We often hear the term "user experience" in the fields of website and app design, but is there a clear definition for this term? The literal translation of this term is "user experience." But what does it mean? And why is this term important in these fields?
In this article, we attempt to explain what user experience is and its importance to designers and users alike.
What is user experience (UX)?
User experience (UX) refers to how users interact with a particular product. The word "product" here literally encompasses anything created to serve users in one way or another, from medicine packages to lunar drilling tools, and of course, any digital product.
For example, when we want to write an article on a computer, we use the keyboard, or in other words, interact with it. The design of the keys, the shape of the keyboard, and the dimensions of its design (and sometimes even its color) affect our interaction with it and how we feel about that interaction.
The concept of user experience (UX) doesn't change in the digital world or with digital products. In this world, the user experience of digital products, such as websites and designs, is evaluated based on criteria and in response to questions such as the following:
- What value does the product provide to the customer?
- What is the product's function, or does it work?
- Is the product easy to use?
- Does the user enjoy using the product?
User experience relates to two important aspects of human nature: the emotional and the rational. Both aspects significantly influence how people interact with products, whether physical or digital.
Do you find this absurd? Well, what if I offered you a product that was easy to use but had an ugly appearance, an unattractive design, or even an odd color? Would you interact with it the same way you would with a product that was easy to use, well-designed, and painted in your favorite color? Absolutely not.
You can observe the same thing if you used a product that was well-designed but difficult to use, or a product that was easy to use but well-designed.
The bottom line: Emotions discourage some products, no matter how easy they are, while the mind detests products that are difficult to use.
User experience also depends on the function of the product itself and how it is used. For specialists (called UX designers) to design a good user experience, they must clearly understand the product's role in users' lives.
A good understanding of the product's role not only contributes to good product design, but also informs future product development. Since products are intended for people whose needs are constantly growing, they must be designed to accommodate future developments to meet their new needs.
Finally, the user experience changes over time, often for the better. New products in a given field may not initially seem easy to use to customers, but over time, this can change, and these products may become their favorites, provided they are well-designed.
What is user experience design?
User experience design is the process undertaken by user experience designers to design a product that meets the needs of its customers. This process aims to produce a practical, easy-to-use product that appeals to the target audience.
This means that the user experience design process focuses on the product's usability criteria, its actual design, and its functionality. This process also integrates these criteria with the product's brand to create an attractive identity that matches the target audience's personality.
The user experience design process is not limited to product design and functionality, but extends to other important factors. For example, the user experience designer is involved in processes such as product marketing, packaging, advertising, and sometimes technical support.
The most important qualities a good user experience must provide:
1. Ease of Use
Well, we've repeated the term ease of use a lot! It's well known that the concept of ease is relative. So how can it be achieved on a large scale? In other words, how can a product be designed that is easy to use for a wide range of people?
This can be accomplished by taking into account several specific criteria, such as simplifying the process of using the product. This is achieved by defining the product's function for the user and designing it so that this function is achieved by looking at the product abstractly, answering several questions.
For example:
Q1: What is the role of a hair dryer?
A1: Drying hair with hot air.
Q2: How is this done?
A2: By manually directing the dryer at the hair.
Now, answers 1 and 2 should provide the details on which the product relies to perform its function. The UX designer then seeks to implement the previous tasks in an easy and efficient manner.
In other words, the user doesn't have to perform complex tasks to expel hot air from the dryer. The dryer should also be sized to fit the user's hand and easy to control and operate.
2. Somewhat Familiar
Familiarity means that the product's appearance is not unfamiliar compared to similar products. This can be difficult to achieve for products that perform functions that humans have recently developed, but this problem can be overcome by creating prototypes and testing them before launching the final product.
Beyond prototypes, designers can rely on a minimum viable product (MVP) to initially gather customer feedback on their products.
Referring to the hair dryer example; If you're aiming to manufacture a new hair dryer in 2023, take a look at your competitors' products. If you notice, you'll find that any product that's been around for years has a basic design that hasn't changed significantly, regardless of the age.
