The experience that a product or service creates for a user who uses it in the real world is called User Experience (UX). The experience mainly refers to a user’s emotions and attitudes about using the product.
It is not about the internal working of the product or service but how it works when a user comes in touch with it. A well-designed product looks pleasant to the eye and feels good to touch.
'Form Follows Function' Principle
Designing is about solving problems. A good design should be functional just as much as aesthetic. Form follows function is a concept in which the design of the product is guided by its functionality.
This approach makes sense for the internal working of a product. But when it comes to the parts that come in touch with the user, the form should be guided by the psychology and behavior of the user.
Aesthetic, Functional and UX Design
Aesthetic design makes sure that the button has an attractive shape and texture.
Functional design ensures that it sets off the suitable action on the device.
User experience (UX) design ensures that the functional and aesthetic features of the button work in connection with the rest of the product.
Good User Experience Ensures Better Business
Good user experience is essential for better business. If your product or service isn’t good, the users will seldom use it or prefer using a competitor’s website if it has a better experience.
A common way of measuring the effectiveness of a user experience is conversion rate. By knowing the number of users you would want to convert to next level, you can measure how effectively your product or service is meeting your business goals.
A good user experience enhances the efficiency of the users by assisting them to work quicker and helping them make minimal mistakes which increases the productivity of the business as a whole.
Minding Your Users
The practice of designing a product or service keeping users in mind is called User-centered Design (UCD).
The concept of UCD is very simple and takes the user into account during every step of the design process. A UCD process ensures that compromises don’t happen by accident.
The job of crafting a good user experience involves the construction of five dependent layers of experience as follows.
Surface Plane
Skeleton Plane
Structure Plane
Scope Plane
Strategy Plane
