What constitutes a good user experience?And who should we design for?
When conceptualizing user experience and experience design, it’s important to note that there is no singular definition of “user experience.” According to the book “Interaction Design: Beyond Human and Computer” by Jennifer Preece, Helen Sharp, and Yvonne Rogers, user experience refers to how a product is used and behaves in the real world. Additionally, Marc Hassenzahl’s article “User Experience and Experience Design” states that user experience is composed of feelings, thoughts, and actions that result in a meaningful experience through a device or mediation. Such an experience is characterized by fulfilling universal psychological needs and is often remembered.
What constitutes a good user experience?
Hassenzahl emphasizes the importance of need-fulfillment, which is a key factor in providing pleasurable experiences:
Need-fulfillment is what makes an experience pleasurable
Thus, according to Hassenzahl, when it comes to user experience design, the design follows the “why, how, what” procedures:
…starts from the Why, trying to clarify the needs and emotions involved in an activity, the meaning, the experience. Only then does it determine functionality that is able to provide the experience (the What) and an appropriate way of putting the functionality into action (the How).
The book and Marc Hassenzahl provide a well-conceptualized understanding of what makes a good experience. However, it appears that the sole goal of user experience design is to fulfill users’ needs and create a good experience for them. It has not yet been fully discussed for whom we should design these experiences.
Who should we design for?
The book “Interaction Design: Beyond Human and Computer” initially addresses this issue in the chapter discussing accessibility and inclusion design. They argue that designers who employ inclusive design aim to create products and services that can be accessed by the largest possible group of people, especially those who fall into one of three types of impairments: sensory, physical, and cognitive (such as Alzheimer’s disease). However, while discussing accessibility and inclusive design focuses on the impairment's physical and psychological aspects, other social conditions are only briefly mentioned.
What if creating a good experience, which means fulfilling the needs of a certain social group of users, results in a bad experience for another social group of users?
A bench with protrusions and handrails in public spaces is a classic example. The protrusions and handrails satisfy users' needs, seeking a brief rest, potentially evoking positive emotions, and creating a good experience. However, for users who want to lie on the bench for an extended period, the protrusions and handrails create a negative experience — and we can reasonably infer that users who typically want to lie down in a public space are often homeless. Through protrusions and handrails, to some extent, a particular social group is excluded, whether intentionally or unintentionally.
Yet, I believe that good experience design should be accessible to every user, especially in public services. When we discuss accessibility and inclusion, vulnerability due to social status should also be considered and discussed.
Reference
[1] Helen Sharp, Jennifer Preece, Yvonne Rogers (2019). Interaction Design: Beyond Human-Computer Interaction (5th Edition). Wiley. Chapter 1.
[2] Marc Hassenzahl. User Experience and Experience Design. Retrieved from: https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/book/the-encyclopedia-of-human-computer-interaction-2nd-ed/user-experience-and-experience-design
