User Experience (UX)

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User Experience (UX) is a person’s overall experience when interacting with a product, service, or system.1

It encompasses everything from how easy it is to use something to how pleasurable it is to interact with it.2

Visual Representation

User Experience UX Visual Representation

Purpose

The goal of UX is to make sure people see value in what’s being offered to them.

Good UX boosts customer happiness and loyalty by making products more usable, easy to use, and enjoyable.

It also focuses on understanding and fulfilling users’ needs, aiming to give them such a good experience that they’ll want to keep using the product or brand.

Additionally, carefully planning the UX can guide customers’ interactions with the product, leading to better business results.3

Key Elements

Key components of UX are:

  • Usability: Can users easily find what they need and complete tasks?
  • Efficiency: Can users accomplish their goals quickly and without wasting time?
  • Utility: Does the product or service meet the user’s needs?
  • Accessibility: Can everyone use the product or service regardless of ability?
  • Enjoyment: Is the interaction with the product or service enjoyable?4

How It Works

UX ensures that products, systems, or services provide a seamless, intuitive, and enjoyable user experience.

It involves understanding users’ needs, preferences, and behaviors to design solutions that are not only usable but also delightful.

Here’s a simple way to look at how UX works:

  1. Learning About Users: First, determine who will use the product and what they need from it. You can ask them directly or watch how they use similar products.
  2. Designing: Then, create designs that try to solve the users’ problems in a simple and fun way. This might start with rough sketches and move on to making models of how the product will work.
  3. Testing with Real People: Show the design to some real users to see if they like it and can use it easily. If they have problems, it’s back to the drawing board.
  4. Making It Better: Use the feedback from testing to improve the design, ensuring it works well for the users.
  5. Bringing It to Life: Once the design is just right, it gets built for everyone to use. But even after it’s out, keep an eye on how people use it and make updates if needed.
  6. Making Sure Everyone Can Use It: The product must be easy for everyone to use, no matter their abilities or background.5

Usage

(UX) is used in almost every aspect of our digital lives and beyond, aiming to make products, services, and systems more enjoyable, intuitive, and accessible.

Here’s where UX is commonly applied:

  • Websites and Web Applications: Designing layouts, navigation, and content that make websites easy and pleasant to use.
  • Mobile Apps: Ensuring apps are intuitive, responsive, and satisfying for users on various devices.
  • Software: Creating software interfaces that are logical, efficient, and meet the users’ needs.
  • E-commerce Platforms: Designing seamless online shopping experiences from browsing to checkout.6

Example

Consider a sales funnel website for a software product.

If it’s set up well, it starts with an inviting landing page that showcases the software’s best features.

Then, it smoothly guides the user through features, customer reviews, and prices, with clear prompts (CTA) to proceed.

Every part of the site aims to answer the users’ questions and meet their needs, guiding them comfortably to try or buy the software without feeling pressured.

Related Terms

References:

1. Wikimedia Foundation. (2024, April 8). User experience. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_experience

2. Interaction Design Foundation. (2023b, October 19). What is user experience (UX) design? – updated 2023. The Interaction Design Foundation. https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/topics/ux-design

3. Department of Health and Human Services. (2014, February 19). User experience basics. Usability.gov. https://www.usability.gov/what-and-why/user-experience.html

[^4]: Morville, P. (2024, April 10). The 7 factors that influence user experience. The Interaction Design Foundation. https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/article/the-7-factors-that-influence-user-experience

5. Hensley, J. (2024, March 15). The Ultimate Guide to User Experience (UX) in 2024. EMERGE. https://www.emergeagency.com/insights/detail/user-experience-ux-ultimate-guide/

6. Nichols, K. P., Chesnut, D. (2014). UX For Dummies. Germany: Wiley. https://www.amazon.com/UX-Dummies-Kevin-P-Nichols/dp/1118852788/

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