It is very comforting that the “User Experience” field has become more popular and well-respected over the years. That makes me, as a UX professional, feel good about the work we do. However, as Whitney Hess points out in her blog post,

There’s just one problem: not everyone calling themselves a user experience designer is actually a user experience designer. Unfortunately the designation isn’t as clear cut as a doctor or a lawyer. Most professions are certified and regulated, so you don’t see impostor behavior often — and when you do, it’s typically in the form of a news article about someone going to jail for fraud. Perhaps more analogously, even those in non-regulated occupations like writers and programmers would have a hard time passing themselves off as such without actually writing or actually programming.

So, how do you tell is someone is REALLY a true user experience professional, or a wannabe? Whitney posts a 10-point list answering the question, “You’re not a user experience designer if…”

It’s a good overview of some of the key things we focus on as UX professionals. Check it out at Whitney’s Blog!