UX Design is not Departmental, it is a Behaviour
UX Design within an organisation should not be confined to a department, rather it is a behaviour that needs to be adopted by the whole organisation.
UX Design at a glance
User Experience (UX) Design, is applied when one puts the user first during the design of products, devices and systems. As stated by Jesse James Garrett (2010), “every product that is used by someone has a user experience: newspapers, ketchup bottles, reclining armchairs, cardigan sweaters”. Most importantly, the better the user experience = the happier the clients = the more revenue for the organisation.
For example, a simple product such as coffee.
The Starbucks coffee shop has mastered the UX of their products. In most shopping malls today , customers have a wide range of coffee shops, selling coffee at a cost far less than at Starbucks. However customers are willing to pay that extra cost for the experience at Starbucks. Something as simple as a personalised coffee mug has made Starbucks super rich.
It is my experience that many organisations don’t include the user in their design process. They simply aim to find a solution, whether the user likes it or not. The following example demonstrates this well,
Here, the Engineers of this paved path did not follow a design that focused on the users, because if they did they would have constructed it on the path that users actually prefer. A design team that correctly used UX principles would have found that the users prefer to access the parallel path, by moving across the patch of grass.
10 Heuristic Principles of UX Design
In order to adopt UX as a behaviour in an organisation, it is suggested to follow these 10 principles as a guideline;
- Visibility of system status
The system needs to provide feedback about the users actions within a reasonable time. This feedback can be provided using a colour change, loader, time-left graphics, etc.
2. Speak the users language
The system should speak the users’ language, with words, phrases, and concepts familiar to the user, rather than system-oriented terms. Follow real-world conventions, making information appear in a natural and logical order.
3. User freedom
Users often choose system functions by mistake and will need a clearly marked “emergency exit” to leave the unwanted state without having to go through an extended dialogue. Support undo and redo.
4. Be consistent
Users should not have to wonder whether different words, situations, or actions mean the same thing.
5. Error prevention
Even better than good error messages is a careful design which prevents a problem from occurring in the first place.
6. Recognition instead of memorising
Make objects, actions, and options visible. The user should not have to remember information from one part of the dialogue to another. Instructions for use of the system should be visible or easily retrievable whenever appropriate.
7. Flexibility
Accelerators — unseen by the novice user — may often speed up the interaction for the expert user such that the system can cater to both inexperienced and experienced users. Allow users to tailor frequent actions.
8. Minimalist Design
Dialogues should not contain information which is irrelevant or rarely needed. Every extra unit of information in a dialogue competes with the relevant units of information and diminishes their relative visibility.
9. Help users with errors
Error messages should be expressed in plain language (no codes), precisely indicate the problem, and constructively suggest a solution.
10. Documentation
Even though it is better if the system can be used without documentation, it may be necessary to provide help and documentation. Any such information should be easy to search, focused on the user’s task, list concrete steps to be carried out, and not be too large.
Thank you for taking the time to read this article. I hope you enjoyed it.
