User Experience
User Experience or UX is one of those buzzwords you hear every once in a while. There are a lot of ambiguities and blurry definitions of what UX is (and isn’t).
Here’s the most inclusive and exclusive definition I could come up with:
User Experience (UX) is the experience a user has while interacting with a product.
Yours truly
- User
- A person who uses a product
- Product
- A good, service, system, feature, or thing
Sweet Spot
A great product is desirable, feasible, and viable.
Desirable
Solves a user’s problem
Viable
Financially beneficial for the business
Feasible
Technically possible to build
Here’s another way to look at it. UX is where technology, business and user needs come together.
User
Who are the users, and what are they trying to accomplish?
What needs do users have that aren’t being met?
What problems are users experiencing?
Business
What makes money, and what doesn’t?
Where is the business going, and how is it changing?
What insights do stakeholders have?
Technology
What is a big, what is a small addition?
What constraints does / will the system have?
What is going to change in the near future?
Disciplines
UX is a wide field which encapsulates numerous areas of expertise. Here’s an overview of the main categories.
UX Strategy
The process of aligning business goals with user needs and creating a plan to deliver a cohesive user experience across products or services.
UX Research
Studying user behaviors, needs, and motivations through various qualitative and quantitative methods to inform design decisions.
Information Architecture
Organizing and structuring information in a clear and intuitive manner to facilitate navigation and findability within digital products.
User Interface Design
Designing the visual elements of a digital product or interface, focusing on aesthetics, layout, and interactive elements to enhance user interaction and satisfaction.
UX Writing
Crafting clear, concise, and user-centered content for interfaces, focusing on guiding users through tasks, communicating information effectively, and maintaining consistency in tone and voice.
Accessibility
Ensuring that digital products are usable by people with disabilities, including visual, auditory, motor, or cognitive impairments, by adhering to accessibility standards and guidelines.
Usability
Evaluating how easy and intuitive it is for users to interact with a product or system, with the goal of identifying and addressing usability issues to enhance user satisfaction and efficiency.
Goals
User Experience Design is not about solving problems we assume users want solved. It’s about solving problems the users actually want solved.
In fact, in most of the cases, the user is very much unlike you.
Make sure you put the user front and center.
Usable
ls the product easy to use?
Equitable
ls the product equitable?
Enjoyable
Does the product delight the user?
Useful
Does the product solve the user’s problem?
Frequently Asked Questions
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Simply said, User Experience Design is the conscious process of working on and making the experience of users better.
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Without saying much:
UI
How it looks
UX
How it works and feels
This article is neither painting a complete picture of the topic nor is it trying to. It serves as a mnemonic and notebook for Marvin.
If you found a mistake, want to add something or found the article helpful, please get in touch.