The Value of
User Experience (UX)
October 2023, Laura Schaefer
Hi, thanks for having me! I’m Laura.
- 15+ years working in design
- Currently Director of Product Design @ Loblaw Digital (4yrs)
- Part-time faculty teaching Inclusive Design @ Sheridan College in Product Design post-grad program
- Education was actually in Illustration and Animation 🤷
I’m going to share some prompts to help you think like a customer and their ‘user experience’ engaging with your business.
What do we mean when we say ‘User Experience’?
dictionary.com
User Experience is defined as the overall experience of a person using a product
When we talk about products, we mean…
- Physical spaces (theatres, landscapes, airports, homes)
- Physical objects (phones, furniture, appliances, cars)
- Digital products (apps, websites)
- Media (movies, tv, music, advertising)
- Etc, etc, etc.
People experience all those things.
My job is determining how to present technology in a way that people can understand and utilize in a natural way.
I’m mostly here
Customers are people - and technology doesn't account for that.
It provides you with a handful of tools and capabilities, but it’s up to you to use them effectively.
1. This isn’t about you! It’s about them.
- You are not the user (the customer!) of your site, products, store, etc. You are bought in. They are not.
- Listen to your customers - act on feedback you hear repeatedly - even if you don’t love it.
- You are catering to your customers, tailor your space for them and their needs - not yours.
- Give them a way to talk to you - can they email you? Leave a review? A comment box?
2. What am I supposed to do?
- What is the ONE THING you’d want your dream customer to do?
- Force yourself to prioritize what is most important to do and put it front and center.
- This could apply to a physical store, digital store, marketing materials, a menu - anything!
- Too many goals can distract and confuse a customer - set things up to help point them on a path.
2a. What am I supposed to do?
This is Headspace’s marketing website.
They are a meditation app.
2b. What am I supposed to do?
They have prompted me in three places to try it for free.
This might be overkill, but they certainly make their point..
3. What do I do now?
After that primary goal, what should they do next? Place it in front of them and make it easy as possible.
- Sign up for newsletter after a purchase?
- Purchase a complimentary product?
- Tell a friend?
- Notify them about an upcoming event?
- Automatically pre-select their size on the next item they click on?
This is Sephora’s site, after I add an item to my shopping basket.
Immediately, they present me with complementary items to explore.
4. What does that mean?
- Ensure your writing is concise, clear and for everyone.
- Avoid using slang, turns of phrase and acronyms
- Do not assume gender
- Buttons and links should be simple “Buy now”, “Continue”, “Cancel”, “Complete”, “Edit”
- Share what is important to a customer
5. What is that?
- Make sure all physical or digital materials can be seen and read properly
- Don’t use small text if you can help it - its ok to use bigger type! And if you’re worried it’s taking up too much room, is it really worth having…?
- Make sure you have dramatic contrast between your text and background colours
- Avoid decorative fonts others may find hard to read. This especially applies to paragraph text, buttons, navigation or anything functional.
- Make your product immediately displays as large as possible in the available area.
DON’T
DO
Think as customers,
not business owners.
October 2023, Laura Schaefer