Given that there are scores of books and websites dedicated to User Experience (UX) there's no way I'm actually going to live up to the promise of the title, but it got you reading this far. And that's the first lesson of UX: get your audiences' attention. Now comes the hard part. Keeping it.
So what is it?
(With apologies to Red Dwarf)
User experience (UX) is about how 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 person’s 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 individual’s feelings and thoughts about the system. User experience is dynamic, because it changes over time as the circumstances change.
Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_experience
"So what is it?"
User experience" encompasses all aspects of the end-user's interaction with the company, its services, and its products. The first requirement for an exemplary user experience is to meet the exact needs of the customer, without fuss or bother. Next comes simplicity and elegance that produce products that are a joy to own, a joy to use. True user experience goes far beyond giving customers what they say they want, or providing checklist features. In order to achieve high-quality user experience in a company's offerings there must be a seamless merging of the services of multiple disciplines, including engineering, marketing, graphical and industrial design, and interface design.
Don Norman, inventor of the term http://www.nngroup.com/about/userexperience.html
"So what is it?"
A person's perceptions and responses that result from the use or anticipated use of a product, system or service
ISO FDIS 9241-210:2009. Ergonomics of human system interaction - Part 210: Human-centered design for interactive systems (formerly known as 13407). International Organization for Standardization (ISO). Switzerland.
"So what is it?"
Making sure your audience want to use, can use and enjoy using the website/app/game you're providing.
Me, now
What it's not
UX is not about being "Cool"
UX is not about being "Innovative"
UX is not about having a "Dazzling design"
UX is not about being "Risky"
UX is not about being "Edgy"
All these things can be part of a great UX solution, but they aren't the start of it. If a client tells you they want to see something completely new, something never seen before, UX is not at the forefront of their mind.
How do I test for UX?
If you've already got a website/app/game that you're looking to improve, the first part of testing is really easy: use it yourself. Then ask your friends. Then ask strangers. Ideally who have never used your product before. Here's the hard part: listen to what they tell you.
It's far too easy to blind yourself to poor UX. You know your own product. You know how it's supposed to work. You know why people should be excited about using it. They don't. And unless you're planning on going to every user and explaining it to them face to face (believe me, there's been projects where this has felt like the best solution), your webiste/app/game needs to speak for itself.
It gets a lot harder if you're starting from scratch. Some good starting points are:
- Competitor research. See what your direct rivals, or similar companies but in a different field, are doing
- User research. Go out and talk to your potential users. What would they be looking for in your product? How would they expect it to work? When and where would they use it?
- Focus groups. As a general rule, don't. It's far too easy for a single person to hijack the group.
- Card sorting. If you're building a website, particularly a big content site, it can be worth holding card sorting exercises to find out what content people would expect on the site (give out blank cards) and the top navigation (ask your test users to group the cards into piles of topics that go together). You can also start with pre-written cards and a pre-written nav, to check if your test users understand the terms and group them in the way you were expecting.
Beyond that there are numerous objective and subjective tools and techniques to assess your project which I won’t list here as there’s a fantastic list by Jacob Gube on Mashable.
The key word with UX is holistic. Ultimately you need your IA, design, content, and front and back end development to all work together to provide the best experience possible for your users.
Okay, but what does it really mean for me and my users?
Let's look at 2 examples: Ain't it Cool News and a Facebook fan page.
Ain't it cool is fascinating because at first glance the site is terrible. The design is uglier than the Hound in Game of Thrones (told you I'd crowbar a reference in), the spelling is appalling, and everything ends in an exclamation mark! Or five!!!!
But, and it's a big but, people flock to the site. I'm not sure if they'd say they love it, but they keep going there. Why?!?!?! (sorry, can't stop myself now) Because, as the old adage goes, content is king. The site houses rumours, opinions and breaking news on all the big film, and increasingly TV, releases. Everyone goes there to find out what's coming up and if it's going to be any good. The site search might be terrible, but most of the time it doesn't matter. It's a real time resource. If you don't see the posts within 48 hours of them going up, it's old news. Everyone else will already have it. All you need to see is what's new in film, what's new in TV, and what's the big story from Harry himself. All of which is readily catered for. In garish orange.
There's a lot to cover here, so I'm going to stick to some of the main UX questions you need to ask yourself if you're running a fan page for a brand:
- Where are people going to see my posts?
- Answer: Mostly in the news feed and their friend's timelines, not your fan page
- Where are people going to interact with my posts?
- Answer: Same as above
- Which posts are the most popular?
- Answer: Depends how you're measuring popularity. Photos and video tend to get the most impressions. Regular text posts, particularly in the form of an open, and usually silly, question generate the most comments and likes
- How do I get people to my new app?
- Answer: Remember, existing fans going to your fan page go straight to the wall, NOT the tab new fans see. Drive traffic by promoting the app in your posts. Also, make sure that the app posts interesting content/updates automatically to the ticker
- What permissions should I ask for on my app?
- Answer: Your drop-off rate increases dramatically for each new permission you ask for. Only ask for what you really need
- How can I contact my fans?
- Answer: The only way is though a status post. You can't contact them in any other way, unless they've signed up to an app. If you want their email address, ask for it as an app permission, but make sure you don't spam.
- How can I solicit and use UGC?
- Answer: Soliciting is easy. Just ask your fans to post photos and video to the wall. Re-using is just as easy, but it's the legality that gets tricky. I'm not going to even attempt to navigate Facebooks Terms and Conditions, a feat akin to rowing up the Amazon in a leaky canoe with one arm tied behind your back and smeared in honey. What I will say is that if you want to be really, really sure you can use something your fans have created, get them to upload it via an app and ensure you have very explicit T&Cs as part of the app.
I'll come back to fan pages more thoroughly in a later post, but hopefully this gives you a sense of the sort of UX questions you should be asking, even if you don't agree with my answers.
For further reading there's a very thorough discussion of all the steps involved in an e-commerce site by Lyndon Cerejo on Smashing Magazine (Part 1 and Part 2).
Last question. What’s the difference between IA, UX and design?
Sign in to Amazon and take a look at a product page, oh I don’t know, say this one (All hail the Moff). See that orange “Buy now with 1-click” button? (You may need to turn on 1-click using the link just under the “Add to basket” button”) Press that button and you’ll instantly have agreed to buy the product and arranged for it to be shipped to your default delivery address by first class post. It’s a brilliant fusion of technology, IA and design. A seamless user experience. So which member(s) of the team decided what it should do, what it should look like, and the fact it should be there in the first place?
There’s no simple answer to that question. There are lots of different job titles and skill sets out there that are increasingly blurring the lines between the different disciplines involved in creating websites, apps and games and ensuring they look great and work properly. So where does that leave UX?
The short answer is there is no single answer. You could assign the UX responsibilities across the whole team or to one specific member. You could bring in a UX consultant or architect. You could let everyone get on with their own individual roles and trust each of them to tackle the UX elements they have control over. You could have a different set up for each different project. It’s a logistical, and political, minefield.
The important thing is that an understanding and appreciation for UX is embedded throughout your team. How, when and who should own the UX on a project I’ll leave to another post, once I’ve figured it out for myself.
