What is User Experience Design – UX?

What is user experience design (UX)? Well, it’s had various definitions but its most critical is that user experience design (UX) is the end user’s interaction with a company, its services and its products.

Its creator Don Norman, co-founder of the Nielsen Norman Group, says user experience design’s raison d’etre is: “The first requirement for an exemplary user experience is to meet the exact needs of the customer, without fuss or bother.”

He says by focusing on people, “we create products and services that enhance customer satisfaction, that maintain relationships, and increase sales”.

To get a clearer idea of what he means in relation to the user experience design (UX), Norman, who worked for Apple Computer in the ’90s, said in a recent interview: “Products are like people: When we love them, they can do no wrong. If we hate them, they can do no right. When you love something, everything’s wonderful. The fact that you’re having trouble doing this or that ­– well, you don’t even notice those things because you love the product so much” – and this goes to the heart of the user experience design.

In his exploration of what the user experience design (UX), Norman says it’s important to distinguish the total user experience from the user interface (UI), even though the UI is obviously an extremely important part of the design. He says, “Success in human-centered design requires giving equal weight to user experience, marketing and technology.”

In its evolution, psychology has become a critical element to the user experience design (UX) by using it to zero in on human behaviour. In so doing, its aim is to understand individuals and groups by establishing general principles and researching specific cases.

The UX process consists mainly of three stages. They are:

• A discovery phase to determine business and users requirements. What does the business wants to achieve and what do the users need and expect from it?
• The design phase where “information architecture” and user interface is created.
• The design is presented to the users and it’s tested. Does it meet their expectations and needs? Based on their feedback, the design is then tweaked or refined.