EDISONDA - user experience studio

User Experience is a term encompassing all aspects of experience when using a product. It is an abstract and subjective feeling, caused, however, by exact and objective factors. Above all, it is a factor that determines a customer’s attachment to a brand. So, how to achieve the right User Experience?

The Holy Grail of design

Nowadays everyone wants to cause the "wow effect", "to make customer attached", "to stand out from the rest". However, it is getting more and more difficult in the face of growing competition and designers’ inventiveness. On the other hand, customers are getting increasingly more demanding and they expect from companies much more than just a website. But what exactly? The answer is difficult but possible to give. But if everybody knew it, the designers would not be needed. Because of the fact that we want to partially control consumers’ emotions and needs, achieving the right User Experience is a great challenge. We can, however, guarantee that methodical attitude creates better chances that Graal will be found. Below, we present some of the aspects of User Experience that we take into account when designing new products.

User Experience is an emotion

Emotions are inherent aspect of our life.

Emotions are inherent aspect of our life. Love, anxiety, good mood, fear, all these terms relate to the affective domain (this is how emotions are called by the scientists). Without emotions our life would be shallow and colourless. Many emotions arise unconsciously but they affect very strongly our behaviour: They decide on what we read, what we buy and what kind of toothpaste we use. Each product provokes some emotions. The designer’s task is to make sure these emotions are positive.

It is an experience

Experience has a holistic nature. That is why a good User Experience demands from the designers that they control as many factors as possible. Each element of interaction is essential: how long the website loads, how the links work, where the photos appear, what kind of associations the colours and fonts evoke, what message is included in the text, and how easy to read it is. Experience is also subjective so, in order to control it, we have to take into account habits, expectations, fears and needs of a group that we address. From the first to the very last moment of interaction.

User Experience is hidden in the detail

Every designer knows that it is the detail that makes a good project different from an excellent one. An average consumer may not be aware why certain e-commerce site wins his trust, while the other does not. However, it does not change the fact that he will give his credit card number to the first one only. The cohesion of the way the forms operate, graphic elements, contact data, high quality photographs, small obstacles that are posed for the users by a service - all these are elements of website reception and build its image in the eyes and head of a consumer. Therefore, not only the design but also the management of the website is extremely important when building a positive User Experience.

User Experience is a process

Processes run in many different variants, and designer decides on the best of them

Processes run in many different variants, and designer decides on the best of them. Processes last in time. It means that designers and owners of the website have to control each element of interaction. How do users get to know about the website? A newspaper advertisement? A link in an article? Google? Which page of the website are they directed to and do they know they can do there? How do they browse the available products and when do they make a purchasing decision? A purchasing process has its specific stages and during each of them a user-customer should be skilfully guided. He needs to feel that the designers made their best to take good care of him.

Usability versus User Experience

One of the basic aspects of an interaction is its simplicity. Website usability is a feature that defines how easily one can use it. To what extent is it intuitive and "transparent". High usability does not guarantee that the website will be successful but low usability may discredit it in the customers’ eyes. That is why we conduct usability testing, experts’ audits and statistics’ analysis in order to see whether a product meets the usability requirements. Usability is one of the necessary elements of a good User Experience.

Why to invest in something that is intangible?

We are talking about things that are difficult to measure and even more difficult to see: emotions, brand image, processes. However, all these elements create real motivations which control users’ behaviour. They decide on whether they click "Add to cart" button, whether they will recommend the website to their friends, and on many other activities which are vital to the owners. If the attitude is inappropriate, research and projects are created ad hoc, it may turn out that the users will not be able to do their tasks at all.

Then they will feel as if they were unable to thread a needle.

And it should not be like that

Usability testing

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Design