Absolutely… and still this recent backlash against the term “UX/UI” seems misplaced to me, or at least out of proportion. It is a matter of interpretation: I have never taken that phrase to mean that the two sides of the equation are interchangeable. On the contrary, to me it helps highlight the difference between the two.

I think anyone reading this will understand that UX writ large is not “a thing” but rather a spectrum and a collection of different disciplines along that spectrum… as many as seven or eight discrete roles depending on how you look at it, but it broadly breaks down into three categories that correlate to the three main phases of product design:

• the “Understand” phase of discovery and problem definition/validation (UX research);
• the “Conceive” phase of ideation, iteration, and making sure the team is solving the problem the right way for the given persona (IA and prototyping with some research methods in there); and
• the “Create” phase of building and implementation (visual design and front end development).

The concept of “UX” really encompasses all of that to one extent or another, though research is sometimes considered separately. UI is really more concerned with the later stages of Phase 2 and all of Phase 3, as I define it.

So when I see the term “UX/UI” thrown about, it says to me that we are talking about a well-rounded, T-shaped UX professional, with experience in all of the disciplines and the deep part of their T in one or more of those UI areas of phases 2 and 3. To my mind it is simply shorthand to concisely define someone who is an experienced UX professional focused less on research than on IA and the workflow and visual design of a system.

Actual mileage may, of course, vary based on your context, because different companies and hiring managers define these things very differently, as I am sure you also know. It is always wise for both job seekers and employers to dig in much deeper to the specifics of any UX role or employee and learn the real details of what is needed and what they offer. Because the only guaranteed right answer in UX is “it depends!”