A lot of people think that UX design is all about websites, how they look or how they work. But, the work of An UX designer does not end or start with that. UX isn’t just about interfaces. This is, first of all, empathy – the ability to look at the world through the eyes of other people, to feel the environment through their senses. In this article, you will find a few cases outside of interfaces in which UX is the main tool.
What is UX
First, a little Wikipedia:
“Experience of interaction (User eXperience, UX) is the sensations that arise in a person during direct interaction with objects of the surrounding world. In a narrower sense, the experience of interaction characterises a person’s personal perception of the functional and emotional characteristics of a product or service in the process of use. “
Translated into simple language, this is when you climb into the head of other people with the help of various tools (no, not trepanation), look at the world through their eyes and make the product look vital.
It turns out that there are two variables: you can influence the product – everything is clear here, the user expects that pressing the button with the camera in the application will open the camera. And you can influence the way the user looks at the surrounding reality. He’s subjective, so you can move him back and forth. Let us give you an example:
Imagine that you are reading some article about an interesting topic for yourself after clicking on ads on Facebook or elsewhere. After you finish reading, you will be shown another ad, this time for a course on that topic or a store that sells a product related to the topic that you just read. And you click on it, and you will go with a completely different script than if you saw the second ad from the very beginning. This is generally the simplest example, but it is also about changing reality.
About business and UX in interfaces
This is an article about UX outside websites, but we’ll take the opportunity to say one important thing about interfaces. When we talk about user experience, you need to remember that you need to act not only in the interests of users but also in the interests of the business.
People often buy not where it is convenient, but where it is cheaper. They will go through fire and water but will save 100 dollars on stuff costing thousands.
Today, most OTAs have an up-sale model, when it is suggested to stick a checkmark in order to charge more money from the client. By the way, we are not talking about fraud with rates and payment systems right now – we are talking about insurance, SMS notifications, etc.
And everyone understands that you can greatly simplify the user’s life and make a purchase in a few clicks, but business is not charity. Without these tricks that complicate people’s lives, online companies will simply sink into oblivion, and we will return to the Stone Age of offline air ticket offices, which, in the absence of pressure, will tear a triple markup from people.
Ideally, of course, you need to look for a balance when both the user is good and the business, but Robin Hoods are needed only by madmen. An unpleasant truth, but someone has to say this?
UX in Traction
The next stop is Lean Startup, Traction Methodology. What does it mean? A startup is trying to find a working business model in conditions of extreme uncertainty quickly, using duct tape and sticks, confronting their hallucinations with reality.
Here, the user experience is studied in the most accessible way – with the help of problem interviews. There is no product, there is no proven market, there is nothing – there is only an A4 sheet, where it is written what and for whom we will do, how to make money, and where to crawl. Well, a primitive business plan. In theory, you need to lime a pack of such sheets before the right solution is found.
Here, we assume that fishermen need a rod with a built-in module that sends the results of fishing to social networks. Today Mike caught a 4 kilograms pike and a two-kilogram crucian.
Now we are looking around for fishermen, we break into their house and ask:
– Mike, tell me how you go fishing? What do you like the most? How do you tell your friends about fishing? Why don’t you post your catch on Facebook?
We talked with Mike, understood that he does not need a Facebook spinning rod, but a light, sensitive one and what else the fishermen need. But then fisherman Dave, Mike’s friend, does not fumble in fishing at all, but wears Converse and constantly uploads pictures to Instagram. Dave, we are coming to you!
And tell us this is not a user experience study.
UX in marketing
Point interaction with the audience is increasingly penetrating the world of marketing. The funnel is being replaced by mathematical graphs. The goal is to meet the same user on different sites, in different environments and with different messages.
Before designing meetings, we study users in their real environment, segment well and prescribe a whole route of points that will lead them to the goal.
Then this route is tested point by point, conversion is measured, and efficiency is optimised. But the foundation is still a huge research work, because if the route lies in a plane different from reality, then the whole marketing department will stand up and go home, because we will spend a lot of money, but there will be little sense.
And this research work is also UX. Web design experts from Sydney assure you that there is no good marketing without good UX.
UX in manual sales
And now it’s a knight’s move – sales managers are trained in all kinds of sales techniques. SPIN for large, 5 steps for small – everything is standard. But methodology cannot exist in a vacuum.
– John, hello, I suppose that your company can use contextual advertising much better. I looked, you did a good job, but you can grow 2-3 times more. It’s, you know as if you were Kirk Hammett and you weren’t playing in Metallica, but in Green Day. Let’s meet on Christmas Eve, I’ll show you some solutions that we can help you with. Okay?
At first glance, the manager is talking nonsense, but before this message, he found out that John does not like office correspondence, but also not a supporter of familiarity; John also has a great love for Metallica, and less for Green Day; he is an atheist, he emphasises this in every possible way and does not consider religious holidays to be days off, therefore he works on these days. John will definitely like the manager. In this case, the product is a commercial offer and the goal is a deal. The manager studied John’s behaviour and optimised the commercial proposal for him.
In short, also UX.
UX in coworking
Let us give you one example: there is a lot of research about coworking spaces, including those in Europe, South America and the States. We found an interesting pattern – in those coworking spaces that are about warm lamp comfort, a fireplace and a forest around, there is a very low life cycle of one client. Approximately 2 times lower than in those in the city and with a normal working environment.
It turned out that all these cosy little things contribute to procrastination. The ideal recipe is open space closer to busy streets, with bright colours, sockets in sofas and infrastructure. Well, you get it.
UX in hunting
Imagine a situation where your company is looking for a new team member. A hunter needs to find a person at a party (for example). He will wait until the potential employee is at the coffee machine and ask:
– Hello, can you tell me how to use this coffee machine?
During the conversion, the headhunter needs to understand a bunch of things at once: is this person suitable for the company in terms of the way of thinking, professional competence, motivation in life and even a bunch of other things? It turns out that there is a situation opposite to sales – he collects information in order to discuss with colleagues later whether this person is suitable for them in the team or not. Information about human behaviour.
– And you have changed so many companies. Why, if not a secret?
– Because I burn out very quickly in one place. I accept the challenge, but overestimate my strength and leave.
For the sake of fairness, we will note that a person under supervision and a person outside an external observer are two different personalities. In the first case, people try to look the way they would like to look, and in the second, they are who they really are. But such an interview is also data, it can also be used.
Conclusion
As you can see, UX is much more than just a website. It is a very important, crucial part of business and even life. This article shows just a little part of what UX designer do, so make sure to find a good one for your team.
