Principles of GOOD User Experience

User experience describes the feeling of a user when he/she interacts with a product or a service.

Everyone has an unconscious set of expectations before interacting with a service or a product : when you enter a restaurant, when you try a new connected device, when you open a website, etc.

The difference between the user expectation and the reality of the user experience will make it a terrible experience, a great experience, or a forgettable one.

Below is a list of general UX principles that are good to keep in mind for anyone interested in UX:

Understanding your users

You won’t make everybody happy, and you don’t have to. The users that matter are the ones you already have and want to keep, and the ones that you don’t have yet but would like to have. The best solution to know them better is usually to talk to them directly.

Understanding the context of the experience

Is your user in a rush? Does he have time to kill and want to be entertained? When was the last time he interacted with your service? How often does he usually interact with you? This will help you define the amount of information your user is willing to process and the amount of time he is willing to share with your product.

Understanding the goal of the experience

People can go to a café to eat, but also to work, to socialize, to date. Increasing the space between tables and changing the intensity of the light to increase the feeling of intimacy can be more important than serving the best espresso in town.

Have empathy

People feel uncomfortable or insecure when they make mistakes. Going out of your way in these situations to make your user feel good again will make them thankful for life. Mistakes are great opportunities to bind them to your brand.

Make one thing memorable

It can be funny or it can be super effective or extremely thoughtful, but it must be different from what the user was expecting. It is better to shock than to be forgotten.

Be humane

While your service must be systematic to be sustainable, your users are all unique individuals. Making them feel as such creates a personal relationship between your brand and your users.