User experience

User experience, often called UX, is about how a person feels when they use something like a product, system, or service. It looks at what the person thinks about how useful the thing is, how easy it is to use, and how well it works. For companies, designers, and creators, making a good user experience is very important. If the experience isn’t good, people might stop using the product.

Sometimes, companies focus too much on making money, and this can go against what’s best for the user. Even though user experience is different for each person, there are certain qualities that make up a good experience that everyone can agree on.

Definitions

According to the Nielsen Norman Group, 'user experience' is about how people interact with a company, its services, and its products.

The international standard on ergonomics of human-system interaction, ISO 9241, says user experience is how people feel when they use or plan to use a system, product, or service. This includes all of a person's feelings, thoughts, and actions before, during, and after using it. The ISO standard says three things affect user experience: the system itself, the user, and the situation in which they are using it.

The standard also notes that usability is related to user experience. Usability is about getting tasks done, while user experience is more about how people feel about the system. Many people use the words "usability" and "user experience" as if they mean the same thing. This is because a user needs a product to be usable to complete tasks, and their feelings about the product can matter. Things like information architecture and user interface can make a user's experience better or worse. If a website is hard to navigate and a user can't find what they need, their experience will not be satisfying.

History

The idea of user experience started in the 19th and early 20th centuries during the Machine Age. People like Frederick Winslow Taylor and Henry Ford tried to make work simpler and quicker. They watched how people used tools, which is like how we think about user experience today.

The term "user experience" became popular in the mid-1990s, thanks to Donald Norman. He wanted it to mean more than just how easy something is to use. He also wanted it to include how people feel about it. As new technologies like mobile devices and website design grew, user experience came to include more than just ease of use. It now looks at how people feel, what they care about, and how happy they are when they use products or websites.

Influences on user experience

Many things can change how someone feels about using a product or system. These factors are grouped into three main types: the person's own feelings and past experiences, the features of the system itself, and the situation in which it is used. By thinking about different users, where they might use the system, how they will interact with it, and how they might feel, designers can create better experiences for everyone.

Momentary emotion or overall user experience

Every little part of using a product helps shape how we feel about it. For example, how a button feels when you press it can change how you feel about typing a message, and even how you feel about using the whole phone. But the overall feeling isn’t just the sum of these small parts, because some moments matter more than others. Things like the brand, price, what friends say, and what we read in the news also play a role.

Some studies look at the feelings people have while they are using a product, like how happy or frustrated they get. Others study how these feelings affect how much people like a product over time. Companies know that creating a good overall experience helps people stick with their brand and attracts new users. All these different times — right now, over a short period, and in the long run — are important, but each needs its own special ways to design and check how well they work.
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Critiques and ethical debates in user experience

User experience (UX) is very important when making products, but it also has some problems and questions about what is right. Sometimes, trying too hard to make users happy and meet business goals can lead to designs that are not fair or helpful. This can happen when companies care more about making money than about what is best for their users.

One big concern is that designs might trick or pressure users into doing things they didn’t plan to do. For example, some websites make it hard to cancel a service or hide important details until after a purchase is made. Experts say these tricks are not right and suggest better ways to design that focus on what is truly good for the user.

Another important issue is making sure that products work well for everyone, including people with disabilities or from different backgrounds. Sometimes, designers forget to think about these groups, which can make using the product difficult for them. To fix this, designers should test their products with many different users and follow rules that help make products accessible to all.

Developer experience

Main article: Developer experience

Developer experience (DX) is how a developer feels when using tools and software to make new products. This is very important for companies that offer software as a service, because making things easy for developers helps them be more successful.