designs the product voice (microcopy, empty states, errors, help). Clear content = trust + conversion.

Guiding questions:

  1. Is this evidence to decide? → Research.
  2. Is it structure/findability? → IA.
  3. Is it visual/design system? → UI.
  4. Does it integrate everything with business/tech? → Product Design.
  5. Is it guiding text? → UX Writing.

5) Common Mistakes (and How to Avoid Them)

  • Confusing UI with UX → solution: map flow + content + rules before the look.
  • Researching late → include discovery and quick tests in each sprint.
  • Skipping IA → measure findability (tree testing) and adjust labels.
  • Vague microcopy → UX Writing early, with tone and guidelines.
  • Not measuring impact → use HEART (Happiness, Engagement, Adoption, Retention, Task Success) + business metrics.

6) Nuances and Variations in the UX Ecosystem

Although clear definitions exist in manuals and literature (NN/g, IDF, Cooper, Norman), in practice terms change according to context, region, and organizational maturity. This explains why two companies can use the same title to describe different functions.

  • Localization and language The UX ecosystem isn’t experienced the same everywhere. In some countries, what’s called “UX Designer” is actually a UI-focused role, while in more mature markets there’s a distinction between UX Researcher, Interaction Designer, Product Designer, and UX Writer. Even within the same language, terms change: in Spain “arquitectura de la información” carries more weight than in Latin America, while in the U.S. “Information Architecture” dominates and in Brazil Portuguese terms are integrated with English borrowings. This variation also affects role perception: for some, a Product Designer is a comprehensive strategist; for others, they’re a UX generalist who does “a bit of everything.”
  • Accessibility and inclusion In organizations with greater maturity, accessibility is part of the UI Designer or Product Designer role, while in others it falls to a “QA specialist” or doesn’t exist. The key point is that responsibilities vary according to organizational culture and UX maturity level: what’s “essential” in one company is barely considered in another.
  • Organizational maturity and realistic agility In companies with mature UX teams, roles tend to be clearly defined and specialized; in startups or companies with low maturity, titles are hybrid. Thus, a “UX Researcher” might end up doing usability testing, workshop facilitation, rapid prototyping, and even UI. This is where methodologies like Lean UX or “continuous research” come in, which allow sustaining research in contexts with limited resources and tight timelines.

Names matter, but more important is how the organization understands and applies those roles in practice. Clarity of definitions is an ideal; reality is mediated by cultural localization, company history, and its level of UX maturity.

7) Collaboration Checklist Between Roles

To navigate this diversity of interpretations, teams need alignment mechanisms beyond titles. This checklist summarizes practices that avoid confusion and improve synergy:

  1. Shared brief Before starting, agree on problem, objectives, and metrics. This aligns Research, Design, and Product around the same goal.
  2. Responsibility map (RACI) Define who is Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, and Informed for each delivery. This avoids the classic “I thought it was your task” when role boundaries aren’t clear.
  3. Hypothesis backlog + validation plan Instead of discussing titles, work on product hypotheses and define which research or design method will validate each one.
  4. Definition of Done (DoD) Include accessibility, content, and analytics criteria from the start. This ensures that UI, IxD, or Writing deliverables aren’t validated only by aesthetics, but by meeting experience standards.
  5. Evidence-based demo In reviews, don’t just show screens, but what decisions changed and why, based on research. This gives the team clarity about each person’s role and concrete contribution.

When roles blur (due to localization, maturity, or company culture), what saves collaboration isn’t so much the title, but the clarity of responsibilities, processes, and shared metrics.

Conclusion

UX is an ecosystem, not an isolated role. Differentiating functions avoids friction and accelerates results. With early Research, solid IA (Information Architecture), consistent UI, clear Content, and Product Design aligning business/tech, experiences improve and business grows.