10 best and 10 worst user experiences (digital and physical products)

7 min readJun 14, 2023

5 best user experiences in digital products

1)Airbnb’s booking experience

A UX design example most are familiar with, Airbnb is leading the charge when it comes to creating a booking experience that gets the job done for websites. Airbnb has clearly done their research. The homepage design addresses typical pain points travelers have when trying to find accommodation.

The homepage also inspires travelers who are unsure where to go by offering popular destinations nearby. It gives a mix of what people love: entire homes, pet-friendly homes, or unique stays. The action of booking is simple and at the top of the fold. Quick, clear, and user-friendly.

2) Google Search Engine.

It is the simplest and fastest tool ever created. It doesn’t require a tutorial or a tooltip of any kind. Just type in what you want to search for and hit the Enter key, done. The product has always been like this, and it seems like it will only get easier, simpler, and faster in time.

3) Duolingo

Another example of Duolingo’s gamified UX is the scoring of each round you take on your course.

4)Booking.com

Booking.com is another huge name in the travel industry. The website is carefully put together in order to help users not only search through the thousands and thousands places to stay but to also book things easily. We included it in this list of UX design examples because of how efficiently everything was orchestrated — especially the forms.

5) Bla Bla Car: example of noise-free UX

Bla Bla Car works as a great UX design example when it comes to visual balance and minimalism on the interface. The app sticks to a certain simplicity all around its design, relying on only a few key elements to get the features at the user’s fingertips. It makes for a user experience that is free of any visual noise and allows users to focus on the task at hand.

5 best user experiences in Physical products

1.ELECTRIC VEHICLES

This reminded me of a case study that reiterated the importance of applying UX to physical products. One of the most repeated value proposition for the use of electric cars were the lack of noise they made. In fact, many electric and hybrid vehicles are designed to run quietly, which was considered a positive feature by many consumers and is beneficial for reducing noise pollution in urban areas.

2.Stapler

A stapler is one of those products that is simple and a handy tool. It is a good design as it is easy to understand, simple, long lasting, easy to use and useful. It is intuitive and needs no prior training, however care as to be taken while using one of these. It serves the purpose it is designed for in an efficient way.

3.Scissor

Scissors are one of the most commonly used basic tool. Scissors are one of those tools that are simple and efficient. A Scissor is a good design as it is simple, easy to understand and use, it is unobtrusive in nature and serves the purpose it is designed for in an efficient way. It needs no prior training to understand its functioning, however care has to be taken while using one of these.

4.Wallet

A wallet is a good design as it is simple in design, easy to understand and use, unobtrusive and the overall design makes it useful. Wallets can be used to store cash, cards and other documents in an organized way easily. It is a handy and a useful product that needs no prior training or knowledge to use, making it an intuitive product.

5. Pen/Pencil case

This is one of the good designs I have at my house and could be used as a place where we could store a pen or pencil or can be something else for someone and could be used even as a weight to keep on light objects such as papers so they don’t fly away (just a matter of perception).

5 Worst user experiences in digital products

Amazon Web Services (AWS) is a pretty comprehensive platform with over a million users. The platform offers a number of unique features and services to its users. However, there’s one thing on the website that is frustrating. The main navigation of AWS is overwhelming, and there’s so much going on that it is hard to find the right information in little time. In fact, if a device with a smaller screen size is used, one has to keep scrolling to read all the options.

2.USA TODAY: Autoplay ads and videos

There are several websites that autoplay ads and videos the moment you log on to them. You open a webpage and then spend a few minutes confused, figuring out where the sounds are coming from and what you can do about it. This gets worse, even embarrassing when you’re in a public place and suddenly sounds start coming out of your device.

The UX design principle of control is violated here, creating bad usability and leaving a bad impact on the overall user experience. When designing a digital product, it is always essential to give maximum control to the users, particularly when they’re using your product in different settings.

3. WhatsApp — Delete message

There is this cool trick in Whatsapp: you can delete any message you have already sent, but when you do — “this message was deleted” message appears in conversation. It clearly shows that the person wrote and deleted something, which can be a little sensitive and sometimes even meaningless to be there in the first place.

Telegram does the opposite. You can delete the message and no trace remains, and that’s even if you’re not the one who wrote the message in the first place. Personally, I like that feature in Telegram.

4. Zoom — flow when joining the meeting

But there are buts. I used Zoom countless times and each time joining a call feels harder than creating your own application. The first problem comes with the link. When you click the link, it opens the browser, but if you have the app, it’s hard to understand how/what to copy-paste the link, and where to copy-paste it. If you don’t have the app, the new flow comes in the browser, and it’s even harder to understand. Connecting to a call is really challenging. Same goes for the password. Besides the meeting ID, a password should also be added. And after typing the password, you have to wait for the host to let you in.

Zara Website

Zara’s website has been regularly criticised for its bad design and poor user experience.

5 Worst User Experience in Physical Product

1.Touch screens in cars

This doesn’t mean that all touch screens are bad. The problem is that in some newer cars, the touch screens control almost everything, including the air conditioning and radio. Why is that bad? Because the physical buttons were easy to use while keeping your eyes on the road. Putting everything on a touch screen can be dangerous and distracting.

2. Rectangular shopping baskets with the handle crossing the width

3.ATMs

How would you feel if you used an ATM, took the cash out, went back home, and later realized that you forgot to take the card out of the ATM? It is a frustrating but real experience for many users. Although there are some ATMs that give out the card first and then the cash to ensure that you don’t leave the card behind, there are some others that do the opposite. Once the user takes the cash, since that is the task they are there to accomplish, they forget about the card and leave.