A couple of weeks ago I set out to concisely define User Experience (UX). My hope was to describe the profession in simple terms so that lay people, especially potential clients could garner an understanding of the value of UX. In this chapter we discuss visual design. After all it is the big “d” in “User Experience Design”.

Fancy Design

It’s a common misconception that UXD is just a fancy way to design a web site or application interface. I believe that it is a set of processes that create a successful design. The operative word in what I do is “experience.” But rarely is the experience part seen as much as the design. I help tell stories by making sure I understand the audience, the organization, and what connects the two. For instance, if I am creating an experience for the baby boomer demographic, like AARP, I pay close attention to size of type, size of buttons, and minimize the use of new patterns. It’s all visual but I know to follow these interface design best practices because I’ve tested and researched enough sites and applications to know what will work.

User Experience is a specialty trade that conducts research, tests designs, and contributes guidance to designers and the design process. The end product of what I do is a design whether it be an application interface like an iPhone app, a corporate web site design, or a social media interface the likes of Facebook. The point here is that design without research and testing is likely a visually appealing shell that will not perform.

Please understand that this is not a knock against the design profession. After all, I’m a classically trained designer myself. But I enhanced my design skills by spending time understanding the art of storytelling, researching, and testing in an effort to prove that my design and design strategy would work.

When You Can’t Afford to Make a Mistake

One of the first large scale web sites I worked on was with Royal Dutch Telecom (KPN) in the Netherlands. It was the first Telecom at the time to move a majority of its services and products online in an environment of people who still rode their bicycles to work and had little trust in online transactions. In order to make this eCommerce site successful I spent much of my time learning the culture and observing the differences between personal and business interactions.

The research netted functionality that allowed users to research and select services and products online but not purchase online. They were able to send the information to the nearest store and speak with a KPN associate and then complete the transaction. This offline process was a key contributor to the success of the site.

This example is a great illustration of User Experience Design. If the site was just a design exercise it would not have been nearly as successful and likely would have been a waste of a tremendous amount of money.

eCommerce sites and sites that require people to do something like sign up for a product cannot afford to have a glossy design that does not perform. I’ve seen it time and time again- great looking design and poor user experience. The knee jerk reaction is to blame the designer or the design. And that is simply the wrong thing to do. What was the goal of the site? Was there a good understanding of the audience? Were the design concepts tested? Where was the UX professional?

Summary

User Experience Design is about the “experience” portion of a project. It is a contributor to the final design and design process. If you have a web site or application that needs to perform it is essential that you add a UX professional to the project. The research and time invested will result in higher performance and better overall value.

Stay tuned for Chapter Three when I’ll discuss research and testing.

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