What is UX (User Experience)?

Question

I see some questions on the site with the UX tag about positioning controls, colors, etc. This usually seems to me to be part of the choices of designer (or even the user).

What is UX? And how can this help me to develop better or more enjoyable applications for users?

Answer 1

UX stands for "User Experience" (User Experience, in the English original). It refers to a field of study within the Human-Computer Interaction (IHC) that seeks to understand how people’s perceptions and responses occur when using computer systems with the intention of creating products that, in addition to being easy, useful and safe, are also captivating, engaging and fun to use. For this purpose she uses multidisciplinary knowledge, including the areas of Psychology, Design and Engineering.

The formal definition of UX (here in free translation) comes from item 2.15 of the standard ISO 9241-210:2010(en) (Ergonomics of Human-system Interaction - Part 210: Human-centred design for Interactive systems):

"the perceptions and responses of a person resulting from the use or anticipating the use of a product, system or service"

UX vs Usability x UI

Usability is the most traditional concept within IHC. It deals with ease of use of a product by a human user. It therefore includes aspects of:

1. Ergonomics: Is the individual able to use the product for the intended period without discomfort? Do the controls fit properly to their members? The information is transmitted in a way that is perceptible by your senses?
2. Security: Does the product mislead the individual? Does the product prevent mistakes from being made? Mistakes made can easily be handled?
3. Practicality: Are the objectives to be achieved clear? Is there proper feedback on the actions taken? Is the intended task easy to execute? If yes, how effective is its execution in achieving the objectives?
4. Among others....

UX deals with the subjective relationship between product and user. The objectives are to create products that are pleasant, fun, motivating, aesthetically pleasing, that allow the expression of creativity, and that reward and stimulate the user emotionally. This is sought by considering the user human factors, in addition to a mere physical and cognitive component in a system.

Is Usability then part of UX? Of course it is. Usable products will not necessarily be pleasurable, but a product that is not easy to use will hardly provide a pleasant experience. Incidentally, has already been demonstrated that in order for people to appreciate a product, they first need to achieve high levels of efficiency, effectiveness and satisfaction (in order to achieve their product goals), and that all requires that at least they are able to understand how a product works.

And the UI (User Interface), where does it come in? Well, interface design is also an important area, and it intersects a lot with usability and UX. This is natural, after all the interface is the means by which the user uses the system. A button must not only be functional (i.e., do what must be done when clicked), but also be easy to be understood as a button (usability) and assist in producing a pleasant experience (being beautiful is part of UX). Anyway, the interface design is more of a construction aspect (i.e., engineering), because it is the implementation that supports what is studied and evaluated by usability and by UX.

Therefore, UI and usability are necessary stages to achieve UX (the source of the graphic is the book Designing Pleasurable Products):

Note that these boundaries are not necessarily exact. Each type of product may require more or less relevance in a specific aspect. In the image below, based on the same text referenced earlier, the horizontal axis goes from more "serious" products (the type used in offices to solve problems) to less "serious" products (the type of digital games). The two lower categories are related to the design of interfaces and usability, because they deal with making a product that first works (effectiveness), secondly it works in the best way possible (efficiency). The third category still deals with usability, because satisfaction is also the absence of discomfort and ease of use. But it already allows the path to the top category, which is directly linked to preferences, memories and other affective factors of the user.

Answer 2

UX is an area of knowledge that studies the interaction of users with the product or object whether it is a software or physical device in order to facilitate its use. In other words, UX 'thinks' about how the user should use the object, how to communicate its concepts and functionalities through the interface without prior reading of an entire manual.

Several aspects are taken into account to make the product more pleasant and simple to use. Some techniques used range from defining the target audience going from the use personas, interviews with potential real users to collect information on how 'guinea pigs' understand, perceive, what difficulties they have using/analyzing the product/model.

UX uses much of the knowledge of cognitive psychology, some examples of use are to analyze the workload required for interaction of a screen, define a suitable vocabulary so that instructions (Labels) are easy to understand for the target audience, define controls suitable for tasks.

