We started this series by conducting a poll to see what readers had to say about what they thought made a good user experience. We had 4 options; Usability, Visual Appeal, Emotional Response, and Help Features, these were followed by the common All of the Above, and None of the Above.

Wrapping Things Up

The results were as follows; we determined that the defining factor of a good user experience was usability (33.59% of the votes), a well balanced approach based on a combination of all of the elements (Usefulness / Usability, Media Quality / Visual Appeal, Emotional Appeal, Support Interactions (help features)) was the second most important approach, and visual appeal came in a distant third (mostly due to being included in the all of the above selection).

In part 1 of the series, we discussed a balanced approach to our creating a good user experience. Initially I said…

I do believe that usability is the top priority when creating a user based design/product… but we must be wary of setting usability out there on it’s own as if it were the Lone Ranger while the other valued components that make a good user experience are left to play sidekick (Tonto).

I still believe this to be true… but in doing research and listening to others on the topic I think it is important to note that usability is the foundation upon which any good user experience is built, it can survive on it’s own. I was initially trying to convey that what we think users want isn’t always what users want. We must guard against relying on what we think we know. Obviously we must use our knowledge and skill set, but each project must be approached with fresh input from users.

In part 2 of the series we looked at Usability. We talked about three simple ways to incorporate usability into our web design.

1. Make sure that the user can navigate through the site to the desired end results efficiently. Is the navigation clear and easy to follow? Are the links/buttons easy to click? (you would be surprised) Does the link text properly define the page it is linking to?

2. Make sure that the content is given proper value. Is it concise? Does it tell the story? Is it lost in the style/look and feel of the site? We must remember that the content is why someone has come to the site in the first place.

3. Will the usability marry well with the style? Can you make the site a great visual experience without sacrificing the desired end result? Will it still function well in all browsers? Is it accessible? If you can marry these two elements you are almost guaranteed a great end result.

In part 3 of the series we looked at Visual Appeal. As we looked at this we came to two conclusions.

1) The shoe has to fit.
The design has to fit within the intended scope of the project.

“With anything that has value, especially visual appeal, it’s value is found within the context of it’s purpose”

2) Don’t sacrifice comfort for beauty.

If we are sacrificing usability for visual appeal we are chasing the wind. No matter how cool something looks if you can’t use it it’s value decreases. We must strive to find the balance in creating beautiful interfaces/designs that people can use easily.

To wrap this series up I would say that we have to strive to improve our understanding of experience design if we are going to provide good user experiences. For some of us this comes easy we can simply look at sites/products and come up with different ways that the overall experience can improve. For the rest of us we need to work at it, I would suggest becoming a student, read blogs, watch conference videos if you cant attend learn from the people that are leading the way in experience design now.

By no means would I even consider myself to have reached the level of most in this arena, but most if not all of what I have written in this series has come from listening to and reading the thoughts of the experts, and failing, yes failing, you can never really grow and learn if you are not trying and failing. Aside from this another key to developing experience design knowledge and skills is to diversify your skill set don’t just learn one aspect, learn as much as you can from every angle you can.

Thanks for tuning in to this series. I would love to hear your thoughts and opinions on user experience

~ Aaron I