{"id":8512,"date":"2018-08-30T18:30:01","date_gmt":"2018-08-30T16:30:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.centigrade.de\/blog\/?p=8512"},"modified":"2020-01-25T19:29:18","modified_gmt":"2020-01-25T18:29:18","slug":"ux-what-everyday-life-teaches-us-about-user-experience","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/www.centigrade.de\/en\/blog\/ux-what-everyday-life-teaches-us-about-user-experience\/","title":{"rendered":"What everyday life teaches us about UX or: how I learned to see the (digital) world with different eyes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Do you remember the moment you first realized that there is something like user experience? Probably not. Only looking back I realized that I already suffered from bad product UX as a young kid. And I bet you did too. I remember big fights with my family members: before every household had an obligatory flat-rate, internet use had to be fought for way harder than today. As soon as I had landed ten minutes of precious surfing time, siblings shouted into the computer room that they had to make the most important phone call of their lives \u2013 now! Getting offline for a phone call \u2013\u00a0definitely very bad UX. I remember my deflation: how can be a cool new thing like the internet be so unfun at times?<\/p>\n

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Twenty-five years later I arrived, initially an outsider, at a company that is always looking for a successful user experience. They live UX. Although I could not understand the terminology and every day brought new insights, I quickly understood that UX is nothing foreign, and that my colleague\u2019s project work is echoed in my everyday life.<\/p>\n

No UX without context<\/h3>\n

Have you ever watched a movie more than once, with one of the screenings being no fun at all? The first time you saw the movie in a large cinema with excellent sound. You were accompanied only by a few movie fans crackling their popcorn bags in pleasant anticipation.<\/p>\n

Cut. The same movie in a run-down cinema, the floor sticky with lemonade, sitting next to a horde of pubescent teenagers noisly eating a disgusting volume of chips and commenting on every other line.<\/p>\n

It is impossible to judge a product on its own because it cannot be separated from the context of the interaction.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe product might seem perfect \u2013 but good UX only develops in the right context\u201d<\/p>\n

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This is why my colleagues always work scenario-based and focus on small usage contexts that are relevant to the product. Afterwards, the product is adapted and optimized for exactly this context. This prevents work on interactions that are actually irrelevant to the user.<\/p>\n

Who is using whom?<\/h3>\n

Another example: have you ever felt like a machine or device you\u2019re using is alive? A defiant, inscrutable being that opposes all your efforts and stops you from reaching your goal again and again? Many ticket machines have those qualities. Sometimes they are so stubborn that you miss your train or become an unwilling fare dodger.<\/p>\n

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Source: Wikipedia<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

Often we get the feeling that technology isn\u2019t supporting us. Instead it annoys us because we cannot use it correctly. It leaves us wondering if we are stupid. Of course, we\u2019re not. A good UX does not develop when a user is finding out how to use a machine or an interface.<\/p>\n

\u201cUsing the interface is never the goal itself. The users care little about the interface. They have a result in mind when they begin the interaction, and care about getting that result.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Good UX develops when there\u2019s nothing to find out about the interface, when the interface is not a barrier between user and result, but an intuitive medium. Only then, frustration and confusion are replaced by competence and joy. We cannot accept to be used. We can demand good UX.<\/p>\n

The user is not the problem. But they should be.<\/h3>\n
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Quelle: Brand Gamania<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

We don\u2019t have to assume that we\u2019re the problem because we have not mastered a device. However, we should be seen as a problem: much earlier, before a concept becomes a product. This becomes obvious in my everyday life as well. Recently I was standing at a sink, spending several seconds gesticulating under the faucet and wondering why I did not hit the mark. Looking closer, I saw that the sensor was placed at the bottom of the faucet. I had to place my hands lower and directly in front of it. Which I did, and water flowed. But moving my hand from the sensor to the water, it stopped again. I actually had to wash my hands single-handedly, one at a time. And I\u2019m supposed to be the problem?<\/p>\n

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Apparently, UX can not be thought intensive enough<\/span><\/span> while planing a bathroom:<\/p>\n

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2 unit tests. 0 integration tests. pic.twitter.com\/K2MZKwr8JT<\/a><\/p>\n

— DEV Community (@ThePracticalDev) August 2, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n