UX: Not just part of a design process

The last 18 months has seen User Experience become the trendy buzz word of the moment.
Its been around for years, but suddenly clients are asking:
'Do you do you UX?' or
'Who is the UX expert in your team?'.

This has led to the idea that UX is part of the digital design process.
Something you do between requirements gathering and visual design.
You bring a UX designer in.
They do some UX magic.
And the end user gets a fantastic experience.

What I'm realising is that in reality UX is not just part of the design process.
It is the process.

UX Design is a way of thinking.
A point of view or a design philosophy.
It informs every aspect of the design process.
From requirements gathering through to visual design and the final coding of the site.

If you fail to consider the users experience at anyone of these points you are not truly practicing UX design (or should that be user centred design).