Episode 52: Making People Happy with UX Developer Jenell Pizarro

The way an app is experienced by its users is one of its most important features and as a UI/UX developer or designer, catering to this need is about more than just being good at coding. Today on the show our guest is Jenell Pizarro who joins us to talk about some of the main things she is concerned with as a UX developer. We kick off the show with a discussion about the many job titles within UI and UX, the difference between these two categories, and how a UX developer differs from a UX designer. From there, we get into some of the main challenges that teams within the UI/UX niche face when working with clients. Often clients find bugs in an app in its beta phases or have different qualms about its functionality, and as a UX developer, navigating these in a way that is best for everybody can be quite a sensitive journey. We then zoom in on the topic of accessibility, highlighting the ethical obligation developers have to make their apps usable by people in all situations, even though stakeholders might have a different and more profit-driven set of motives. For Jenell, developers should put their foot down, and not forget the importance of soft skills such as empathy, because UX is about making people happy, whatever their background or situation looks like. Accessibility is also an issue that holds relevance amongst developers even before the client comes into the equation, and there are ways of coding that help keep readability a top priority in teams. Toward the end of the show, we get into the weeds of coding in JavaScript, sharing some pet peeves about index variable naming in loops and other best practices. As always, we wrap up with some awesome picks of the week so for all this and more, tune in today!