USER EXPERIENCE

User experience best practices promote improving the quality of the user’s interaction with and perceptions of your product and any related services. UX focuses on having a deep understanding of users, what they need, what they value, their abilities, and also their limitations. It also takes into account the business goals and objectives of the group managing the project.

UX involves the design of the entire process of acquiring and integrating the product, including aspects of branding, design, usability, and function.  Different disciplines such as interaction design, information architecture, visual design, usability, and human-computer interaction are used in UX design.

"A UI without UX is like a painter slapping paint onto canvas without thought; while UX without UI is like the frame of a sculpture with no paper mache on it. A great product experience starts with UX followed by UI. Both are essential for your product’s success."

At the core of UX is ensuring that users find value in what you are providing to them. in order for there to be a meaningful and valuable user experience, information must be:

UsableSite must be easy to use
Useful: Your content should be original and fulfill a need
Desirable: Image, identity, brand, and other design elements are used to evoke emotion and appreciation
Findable: Content needs to be navigable and locatable onsite and offsite
Accessible: Content needs to be accessible to people with disabilities
Credible:Users must trust and believe what you tell them

Creating a successful user-centered design encompasses the principles of human-computer interaction (HCI) and goes further to include the following disciplines:

Project Management focuses on planning and organizing a project and its resources. This includes identifying and managing the lifecycle to be used, applying it to the user-centered design process, formulating the project team, and efficiently guiding the team through all phases until project completion.

User Research focuses on understanding user behaviors, needs, and motivations through observation techniques, task analysis, and other feedback methodologies.

Usability Evaluation focuses on how well users can learn and use a product to achieve their goals. It also refers to how satisfied users are with that process.

Information Architecture (IA) focuses on how information is organized, structured, and presented to users.
User Interface Design focuses on anticipating what users might need to do and ensuring that the interface has elements that are easy to access, understand, and use to facilitate those actions.

Interaction Design (IxD) focuses on creating engaging interactive systems with well thought out behaviors.

Visual Design focuses on ensuring an aesthetically pleasing interface that is in line with brand goals.

Content Strategy focuses on writing and curating useful content by planning the creation, delivery and governance behind it.

Accessibility focuses on how a disabled individual accesses or benefits from a site, system or application. Section 508 is the governing principal for accessibility.

Web Analytics focuses on the collection, reporting, and analysis of website data.

User Experience Design is the process of development and improvement of quality interaction between a user and all facets of a company. It is responsible for being hands on with the process of research, testing, development, content, and prototyping to test for quality results. UX design is in theory a non-digital (cognitive science) practice, but used and defined predominantly by digital industries.