Post Link: What Good UX Design is Made Of

What Good UX Design is Made Of

Good UX (user experience) design is all about solving problems. It’s about standing in theuser’s shoes and gaining a deeper understanding of how they think and what they need in orderto create the right solution.

As a field that can combine a wide variety of disciplines from computer science and graphicdesign to psychology and anthropology, UX design can be applied to almost any interactionbetween people and space. In thinking about what makes a good user experience, a few keythemes immediately jump out.

Defining Good UX Design

1. Good UX design goes unnoticed.

Good UX is about facilitating the task at hand while making it effortless. The user doesn’t haveto think about how to do something, they just do it.

One way to think about this is how one definitelytends to notice when experiences are bad.Whether you accidentally run into a door because it didn’t open the way you expected, or you’re

having trouble navigating a new app, it’s always frustrating when something doesn’t work “likeit’s supposed to.” UX matters because good design gets out of the way and makes people’slives easier.

Take the mobile transportation app, Uber, for example. You open up the app and in a coupletaps, a driver is on his or her way to pick you up. Once you reach your destination, the apptakes care of payment. This seamless experience gets you from point A to point B without thehassle of finding a cab or fumbling through a clumsy transaction. Ease of use is the key to asuccessful user experience.

2. Good UX design is all about context and timing.

If you’ve ever clicked a video link in the middle of a public place or crowded office, only toendure the embarrassing moment of having it blast louder than expected for everyone to hear,you’re probably appreciative of the fact that when you click a YouTube link nowadays, it’sautomatically set to ‘mute.’ Taking these kinds of contextual considerations into account ishugely important to UX design.

Context is especially important when designing complementary web and mobile experiences.Consider the tasks you may want to accomplish while at your computer compared to thoseyou’re more likely to do on your phone.

When planning a trip, for instance, you may book your hotel, compare prices on flights, andresearch restaurants while on your computer. But you may check in for your flight, search fordirections, or consult your itinerary on your phone. Services like Kayak and TripIt keep thesebehaviors in mind when designing their websites and apps, prioritizing the tools you need forthe given moment.

It’s also a matter of timing. Good UX avoids unnecessary roadblocks or interruptions, insteadsupporting a continuous flow from one task to the next, giving you everything you need at theright moment. Sites like The New York Times and The Hollywood Reporter will suggestadditional articles as you’re reading, allowing you to click through to the next topic of interestwithout having to return to the homepage. This avoids a “hub and spoke” navigation, where youhave to jump back and forth from a central point to complete each task. Timing is key tokeeping users engaged.

Netflix offers another great example here. If you’re watching a TV series, Netflix will queue upthe next episode for you and automatically play it after thirty seconds. The user doesn’t need togo back to the menu to choose the episode. She can just sit back and let it play. Great UXdesign will provide what you need, when you need it, without you having to find or ask for it.

3. Good UX design can become fine-tuned to your needs.

Good user experiences are designed to gradually learn about their users, so that when youreturn, it already knows your preferences and can make better suggestions. It’s not a stagnantexperience, but gets smarter as you use it.

Think about a trip to the ATM. How many steps does it take to withdraw cash? At Wells Fargo,the ATM displays my top actions after I enter my pin. With one tap, I can withdraw $40 from my

checking account. No need to repeat multiple steps, since I always answer the same way. Agood UX considers your habits and adjusts to your needs.

Amazon is another great example of this. Based on previous purchases, Amazon can suggestother products that you might need or be interested in. Once you find a product you need, youcan skip all the checkout steps and use 1-Click ordering to have the item sent to the shippingaddress on file.

4. Good UX design balances user needs and business goals.

Good UX design can usually be found in a sweet spot between user needs and business goals.A media site may want to maximize ad impressions, but a page cluttered with banner adsbecomes unreadable. The best experience delivers a powerful journalism experiencecomplemented by the advertisement that supports it. The New York Times, Slate, and TheEconomist have published specially designed sponsored content that carefully addresses thesegoals.

Sometimes, this balance is actually vital to creating brand loyalty. Take Hulu for example. In thebeginning, this online video service didn’t have agreements with television networks to offermany popular television shows. If someone searched for a show that wasn’t available on Hulu,would it lead them to a dead-end “no results” page?

Hulu decided instead to essentially say, “No, we don’t have this particular show, but click hereto watch it on ABC.” They created an experience where they actually sent users off their site,which may seem counterintuitive. This move, however, resulted in users coming back to Huluover and over again, because they knew the site would always lead them to the content theywanted.In the end, the best user experiences are those that evolve. Technology, trends, and behaviorare all constantly in flux, and UX design must adapt to those changes.

That’s the great thing about digital design in particular––it’s very iterative. Everything can beprototyped, tested, and modified quickly, and it’s constantly in a state of further development.Post originally located at: www.handshake.com/blog/what-good-ux-design-is-made-of

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