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isidori Essay 2: Understanding User Experience Design Digital Studio 2 GRDS-763-OL SCAD, Summer 2012 Professor: Rebecca Hemstad August 2012

Table of Contents:

What is User Experience? What is User Experience Design? Good User Experience in web design User-Centered Design Steps to Design for the User Notes & References Suggested readings

 What is User Experience (UX)?

Most people make the mistake of thinking design is what it looks like. People think its this veneer that the designers are handed this box and told, Make it look good! Thats not what we think design is. Its not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works. - Steve Jobs [1] Wikipedia defines User Experience as the way a person feels about using a product, system or service. User experience highlights the experiential, affective, meaningful and valuable aspects of human-computer interaction and product ownership, but it also includes a persons perceptions of the practical aspects such as utility, ease of use and efficiency of the system. User experience is subjective in nature, because it is about an individuals feelings and thoughts about the system. User experience is dynamic, because it changes over time as the circumstances change. Good User Experience is like good film editing: invisible. When something is ergonomic, comfortable, smooth, flowing, understandable, clear, intuitive, efficacious, easy, we hardly notice it, we simply use it and move on. When we curse over the abstruse remote control; when we cant find how to turn off the incredibly annoying music that went off when we landed on a new web page; when we sit in a rented car desperately trying to figure out where the basic controls are, when we pick up a new cellphone and are unable to figure out how to send out a text message, well, we are painfully enduring a Bad User Experience. Amongst poor user experiences, I also include non-device experiences, such as having dinner in a restaurant where the food is delicious and the service horrible; or shopping in a store where the temperature is too low or too high; as well as when (though thets possibly intentional) the layout of the products in our supermarket is changed, and we need to re-learn where our favorite products are located. Basically, my concept of User Experience includes all possible aspects that come into play when a human interacts with a product, a system, or a service (and I use the term service in its widest sense).

 What is User Experience Design?

To design something really well you have to get it. You have to really grok what its all about. It takes a passionate commitment to thoroughly understand something chew it up, not just quickly swallow it. Most people dont take the time to do that The broader ones understanding of the human experience, the better designs we will have. - Steve Jobs [2]

Again, quoting Wikipedia User Experience Design (UXD or UED) is a broad term used to explain all aspects of a persons experience with the system including the interface, graphics, industrial design, physical interaction, and the manual. It is also referring to the application of user-centered design practices to generate cohesive, predictive and desirable designs based on holistic consideration of users experience. In most cases, User Experience Design fully encompasses traditional Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) design and extends it by addressing all aspects of a product or service as perceived by users. In other words, when designers work well, they can make people happier and - as Steve Jobs has demonstrated on more than one occasion - they can change peoples lives radically. When designers are self-centered and fail to consider their audience, they produce Norman-monsters. [3] Design is not Art, design is not about (self)expression: design is communication. A well designed object stands on itself: its pervaded with meaning, its function is clear, its use is intuitive, its form is pleasant and synergic to the other aspects. Design is language: your interlocutor needs to understand, otherwise it is useless at best, annoying at its peak. With that concept in mind, designers must be capable of a sort of design empathy, going behind what they might find clever or correct in their own personal universe, so that they can embrace the needs of others and produce excellent experiences.

 Good User Experience in web design Everything has a personality: everything sends an emotional signal. Even where this was not the intention of the designer, the people who view the website infer personalities and experience emotions. Bad websites have horrible personalities and instill horrid emotional states in their users, usually unwittingly. We need to design things products, websites, services to convey whatever personality and emotions are desired. Sometimes these might be negative. Mostly they should be positive. You know about personas? Well, in design we should always create a persona for the product and ensure that everything in that product is consistent with that persona. Don Norman [4] It is obvious, at this point, that good User Experience is fundamental for a good website. What should a web designer take into consideration in designing such site? The conceptual requirements, really, do not differ from any well-put-together communication project: 1 - what (or, the object) - what are you trying to build? All aspects will need to be addressed and structured coherently with the aim of the website: plan ahead, prototype and test to be sure you start off right. Pay attention to details right from the start without losing sight of the large picture. There are standards and best practices: see them as challenges for your creativity, not as limitations. Code right: a clean and well written markup is the foundation of a content that can be declined in all the opportune and desired ways. 2 - who (or, the target) - psychographics & demographics might help you understand better who you are talking to, especially if your target is not even close to you. If necessary, develop personas to better identify who you are designing for. Once identified, your target will lead you to the proper values of: people & device accessibility, usability, and form - where form is the look, the feel and the structure necessary to be most appealing to that specific audience. 3 - why (or, the purpose) - why are you doing this? What is the purpose of this site? A clear understanding of the reason why this effort is being undertaken might help you with the emotional aspect of design: telling a cohesive story, using the most appropriate language will give your site that extra value that can turn a positive user experience into a great user experience. And as with all types of design (and services) the details are the key, and the attention for details comes from empathy and care for the object of our design and for its fruitors.

