Published on <a href="https://blog.prototypr.io/great-user-experiences-are-more-than-just-interfaces-b6321ab64ce9?source=rss----eb297ea1161a---4">| Prototyping: From UX to Front End &mdash; Medium</a> Nathan Allsopp <img alt="" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1024/1*kb4J3xboy6gk5vFUHGcBZw.jpeg">There’s more to an experience than just colour.
Many people think that User Experience (UX) corresponds to very design-driven concepts and ideas.
<blockquote>Interfaces. Colours. Navigation.</blockquote>
And they’re right — design and UX go hand-in-hand. Products need to have interfaces that are easy to use, and design decisions influence the creation of that interface.
What many fail to realise is that there are plenty of factors beyond the interface that influence UX. Crafting the perfect product means more than just a great visual experience.
<blockquote>It means stepping outside of Sketch and making sure every part of your startup contributes to a kick-ass experience</blockquote>
Here’s why.
<h4>1 — The interface is only one part of the picture</h4>
UX Designers scrutinise every detail of an interface from the colours to the icons in order to create the best possible experience. However, design is only one part of the User Experience picture.
There are other departments and considerations outside of the design realm that have a key impact upon a user’s experience.
<ul>
<li>Notifications: Whether they’re push, email or SMS, notifications play a key role in satisfying or annoying users. If your notification strategy is purely annoying users, don’t be surprised if your product’s UX is deemed to be sub-par.</li>
<li>Customer Support: Support is an important part of every experience. The difference between an unhappy support rep and a happy one can drastically change how a user feels about their experience.</li>
<li>Processes: Odd-jobs, such as changing one’s payment method or deleting an account, are often deliberately difficult to encourage people away from those actions. However, is it really worth leaving a bad taste in the user’s mouth just to try and save a few unsatisfied users or reduce your payment fees?</li>
</ul>
Designers — venture outside of Sketch and ensure the entire organisation is making UX a priority. Ask Customer Support what people are complaining about. See if the Sales team has any feedback from their presentations. Look on Twitter to see if people are moaning about super-long refund processes.
<h4>2 — The value of the UX team needs to be spread across other teams</h4>
Many activities that UX designers undertake are of great value to other functions within the business. Simply placing a few designers in a room and letting them do their own thing isn’t going to yield the best possible results.
A great example is the research undertaken by UX designers. Whether it is user interviews, A/B tests or other forms of analysis, the results produced from UX studies are incredibly value to other business functions.
<ul>
<li>Marketing can get a better understanding of what is resonating with various groups of users</li>
<li>Product Managers can come to understand if their products are actually solving user’s problems or not</li>
<li>Sales can leverage common problems that users identify to refine their pitch decks</li>
</ul>
Take the time to move around and socialise with other business functions. Ask what they’re working on, see if they need help and exchange knowledge with them. You might just find that you can add value to them, and they can make your life easier in return.
<img alt="" src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/1024/1*EQX_EJicy5Ipdp99sOc_YA.jpeg">Products are a team effort — share the knowledge with everyone on the team. <a href="https://unsplash.com/photos/7de474KZIbs">Unsplash</a>
<h4>3— The external landscape impacts UX expectations</h4>
Similar to typical competitive intelligence, in-house UX specialists need to remain up-to-date with UX changes from their competitors.
A competitor’s design overhaul can grab a lot of publicity and boost the interest around that brand for a period of time. Putting the PR opportunities aside, it can mean the perception of your product’s UX changes. Your previously “ground-breaking” visuals and experience may all of a sudden be perceived to be stale because your competitor has a big new change.
Take the time to monitor your competitor’s design decisions. See if they’re doing anything new or groundbreaking. Identify the changes and consider whether they impact your product. If they do, consider how you can react appropriately.
<h4>4 — Experiences need to change across devices</h4>
Often, simply carting every feature from your desktop app to iOS build isn’t feasible. Some things are too difficult for users to complete on a small screen, or the screen is too small to support the finer details you have in an app.
A UX specialist needs to consider what “makes sense” to include across various devices. Such decisions go beyond the mere interface and involve a degree of business and product considerations.
From desktop to tablet and finally to mobile, experiences need to be easy to use contextually on each device while ensuring they are useful enough.
<blockquote>If you’re porting 1/10 features from desktop to mobile, are you including enough?</blockquote>
Simply put, if you’ve got a mixture of device types involved, consider what role each plays in your product. Are mobile users simply inputting information to then come back and review on their desktop later? Or are people using 100% of your product on their mobile all the time?
Look carefully at user needs, the total list of features involved and what makes sense to implement across each device from both a user and design perspective.
<h4>So, the next time you think UX is just the interface — think again.</h4>
Nathan Allsopp is a <a href="https://www.nathanallsopp.com">Freelance Product/UI/UX Consultant</a> based in Sydney, Australia. This article appeared originally <a href="https://www.nathanallsopp.com/blog/user-experience-go-beyond-the-interface">here.</a>
<iframe src="https://cdn.embedly.com/widgets/media.html?src=https%3A%2F%2Fupscri.be%2Ff51076%3Fas_embed%3Dtrue&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fupscri.be%2Ff51076%2F&#038;image=https%3A%2F%2Fe.enpose.co%2F%3Fkey%3DdRXnS9Gplk%26w%3D700%26h%3D425%26url%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fupscri.be%252Ff51076%252F%253Fenpose&amp;key=d04bfffea46d4aeda930ec88cc64b87c&amp;type=text%2Fhtml&amp;schema=upscri" width="800" height="400" frameborder="0"><a href="https://medium.com/media/b85dfbb5286d8a25cf2e754b9462cf45/href">https://medium.com/media/b85dfbb5286d8a25cf2e754b9462cf45/href</a></iframe><img src="https://medium.com/_/stat?event=post.clientViewed&amp;referrerSource=full_rss&amp;postId=b6321ab64ce9" width="1" height="1" alt="stat?event=post.clientViewed&amp;referrerSou">
<hr>
<a href="https://blog.prototypr.io/great-user-experiences-are-more-than-just-interfaces-b6321ab64ce9">Great User Experiences are more than just interfaces</a> was originally published in <a href="https://blog.prototypr.io">Prototypr</a> on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Great User Experiences are more than just interfaces

Top Stories