What is UX?

As UX professionals, I think we can all collectively agree that explaining precisely what UX (or, more specifically, user experience design) is to non-designers can be a difficult undertaking. I've been in numerous situations where a friend or a family member has asked me the question and I've felt caught off guard. Explaining the various nuances of the ever-evolving creative process generally seems to leave people puzzled and perplexed, which is always a bit of an awkward situation.
 

So, let's break it down...

The reason I think navigating through this subject can be fairly complex is that there isn't a universally accepted or commonly acknowledged single definition of what UX design is, and that is for a relatively good reason. The topic of user experience (UX) is quite vast, with various roles and interpretations of the already adaptable design process, which isn't confined to any medium, whether physical or digital. What UX design is at its core is empathetic problem solving and a process of co-designing with current or potential users of a product/service.

The goal of this article isn't exactly to describe or define UX design. Rather, I'd like to explore a "real-world" example that can teach us a lot about UX design and process, as well as make communicating UX design to our non-designer peers a lot easier.
 

It's all about paths

Diving straight into the concept of "desire paths". You've most likely seen, used or even invented some of these on your daily adventures. They are everywhere and with a little bit of investigation online, I was even able to uncover a community on Reddit (/r/DesirePath) dedicated to sharing photographs of them.

So what are they exactly? Desire pathways, to put it in simple words, are essentially shortcuts that help you reach from point A to point B as quickly as possible and with the least amount of resistance.
 

Clearly, by looking at the example of the image above, a majority of the individuals opted to cut across the field rather than to walk around it using the "constructed path" or "pleasure path", since it appeared to be a much faster way to get to point B.