An Introduction to User Experience (UX) Fundamentals

An Introduction to User
Experience (UX) Fundamentals
Christopher S. LaRoche
UXPA International Webinar
June 4, 2014

Overview
 I – Welcome and Introduction
 II – What is User Experience (UX)?
 III – Methods
 IV – Context and “It Depends....“
 V – Design – Where does design fit?
 VI – Future
 VII – Bibliography
 VIII - Contact Information

II. What is User Experience (UX)?

Alphabet Soup of User Experience (UX)
http://www.manyeyes.com/software/analytics/manyeyes/visualization
s/new/tag-cloud/the-alphabet-soup-of-user-experien-2/1

II. What is User Experience (UX)?
http://upassoc.org/usability_resources/about_usability/images/vectors.gif

Defining this Alphabet Soup!
 Most UX professionals use these terms interchangeable –
and usability and user experience (UX) often mean the
same things
 Often these terms have distinct and different
definitions between UX professionals
 Many people are adding UX to their resume without an
solid understanding of the profession as well and
understanding the development of one‘s UX skill set is
critical

Usability and user experience (UX) are concepts
that have been around for generations and
evolved from traditional human factors. Over the
last few decades, it has become standardized
and greatly expanded
 World War II – instrumentation, personnel selection, and training
 Software and computer hardware industry
 Web explosion
 Consumer devices
 Medical devices
What is User Experience (UX)?

• Human Factors comes from the field of psychology and
focuses on understanding basic biological/human traits and
mapping to user’s needs
• The fast growth of information technology and the internet
have made UX a critical aspect of product and service design

As the field of usability matured, it evolved into
the field of user experience (UX), which focuses
on the full end-to-end experience for a user,
not just the user’s interaction with the user
interface

 An outgrowth of human factors and early usability work was
User-Centered Design (UCD)
 Overall, UCD is a framework & method to create products
that correctly match a user’s needs and expectations.
 Products created produced using UCD principles are more
likely to be be successful since user’s needs are considered
and (likely) incorporated from the initial planning stages
User-Centered Design (UCD)

 “Know thy user, know thy user, know thy
user”
 “The key to making things understandable is
to understand what it’s like not to
understand” (Richard Saul Wurman)
User-Centered Design (UCD) - Philosophy

 Ease of learning and relearning (learnability)
 Ease of use (efficiency)
 Consistency within and between products
 First impressions
 Error prevention and recovery
 Memorability
 Satisfaction or likeability
 Flexibility and discoverability
 Improved collaboration for groups of users
User-Centered Design (UCD) - Benefits

 Users are not designers and designers are not users!
 It is more than common sense!
http://simpsons.wikia.com/index.php?title=The_Homer&image=TheHomer-png
What User-Centered Design (UCD) is NOT

User Experience (UX) is an open-ended term and profession
that continues to grow and expand
User Experience includes three distinct groupings:
RESEARCH – DESIGN - EVALUATION
User Experience (UX) – Clarity?

Within the overall field of User Experience (UX), there are a
variety of methods used to obtain information from users
When the profession was emerging in the 1970s and 1980s,
the main method was usability testing. Usability testing
proved quite successful as a way to understand the user’s
perspective on a product – and make our profession visible
The variety of methods expanded as the field evolved from
‘just’ usability testing to looking at the full user experience.
User Experience (UX) Methods

 Research – Understanding what the users
need and their goals and behavior
 Design – creating and designing the interface
or experience the user expects or needs
 Evaluation – once the interface or product is
in a working state, users can test and
evaluate if the interface or product maps to
user’s mental model and needs
UX Methods – By Grouping

Here are a sampling of the most common methods used in the
field today (divided into the grouping mentioned earlier)
Methods – By Grouping

This listing on the previous slide is only a
small sampling of the most common methods
There are many other methods available and
used – and due to the interdisciplinary nature
of the field, we keep expanding the number
of methods our field uses
Methods – By Grouping