This isn't due to technology, but rather familiarity. Users have become accustomed to a certain product shape. Of course, the primary source of familiarity is a good design that appeals to the target audience. Manufacturers know this, so they use designs that are familiar to users.
Of course, from time to time, you may see the impact of technological advancements on product design, but this impact is limited and rarely changes the basic design. This impact may not extend beyond removing small parts of the product, relocating a button here or there, or adding a small component that performs a new function.
Of course, there are many products that break this rule, but they remain exceptions that carry a high degree of risk. In general, a product that provides a good user experience is characterized by familiarity in terms of design.
3. Useful
If a product doesn't achieve its intended purpose, do you think this provides a good user experience? Of course not. While some users may overlook the ease of use of a product and accept its unfamiliar design, no one welcomes a product that doesn't perform its function.
The benefit here is not limited to the product's primary function, but also to the additional functions and features it provides, if any. Furthermore, some additional functions are considered complementary to the product's primary function, and without them, the product may not perform its primary function to its full potential.
Of course, there should be a balance between the product's primary function and any additional features. This balance may vary from product to product and from function to function, but it is generally subject to the manufacturer's vision.
Hair clippers are among the most popular products that perform a basic function for the user, but without additional features, they can lose their value. For example, a clipper that offers multiple haircut levels is considered a more useful product than one that offers only one level.
4. Features an Attractive Design
We previously explained the importance of the emotional aspect of users' interactions with products, and user attraction to the product is the foundation of this aspect. One of the goals of user experience design is to provide a visually appealing product to users, satisfying their need for an elegant and well-designed product.
Color is perhaps one of the most important elements of visual attraction for users. Due to the diversity of tastes, some products are available in more than one color. Therefore, you may find one product available in black, another in white, or other colors.
The product's ergonomic design is an important visual factor that can attract customers to a product or repel them completely. As humans, we tend to like products that feature geometric symmetry, or what is called symmetry. Is that hard to believe? Look around you.
Almost all of the products you use or prefer are designed around a familiar geometric shape or several. Your mobile phone is a rectangle, as is your computer screen. Your home furniture, and even its exterior design, all rely on several geometric shapes.
Geometric shapes are also familiar to humans, which contributes to our appreciation for products that use them.
5. Suitable for a variety of user groups
The easier a product is to use for multiple user groups, the better the user experience it provides. While there are products targeted at specific user groups based on age or gender, for example, this doesn't mean that this is the ideal approach for product design.
Targeting specific groups is the optimal approach for designing products such as personal care products and the like. For most products, however, designing a user experience that is appropriate for them is what makes them usable by a wide range of users, even those with special needs.
This is clearly evident in many products, such as the push-button cell phones that are still being produced. On these phones, you'll find the number 5 prominently displayed to alert people with visual impairments or blindness to its location, making it easier to identify the remaining numbers.
6. Trustworthiness
Trust is a feeling that companies constantly strive to instill in their customers, relying on the user experience to achieve this. You might think that trust cannot be incorporated into the actual design of any product and therefore is not considered a UX function, but that's a mistake.
A UX designer can instill trust in the target customers by relying on three methods:
a) Clarity
Clarity includes making all product-related information readily available to customers. This information should cover aspects specific to the product itself, such as the materials used in its manufacture, and aspects specific to the manufacturer, such as its address and headquarters, etc.
Of course, the scope of product-related information that must be clarified varies from product to product. For example, consumers of food products are concerned with how they are manufactured, but this is not the case with electronic devices, for example.
b) Quality of the manufacturing process and materials used
The truth is, designing a UX on paper does not produce a good product; it remains merely a design. In other words, what is the point of designing if the product is manufactured using poor or unsuitable materials, or even high-quality materials, but the manufacturing process itself is negligent?
The user needs to feel confident in the quality of the materials used in the product's manufacture. No one wants to pay a sum of money (any amount of money) and receive a product made from materials that are incompatible with its function or that were manufactured negligently.
The quality of the manufacturing process is as important as the materials used to manufacture the product. Manufacturing quality refers to the way in which the product's materials are shaped and prepared to suit its function. Negligence in any way results in a defective product and a poor user experience.
