How to Be a Successful UX Designer

An article would argue that you're not doing UX, because you're not including the actual user. So at what point does it actually start being called UX? I mean, that's so hard. Isn't it your intentions with the design that defines whether you're doing UX or not? But I do agree, of course, the product is going to be better if you actually meet people and talk to them. If interaction designers would spend some time talking 20 minutes with a user now, how much better the designs would actually be.