IV. Context and “It Depends“

 Part of the overall issue with understanding
usability and the user experience is the
impact of the context of use of the product
or service
 This is critical – and needs to be
understood when working with a product
 This also makes ‘standardizing’ usability &
user experience VERY DIFFICULT
Context within User Experience (UX)

"[Usability refers to] the extent to which a
product can be used by specified users to
achieve specified goals with effectiveness,
efficiency and satisfaction in a specified
context of use." - ISO 9241-11
International Organization for
Standardization (ISO) – Usability

 The term ‘it depends’ is often used when
asked if a product is ‘usable’ or a ‘good user
experience’
 Again, all experiences are contextual, so often
the same product can be ‘usable’ for one
person and ‘not usable’ for another. This is
one of the more difficult aspects of user
experience is to understand how to know if a
product or service is indeed usable or a
positive user experience
 User research helps determine what aspects
of context are most important for a good user
experience
“It Depends...“

V. Design – Where does Design fit?

 As the field has matured and gained
acceptance within organizations, the
importance of design has also become
crucial to the user experience profession
 As the user experience field evolved and
usability testing and user research became
well know, design’s influence expanded as
important to the user experience. Now
design is rightly seen as a critical
component of the user experience field
User Experience (UX) and Design

 Using the three main groupings of research,
design, and evaluation allows the user
experience professional involvement with
the product development through the
entire product or service life cycle
 This is a recent development and a
testimony to the importance & growth of
the field, as only a decade or two ago, the
best we could hope was a part in product
evaluation (mostly usability testing)

 The idea of ‘Design Patterns’ has emerged
within the user experience field.
 Design Patterns are online style guides
and/or sets of widgets and interaction
patterns/standards to use in particular
interactions

Usability Body of Knowledge (BOK)
The Usability Body of
Knowledge (BOK) is resource
and repository for information
about UX methods and design
Content is updated and
changed over time and is
a tremendous way to review
resources about UX methods
and design information
http://www.usabilitybok.org/

VERY BRIGHT!
The user experience is now an important concept
in many products. Products need to deliver more
than just a ‘good interface’
With the increasing visibility and importance of
user experience, the idea of being strategic and
the emergence of ‘UX strategy’ is continuing
So, How Bright‘s the Future?

User Experience is now expanding into industries
that traditionally were not viewed as concerned
with ‘usability’ – and that shows how much this
field has evolved
As design becomes more a part of the overall
user experience, our field itself becomes bigger
and more valuable
The future for our field and job prospects are
quite solid and bright – for the near future
So, How Bright‘s the Future?

Design of Everyday Things User Experience
Remastered
Revised & Expanded Edition Chauncey Wilson
Donald Norman
Good UX Books

 User Experience Magazine (A UXPA publication)
http://www.usabilityprofessionals.org/uxmagazine/
 Boxes and Arrows
http://boxesandarrows.com/
 UX Matters
http://www.uxmatters.com/
 Journal of Usability Studies [JUS] (A UXPA publication)
http://www.usabilityprofessionals.org/upa_publications/jus/
Good UX Web Sites

Let‘s have a conversation about this topic!
Questions?
c.laroche@neu.edu
@silvaire
@UXPA_Int
http://www.uxpa.org
http://uxpa2014.org/
Thank you for your time!

Chris LaRoche
Chris has worked as a technical writer, information
designer, user researcher, and usability consultant in
the technology field for over eighteen years. He has
worked most frequently as a ‘UX generalist’ with a
severe interest in user research. He is also a lecturer
at the College of Professional Studies (CPS) at
Northeastern University, where he has taught for over
a dozen years. He teaches graduate courses in usability
and user experience, content strategy, user research,
and prototyping. He also teaches undergraduate survey
courses in modern Irish history. UXPA geek too!
Email: c.laroche@neu.edu
Twitter: @silvaire
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CSL Bio

An Introduction to User Experience (UX) Fundamentals

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