Related:

Many screens or a screen with lots of information?

Answer 3

User experience

User Experience (EU), English user Experience (UX), involves the feelings of a person in relation to the use of a particular product, system or service. User experience highlights the affective, experiential, significant and valuable aspects of human-computer interaction and product property. In addition, includes a person’s perceptions of practical aspects, such as usefulness, ease of use and effectiveness of the system. A user experience is subjective in nature as it is about the individual perception and thinking with regard to the system. A user experience is dynamic as it is constantly modified to time, due to changing circumstances and innovations.

Origin: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

In the course of Information Systems, I had the subject of Human-Computer Interaction (IHC), IHC being the set of processes, dialogues, and actions through which the human user interacts with a computer. It can help improve the user experience.

Based on my years of experience in software development, I say that the first barrier to be broken in the use of software is the psychological ability of users to adapt the methodology used in the behavioral use of software.

An example I can mention, in a system that had two screens of basically equal registrations, but with different purposes. But with a slight visual difference, where one of the fields was in a different position, being asked by a certain user that the screens were similar in the layout of the fields, screens that were over 8 years old and that no other user had ever bothered by such a difference.

So I believe that one point for UX is the system follows a behavioral pattern. A point to be taken into account in the behavior of a system would be on the CRUD screens the buttons, "Save", "Delete", "Cancel"... always be positioned in the same area.

Answer 4

UX is the user/consumer experience when using a particular service or product. In the case of application development, you can implement UX knowledge by understanding what your client’s profile (persona) is, knowing what he wants (really what is desired, not only meet what is requested the briefing, if it is found that this is not the best option), as it can do to get there (navigation) and if it was easy or if it was difficult to complete the action (experience). This also determines the degree of user satisfaction and whether it will return to use the application or not. Clarity is the main way to develop the interface, organize the content and ensure the success of the project.

Sources/ Recommendations: Introduction and good practices in UX Design, Fabrício Teixeira

Answer 5

According to the definition of ISO 9241-210: 2010:

Provides requirements and recommendations for human-centered design principles and activities throughout the lifecycle of interactive computer-based systems. It is intended to be used by those who manage design processes, and is concerned with ways in which hardware and software components of interactive systems can improve human-system interaction.

And how this can help me develop better or more enjoyable applications for users?

Withdrawn of that answer Nielsen’s 10 Heuristics for Usability.

1. Visibility of system status The system should always keep users informed about what is happening, through appropriate feedback and in a reasonable time.

2. Correspondence between the system and the real world The system should speak the language of the users, with words, phrases and concepts familiar to the user, rather than terms oriented to the system. Follow real-world conventions, making the information that appears in a natural and logical order.

3. User control and freedom Users often choose some system functions by mistake and will always need a clearly marked "emergency exit" to get out of that unwanted state without having to go through an extensive "dialogue". Undo and redo support.

4. Consistency and standards Users do not need to guess that different words, situations or actions mean the same thing. Follow the platform conventions.

5. Error prevention Even better than good error messages is a careful design that prevents this error from occurring first. Eliminating or verifying error-prone conditions presented users with a confirmation option before committing to a particular action.

6. Recognition instead of memory Minimize user memory load by making objects, actions and options visible. The user should not have to remember the information from one part of the dialog to another. System operating instructions shall be visible and easily retrievable when necessary.

7. Flexibility and efficiency of use Accelerators - invisible to the novice user - can often accelerate interaction for the experienced user, which the system can suit both inexperienced and experienced users. Allow users to customize frequent actions.

8. Aesthetics and minimalist design Dialogues should not contain information that is irrelevant or rarely necessary. Each extra unit of information in a dialogue competes with the relevant units of information and decreases its relative visibility.

9. Help users recognize, diagnose, and resolve errors Error messages should be expressed in clear language (no codes), accurately indicate the problem and constructively suggest a solution.

10. Help and documentation Even if it is better that a system can be used without documentation, it may be necessary to provide help and documentation. Any information should be easy to search for, focusing on user activity, list of concrete steps to be performed, and not be too large.