UX design is everywhere
User Experience is not just limited to the digital world. It can be found all around us, from everything that we obtain information from. Let’s look at the role UX plays in today’s dynamic world.
Take a breath!
Now imagine, your team was asked to design a wallet in just a few minutes. After they’ve sketched a few use cases and specifics, they are now asked to interview someone in particular. Following this, they are asked to design a wallet again, but this time for a specific individual. It’s obvious that the two versions of the wallets would definitely look quite different because one relies on the technical expertise of the team whereas the other combines the technical approach with user-centricity.
This short exercise is the simplest way you can explain the effect of empathy on design and that’s exactly what Stanford’s design school intended to do with the above wallet project.
Empathy is the new buzzword and may sound a little overwhelming for your team at first, however, it is the best way to ensure you create a product that’s functional as well as delightful to use for the customer.
User experience design along with design thinking is a great way to encourage organizations to focus on the people they are creating for. Another very apt example is the ‘Norman Door’ phenomenon; a Norman door has a handle that you can grab, so you think you can pull it, however, it is actually a push door. While logically placing a handle on the door is completely normal but it confuses the user above and thus defeats the purpose. This is why companies require designers to bridge the gap between something that just works and something that really addresses and solves a problem for the user.
Another interesting real-life example is the “Capital One 360 Café”, a hybrid bank-cum-café branch where the bank employees can speak freely with their customers to understand their banking experiences. Capital One is an American bank that has been around since the 1990s. Over the years, the bank has managed to gather customer support and build an identity, however, today millennials that form the majority of the U.S. workforce have the technology by their side and prefer fintech companies over traditional banks. Over 80 million people of the millennial generation
abandon the relationship-based, retail branch experience for online banking, that in turn gives way to disruptive fintech startups. Thus, Capital One’s latest venture is to bridge this disconnect and lay a new foundation for relationship banking. The company is opening a string of cafes that act as co-working spaces. Anyone regardless of their bank affiliation can
grab a coffee and get advice on their financials from professionals if they want. Seems like an exciting approach that puts a more human face on the believed inhospitable banking sector.
Found this interesting? If you did, you’d be certain to find Bank of America’s “Keep the Change” campaign ever more stimulating. Be sure to check it out and know how the bank managed to get over 2 million enrollments in less than a year and proved that user experience design has the power to transform industries.
And if you prefer listening to podcasts, be sure to check out:
99% Invisible- Now this show isn’t specifically about UX design but it’ll definitely introduce you to design elements that you definitely missed at first glance.
Jake and Jonathan- They take you behind the scenes when it comes to companies using UX design to transform their products and services.
Feel free to reach out to me. Happy to receive feedback, suggestions, or just learn more :)
