What is User Experience design (UX)?
In the previous article, we talked about UI or user interface for you. And we said that you should design your product in such a way that it is easy for the user to work with it. In this article, we will also introduce you to UX or user experience design, which is completely different from UI but also complementary. Today, user experience or UX has become one of the most popular and competitive fields in the digital world. Because all companies know that users spend most of their time in the virtual world. Of course, UX is not only limited to the world of internet and software, and it is one of the factors that has a significant impact on attracting customers. But in the digital world, attention to UX has become more important. The better the user experience in using your product, the more loyal he will be to you. So, in fact, one of the most important factors to consider when designing a product is user experience.
Stay with us in this article to better explain the concept of UX for you.
User experience history
In 1995, one of the employees of Apple’s psychology and design department in the 80s, named Don Norman, who is the owner of one of the most reliable sources of design education, NNG, proposed the term user experience for the first time. Before that, there was no term called user experience, but in terms of concept, it has existed for a long time before that. For centuries, humans have sought to optimize their surroundings for maximum ease for themselves and others.
With the passage of time and the evolution of technology, people’s access to high-speed internet, the spread of mobile internet, the introduction of iOS and Android operating systems and a series of events that made it easier for people to access websites and mobile applications, and little by little new needs in the field of production Various applications and websites appeared among users, and this caused different websites to leave the content and routine mode and focus on solving the basic needs of users.
What is user experience or UX?
The word UX is an abbreviation of the term (User Experience) which in Farsi is called user experience or user experience. In fact, when a user uses a product for the first time, the result of his interaction with that product will be a series of pleasant or unpleasant experiences. And the experiences he gets about that product can be associated with your product in the future. The sum of positive and negative user experiences of a product is called UX.
If this user experience is positive, it will make the user loyal to the product and convince him to use it again. If this user experience was negative, the mind of the audience will remain negative towards the product, to the extent that they may never use that product again.
User experience means user feedback when using your products or services. For example, when the user uses your product, how does he feel and what does he think.
Undoubtedly, the most important principle in building a good user experience is to provide the best solution, without any complexity or difficulty, in front of the user. Compliance with simplicity and elegance in what we offer to the user is of great importance in increasing the quality of the user experience.
Ideal user experience features
Useful
A product may be beautifully designed and easy to use, but if it doesn’t help meet a user’s need, users won’t spend time on a product they don’t need. A product must be efficient for the user, it must satisfy the needs of the audience. You should know that if the void desired by the user is not filled, then he will not be motivated to use your product or service.
Usability
The system in which the product or service is provided should be as simple and easy to use as possible. In fact, users should be able to achieve the tasks that you have planned for them to do. If when buying a product on the website, you cannot work with it easily and it is complicated to work with, it means that the product has performed poorly in the Usability parameter.
Desirable
If the design of a product is understandable and enjoyable, the user will want to use it. But if not, even the most useful and practical products can provide a poor user experience. Your product or service should be aesthetically appealing, yet easy to interpret. Make the design as minimal and purposeful as possible without any complications.
Findable
Finding the information you need about a product is also important. The user should be able to easily find your product or service. It’s pretty obvious that if you look for something but don’t find it, you’ll give up and move on to other options. The information you expose to the audience should be eye-catching and easy to browse. If a user has a problem, they should be able to find the solution on your page very quickly.
If users have to search too much for something, it means that the user experience of your product is problematic. Make sure that functions, products, content and everything provided by your product are easily searchable for users.
Accessibility
Compliance with this parameter made the design so that it can be used by all people of any ability level, even disabled people who have hearing, vision, movement or learning disabilities. Considering this issue, you have done your social responsibility in a way. And most importantly, when you consider people with less ability in your design. It becomes easier for other people to use.
Credible
The credibility of a product is very important. If a user distrusts you the first time they use your product or service, they won’t give you another chance to repeat the bad experience. Because there are many options for users to replace you.
So it is very important to pay attention to this. Every audience expects to understand a reliable and full of trust experience when facing your product or service, and as a result, in designing the user experience, we must be able to gain the user’s trust for the next use of our product.
UX designer vs UX Designer
The field of work of a UX designer is very wide and diverse and consists of various processes, but all the tasks performed by a UX designer revolve around the two important points of “user” and “designed product”.
A UX designer’s job is not only to design a beautiful user interface that is easy to work with with a design software like XD or Figma. Rather, the scope of UX designers goes far beyond these.
UX designers to create a professional website or application that provides a good UX to the user. They should have enough information in all fields to do their work in the best possible way.
General skills that a UX designer should have:
Communicating with various people for purposes such as gathering information and…
Ability to analyze information and data
Designing wireframes and prototypes
Getting to know the principles of visual design of products
Empathy with users to meet their needs
Conducting various tests and analyzing their results
Strong negotiation and presentation ability to communicate with the transaction parties
Of course, it should be noted that there are some people who focus only on one of these things and specialize in that field. We will describe some of these sections below.
UX design parts
Visual Design
Visual design is related to the graphic and appearance design of the site, which includes colors, images and elements. How to use these items correctly is very important. Because it ultimately leads to the creation of a product that the user sees and decides to buy.
User interface (UI)
You need to know that the most important part of UX is the user interface. Because by means of UI, the communication between the product and the users can be designed very simply and attractively, which ultimately results in a wonderful user experience.
If you want to learn more about user interface or UI design, read the UI design article.
Interaction Design
The most important part of UX design is interaction design, which actually shows how people interact with the product. Since products are completely different from humans; So the way humans interact with these products is also different from interacting with other humans.
Information Architecture
User accessibility is an important part of UX design. that the information architect, with the knowledge he knows, actually helps to give better access to information to users. And finally, users can find information more easily.
Accessibility
Avoid any complexity in website design. You should put the necessary information needed by the users on the main page and menu of the site. so that users can easily access them.
Usability
This feature examines and evaluates the user’s ease of use of the user interface. So, in fact, usability emphasizes ease of use in all phases of user experience design.
Human Computer Interaction (HCI) This is the main issue of this work. Human-computer interaction is basically derived from the combination of design and user experience. So, the most important principle in user experience design is to find something that leads the user to use our product.