User experience and user experience design

The educational technology and digital learning wiki
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Draft

<pageby nominor="false" comments="false"/>

Introduction

User experience can be defined as what impact's on the user's perception of something, i.e. it relates to more subjective and emotional aspects. Philipps and Chaparro (2009), based on experimental research, argue that “An attractive homepage entices users to view more of the site and creates feelings of interest and initial satisfaction. If the homepage is unattractive, users do not appear to be interested, nor do they desire more interaction with the site. Designers must develop a homepage that not only attracts user’ attention but also engages them. This research suggests that an attractive site is more likely to pull in users than an unattractive site regardless of how well it is designed from a usability standpoint. An unattractive site, despite high usability, does not attract user interest and maintains low satisfaction.”.

“Experience is an almost overwhelmingly rich concept, with a long history of debate and many attempts to "define" it (Jay, 2004). I primarily focus on experiences as meaningful, personally encountered events (in German: "Erlebnis") and not so much on the knowledge gained through these events (in German: "Erfahrung"). These experiences are memorized stories of use and consumption and distinct from the immediate moment-by-moment experience (e.g., Forlizzi & Battarbee, 2004; Kahneman, 1999). While the immediate moment-by-moment experience is certainly interesting, memorized experience is of more practical relevance. This is simply because most of our waking time, we are feasting on vivid memories of the past (or anticipations) rather than on immediate pleasures.” (Hassenzahl, 2011).

See also: usability, User interaction and user interface design

Bibliography

  • Jay, Martin (2006): Songs of Experience: Modern American and European Variations on a Universal Theme. University of California Press
  • Phillips, C. and Chaparro, B.S. 2009. Visual Appeal vs. Usability: Which One Influences User Perceptions of a Website More? SURL: Software Usability Research Laboratory, Wichita State University. Usability News, 11 (2). HTML/PDF