UX (User
Experience) has been a buzzword for some time now, but slowly it becomes an
integrated part of product creation, by product we refer to a website, a
financial service or in-store experience. As Wikipedia puts it so simple “User
experience (UX) involves a person's behaviors, attitudes, and emotions about
using a particular product, system or service. User experience includes the
practical, experiential, affective, meaningful and valuable aspects of
human-computer interaction and product ownership.” – Which to put it in less
words it is all the types of interactions / experiences which we have in
contact with a product/service.
From a
software company point of view it can include activities related to usability
testing, information architecture (IA), user experience design (UxD), somehow
graphical design, interaction design (IxD) and a good deal of user tests (with
focus groups, interviews, eye tracking, etc.)
For the end
user it is the experience of using a certain product, with all the tiny
interactions involved, from the website design, customer service, invoice
layout and clarity, packaging, etc.
Why it
matters: in a blunt way, if you neglect it, the product might (will) fail and you
might be out of job.
What is
about: how easy is to learn to use an iPhone for a first time user. To complete
the overall experience, we consider the Apple website, an Apple store - which
is designed with the same “feeling”, the simple package used for products and
how easy is to set it up the iPhone.
Fig 1. Apple website – shop – iPhone package –
iPhone 5s
In Fig 1 we
can see the design elements with which we get in contact to buy an iPhone. What
of course is missing is the human element, which makes a lot of the UX thingy –
how easy can we find information in the store and how fast can we learn to use
our new super duper smart-phone.
Testing it
the hidden word in UX. Without it we cannot evaluate before launch a product.
It is just something we need to do as UX professionals, and ideally in few
iterations so we can measure how much the experience has improved since the
first iteration. By iteration we refer to a basic plan – design – test cycle. [So
we got to UX testing, but this is an entire domain in itself].
How to improve
the experience: by doing UxD (User Experience Design). Which as Wikipedia puts
it so well is “the process of enhancing customer satisfaction and loyalty by
improving the usability, ease of use, and pleasure provided in the interaction
between the customer and the product. User experience design encompasses
traditional human-computer interaction (HCI) design, and extends it by
addressing all aspects of a product or service as perceived by users. User
experience is any aspect of a person's interaction with a given IT system, including
the interface, graphics, industrial design, physical interaction, and the
manual.” More UxD theory here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_experience_design
When is wrong:
at an IA conference some years ago, somebody (can’t remember exactly who L ) said that the problem with IA (Information
Architecture) and UX is that the user realize about it when is missing, when is
unhappy, when he cannot set up the easy function of.. xxx.. or why does he need
to tap 5 times before making a phone call (iPhone 1 users know).
UX is
better showcased in IT products, websites mostly, so enjoy some compilations of
the worst of the worst on the following links:
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