More Than Just a Pretty Face

The various user experience (UX) professions have finally convinced the majority of businesses that a good user interface (which thereupon leads to good usability and improved pleasure of use) goes beyond just putting pretty graphics on the screen.

It even goes beyond arranging the screen in a pleasing manner.

It even goes beyond deciding which functions go on which screen.

Companies with little UX exposure have not yet accepted this last one, but it is key. Expect the Sprints, Microsofts, and IBMs of the world to have it right, and many startups to not even consider the possibility.

But a good UX goes much deeper, even when limiting ourselves to product design. Consider an application to display television listings. Sure, you need a good UI to display a grid. But what else? Consider the following:

• viewing 250 channels is difficult on a large screen, and more so on a small screen
• most users will want to view a subset of channels, perhaps 15-20 in normal use
• at a given time, a user might be browsing for something to watch, or may be in the mood for something (comedy, sports, soccer, movie, ...)
• many channels have a variety of types of shows, not all of which will be appealing to a specific user
• a TV or Tivo may be present, and a mobile application would have to deliver some type of superior experience despite the limitations of small screen

A simple grid won't help users much. Instead, we'd focus on personalization, social components, and scheduling. Ideally, we'd hook into the user's home system, but that's asking a bit much for a simple application. So, we would consider designing the UI around:

• Eliminating "never interested" channels from grid
• Ability to navigate by genre
• Learning the user's habits to help make suggestions
• Adding friends, who can chat about and rate shows
• Make recommendations based on what similar people like
• Ability to schedule a show, watch it on the mobile, or set an alarm to warn the user
• Ability to live chat with friends during a show

The marketers ought to be happy with this functionality, and most of it does not require much more sophisticated programming than the simple grid.

Really, we work on helping users meet their needs, desires, and goals through product definition & design. This generally has a positive impact on marketing as well. And this is what we tend to mean by "user experience."