Simply put, a product expertly crafted from high-quality materials gives the user a high sense of confidence in the product and in its brand as a whole.
C) After-sales Service
Any product is susceptible to damage, whether due to misuse (or even frequent misuse), manufacturing defects, or anything else, and this is normal. Dealing with damage, whether partial or complete, is another task for the UX design team. Yes, it's a secondary task, but it's essential.
A UX designer is supposed to design this experience from the moment the product is announced until it is damaged or malfunctions. This is because a good designer wants the user to purchase the product again in the future, and this will not happen if their relationship with the product ends badly.
Some companies offer solutions for damaged or expired products. Some offer the possibility of replacing the damaged product or sending a new, more up-to-date product with the difference. The important thing is that the user's relationship with the product does not end after its useful life has expired or it is damaged.
After-sales service is not only concerned with dealing with damaged products, but also with the customer's feelings toward them throughout their ownership and beyond. Users prefer to purchase products that offer a technical support team to answer their questions and resolve issues.
After-sales service policies provide a sense of security for the user, as they demonstrate that the manufacturer's role does not end after the sale of its products. In other words, these policies give companies a sense of responsibility towards their customers' products.
7. It is constantly being improved.
Improving the user experience is supposed to be an ongoing process. This means that user experience designers are constantly working to develop the experience, whether this improvement will appear in the same product, a subsequent version, or even through a completely new product.
In other words, implementing improvements to the user experience varies from product to product, but it is essential to creating a positive user experience.
As a user, you might want to purchase a newer version of a product you previously owned, but would you buy it if you knew the manufacturer hadn't made any updates to the user experience it provides? Of course not.
Finally, user feedback about products and their interactions with them are the most important factors relied upon in improving the user experience.
What is the user experience for digital products?
The answer to the question of what the user experience is for physical products is essentially the same as for their digital counterparts, as we've explained. What differs here is the flexibility in dealing with the user experience development process and the speed of its implementation.
For example, if you purchase a physical product and are not satisfied with its user experience, unfortunately, you cannot change that. This is because the options for dealing with physical products are limited; you can return it, replace it, or ignore it.
All of the above solutions will negatively impact your feelings toward the product and its manufacturer, and may lead you to not use them again.
This is a bad situation, of course, but fixing it by the manufacturer may take a long time, and even if it is, it will not be applied to the product you purchased. In other words, any improvements to the product will likely be added in a new version, meaning you may need to purchase a new product.
However, if this product is digital, such as a paid app or website, user experience issues can be fixed much faster. Let's say you've been using a paid app that has provided a good user experience for years, but after its latest update, it began experiencing numerous problems. What is the solution?
The solution an app or website designer will resort to is releasing a new update to address the issues of the previous update within a short period of time.
Of course, we can't say this happens immediately, but it's certainly faster than for physical products. Also, note that you'll feel the improvements made to the product you currently own.
Digital products also have a more flexible user experience. Is there a ceiling on perfection or quality that the user experience can reach? No, but physical products are governed by their physical nature.
This means that a good product experience for a physical product cannot suddenly be improved to become excellent, regardless of the time it takes. For digital products, the situation is different, as the designer of these applications can continually improve the user experience.
Digital product designers review and study user interaction data with the digital product to improve these products. This review is essential for developing these products to keep pace with the ever-evolving user demands.
Of course, this doesn't mean that designing the user experience for digital products is easier or that there are no digital products that offer a poor user experience, for example. The purpose of this comparison is to clarify the difference between the flexibility of developing the user experience for digital products and physical products.
Conclusion
In this article, we have attempted to clarify what user experience (UX) is and the most important characteristics of products that provide a good user experience. These elements and characteristics remain the same from one product to another, despite the differences between products or even the diversity of their target audience.
It is true that the user's personality is constantly changing, as they are human, but this does not significantly affect the nature of these elements, but rather their details. What do you believe is the most important characteristic that influences the user experience of a product? Share your opinion with us in the comments.