 User-Centered Design User Experience Design should encompass all aspects of the interaction that people will have with our product in all possible foreseeable conditions. And designers should design for people, not for themselves. For this reason, good User Experience Design should include the proper balance of these principles:
User-centered design - empathic designers will produce objects/systems that

will present a higher level of satisfaction by users, just as self-centered designers, thinking of themselves as typical users will likely do just the opposite. Through the use of prototypes, personas, research, observation, trial, error and the lack of arrogance, designers can work with themselves and with other professionals to ensure their user the best experience possible. Good interface design - graphic design is a powerful tool to indicate actions to be taken and paths to be followed: good UX relies on excellent visual design. Architecture (informational and/or ergonomic) - logically and consequentially organized information is easier to predict and doesnt require interpretation which can lead to misunderstandings and mistakes. Usability (in its widest sense, both by people - all kinds of people - by systems, and by circumstances (in web deign, for example, considering responsiveness and multimedia). Habits and learned reactions - a designer cannot overlook (or underestimate) what people have learned and are used to. Being innovative cannot mean being disruptive of peoples established habits. Standards and best practices, which closely relate to the previous point. Conceptual models - we instinctively try to make sense of what surrounds us, and when things seems senseless or arbitrary we are likely to make mistakes. If we provide our device (or system, or product, or website) with all the necessary information that can indicate its functions, our user will understand (and use) better. Feedback is critical so that the user know it has done the right (or the wrong) thing. Our design, therefore, must provide feedback (color change, status change, sound, etc.) to inform the user. Constraints and affordance are one clever ways to avoid mistakes by the user. If something works only one way (think of memory cards in cameras, for example) you eliminate the possibility for the user to err. Likewise, if the shape or the visual information given clearly indicates the proper usage, the user will likely act correctly. Aesthetics: we like beauty, we like harmony and balance. A well designed object is likely nice to look at.

 Steps to Design for the User

1 - plan ahead A good project starts with a clear idea. A clear idea comes from a metabolized brief. Planning ahead is vital to understand the object of our design, its purpose and our audience. Planning, prototyping and testing might seem like a waste of time in the beginning but are often the key to a speedy and smooth production. 2 - information architecture Structuring properly the website, in terms of information architecture is fundamental to create a site that is easy to navigate and accessible. Furthermore, once the skeleton of the content we will need to organize is clearly mapped, our task of designing the site in terms of usability, interactivity and form will be much easier. 3 - interface design (usability) Websites are interactive by nature: a poor interface will necessarily make a poor user experience. Cleverness should never be at the cost of clarity, form should never endanger function. The following is an example of a clever navigation that - albeit not even that clever - simply makes navigation annoying and unpleasant (sorry, if youre reading on iOS, the site is in flash) - http://www.shmarketing.co.uk/

Basically, you hover over the (orange) wiggling elements on the left and when you get the right one (see below) you discover where it can lead you to.

Web Pages That Suck [5] provides some other interesting examples of discussible navigation, or, as they call it mystery meat navigation. 4 - accessibility There are three aspects within the concept of accessibility, the third one - software requirements - might not be strictly related to websites, though we could declines it as the need for our website to be visible on all (or most) browsers. The two other (principle) aspects are: people and device. Aside from the ethical (and, in some circumstances, legal) need to make your site accessible by all people, including those with hearing, visual, interactive and cognitive disabilities, all sites should be designed with the principles of being accessible by everyone in mind. Should a site be not accessible by someone (and I believe there could be circumstances in which one might choose not to make it easy for someone to interact with a certain site - think for example sites aimed at an adult audience, which might be made difficult for children to enter), it should be done purposefully and not be a mistake or an oversight. 5 - good, clean markup Thinking ahead and planning well are the key to a well coded site. Proper markup allows for all the necessary adjustments needed for people and media accessibility. Well written code can be read for the visually impaired and easily translates from the browsers screen to a smartphones. Well written code is like excellent ingredients for a recipe: often the primary key to its success.

6 - standards and best practices A few years ago, when I was designing sites that developers then coded for me, often in flash, I used to frown and discuss with friends and colleagues about standards, not so much about code and accessibility but more so about usability (which, back then, was basically about navigation and UI). I frowned because it seemed obvious to me that navigation had to be found, be understandable, be intuitive, as well as it was obvious that the information in the site needed to be accessible: as a graphic designer I had been taught the difference between legibility and readability and I applied these same principles onto my web design. But many sites, today as in the past, are designed by developers, so standards became necessary, as many developers are not trained as visual designers. Standards, though, need not to be cages: working with constraints, understanding the limits and mastering them is a challenge that can produce excellency, if coupled with creativity.

7 - creativity Designers are creative. Well, at least they should be. Quoting again Steve Jobs In most peoples vocabularies, design means veneer. Its interior decorating. Its the fabric of the curtains and the sofa. But to me, nothing could be further from the meaning of design. Design is the fundamental soul of a man-made creation that ends up expressing itself in successive outer layers of the product or service. Creativity is not following trends headlessly. Creativity is not a penchant for decoration. Creativity is not cleverness. Creativity is not defiance, is not a rebellious mote against the status quo. Creativity is the ability one has to find a creative solution to a problem. Creativity is the capacity to formulate an effective metaphor to get the message across. Creativity is the skill to work within limits and constraints to reach an optimal result. Creativity is the key to a well designed anything and to a positive, if not great, user experience.

 Notes & References

[1] - 2003, New York Times: The Guts of a New Machine. (http://www.nytimes. com/2003/11/30/magazine/30IPOD.html?ex=1386133200&en=750c9021e58923d5&ei =5007&partner=USERLAND) - http://www.inspireux.com/category/steve-jobs/ [2] - 1996, Wired: Steve Jobs: The Next Insanely Great Thing (http://www.wired. com/wired/archive/4.02/jobs_pr.html) - http://www.inspireux.com/category/stevejobs/ [3] - Donald A. Norman - The design of everyday things. [4] - Design Research and Innovation: An Interview with Don Norman - http:// johnnyholland.org/2011/01/design-research-and-innovation-an-interview-with-donnorman/ [5] - http://www.webpagesthatsuck.com/worst-website-navigation-of-2011.html

Suggested readings & sites

Niko Nyman - It takes great empathy to create a good experience http://www.slideshare.net/spushnik/the-value-of-user-experience-from-web-20-expoberlin-2009-presentation?type=powerpoint# Donald A. Norman - The design of everyday things http://www.inspireux.com/