User Experience: More than simply an interface
There’s a lot of buzz in the technology world about User Experience, or UX as it is more commonly abbreviated. There is definitely a need to make the human-machine interface a more natural and intuitive one. However, I was reminded this weekend that UX can (and indeed, should) be applied to every interaction that a business has with their clients.
Let me elaborate by using an example of what happened to me this weekend when I met with a few friends for breakfast.
We decided to try one of the restaurants in Camps Bay, and the first thing I noticed about this place was that it was polluted with noise! The main culprit were the juicers that were placed on the bar counter which was quite close to where the clientele were sitting; these noise creators should rather have been hidden away in the kitchen. The restaurant has a sleek and minimalist design and layout, but doesn’t provide sufficient sound damping.I’m rather susceptible to ambient noise, but I’m sure that I’m not the only one who is negatively affected by loud, repetitive noises while I’m trying to hold a conversation.
The second annoyance of that morning’s experience was the frequency of interruptions from the waitrons and manager, constantly asking if everything was alright, or if we needed anything else, and so forth. I certainly appreciate helpfulness, but I don’t enjoy having my conversations interrupted unnecessarily.
When I left the restaurant, I realised that I probably wouldn’t rush back there, but rather go to a tried and tested place where I can feel more comfortable and enjoy the dining experience. With a bit more thought and cognizance of the senses that encompasses a person’s experience, the restaurant could’ve easily made my experience a more positive one, but more interesting for me is how this experience is mirrored on the web.
This particular restaurant clearly had a major focus on design. It is attractive and modern, and made you feel as if you were going to enjoy something special; however, the content of our conversation was drowned out by unnecessary noise. With websites and applications, often the design overcompensates for a lack of good content. It screams: “Look how attractive I am!”, but underneath the glamorous exterior there is either little value in the content, or the value has not been clearly thought through and articulated.
My friends and I were often unnecessarily interrupted, meaning the flow of our conversations was broken. This happens in interface design all the time. Instead of following a process to its logical next step, often systems will take us to areas of the system where we weren’t expecting to be, leaving us confused, irritated and searching to find our place again.
User Experience design is nothing new. Good product and service designers have been doing this for years. It’s a combination of many skills and leanings, but probably the most important traits a UX designer can have is great observation and an empathetic nature; the ability to see how people are experiencing the product or service as well as understand their needs. Armed with these traits (as well as a healthy measure of experience) great User Experiences can be crafted.
Category: User Experience
