4. CHAPTER 1: The Tao of UXD
What Is User Experience Design?
The Broad Definition
Don’t Forget the Tangible
Our Focus
About UX Designers
Where UX Designers live
let’s get Started!
5. The important thing is not to stop
questioning. Curiosity has its own
reason for existing. One cannot help
but be in awe when he contemplates
the mysteries of eternity, of life, of
the marvelous structure of reality.
It is enough if one tries merely to
comprehend a little of this mystery
every day.
Albert Einstein
6. A sense of curiosity
is nature’s original
school of education.
Smiley Blanton
7. Passion and purpose go hand-in-hand. When you
discover your purpose, you will normally find it’s
something you’re tremendously passionate about.
8. The great gift of human
beings is that we have
the power of empathy.
Meryl Streep
10. User experience design
“The creation and synchronization of the
elements that affect users’ experience with a
particular company, with the intent of
influencing their perceptions
and behavior.”
11. These elements include the things a user can
touch
(such as tangible products and packaging),
hear (commercials and audio signatures),
and even smell (the aroma of freshly
baked bread in a sandwich shop).
12. It includes the things that users can
interact with in ways beyond the physical
such as :
digital interfaces (websites and mobile apps.)
people
customer service representatives
salespeople
friends
family
13. One of the most exciting developments of
the past few years has been the ability to
merge the elements affecting these
different senses into a richer, integrated
experience.
Smell-o-vision is still far in the future, but
otherwise products continue to blur the
traditional lines.
14. Don’t Forget the Tangible
Although we’re focusing on the digital aspects of the user experience,
these types of interactions don’t occur in a vacuum. Be sure to consider the
effects of the tangible experience when designing your digital products.
The environment your users are working within matters, as do the physical
products (screens, keyboards, and other input devices) that affect the way
your users will interact with your design. Chapter 6 offers techniques to
help you understand the impact of context.
Also, don’t forget the other touchpoints a product or company has with
those who interact with it. After all, the brand of the company is affected
by many things, and the brand experience doesn’t end at the screen of a
computer or a mobile phone. The best possible website design can’t make up
for a reputation for poor customer service or provide the satisfaction of
well designed packaging when a product gets delivered.
Tangible experiences, such as learning in a classroom (Figure 1.1), are
increasingly being influenced by digital applications.
18. About UX Designers
Although
“curiosity, passion, and empathy”
are traits that user experience designers
share, there is also a desire to achieve
balance. We seek out a balance, most notably
between logic and emotion, like Spock and
Kirk, or Data and Data in that episode where
his emotion chip overloaded his positronic
relays.
19. About UX Designers
To create truly memorable and satisfying
experiences, a UX designer needs to
understand how to create a logical and viable
structure for the experience and needs to
understand the elements that are important
to creating an emotional connection with the
product’s users.
20. About UX Designers
The exact balance may shift according to the
product. An ad campaign for
a child’s toy will have a different balance than
an application for tracking patient information
at a hospital.
A product designed without understanding the
need for both is likely to miss opportunities for
a truly memorable experience and the resulting
benefits to the company behind the product.
21. Where UX Designers
Live
TABLE 1.1 A Sampling of UX Organizations
ORGANIZATION
WEBSITE
MAJOR CONFERENCE
(TYPICALLY HELD)
Interaction Design
Association (IxDA)
www.ixda.org
Interaction (early
february)
The Information
Architecture Institute (IAI)
www.iainstitute.org
World IA Day (february/
Early spring)
American Society for
Information Science and
Technology (ASIS&T)
www.asis.org
IA Summit (March)
www.sigchi.org
CHI (early April)
ACM Special Interest
Group on ComputerHuman Interaction
(SIGCHI)
http:/
/www.ux.in.th