Design a really useful mediation tool thanks to UX Design

What is UX Design and how can this type of design help you improve your mediation tools? Explanations. 😊

UX Design, what’s that?

UX Design, as its name suggests, is more than an aesthetic research. It’s not only looking for the most beautiful form adapted to the function of an object. UX stands for “User Experience”. This type of design is therefore the result of a reflection about uses.

UX Design takes into account the actual practices and needs of users; for instance, if you are a museum or a tourist site: those of your visitors. Unlike design, UX Design is based on actual cases and not on preceding solutions.

The UX Designer considers three criteria to design an object: its function, its users and, finally, its context.

UX Design offers several benefits. It allows to:

- Reduce errors when designing a device,

- Increase productivity,

- Reduce the frustration of the users,

- Propose a creation of value, i.e: that answers the real needs of its users.

UX Design and cultural mediation

Numerous museums still encounter difficulties in identifying the real needs of their visitors, mostly because they lack of adequate means to analyze them.

A good way to determine those needs: “user interviews”. This survey should not focus solely on visitor satisfaction but also on the use they make of the available mediation tools. Its purpose: identify the difficulties that visitors may encounter during their tour and encourage decision-making to find solutions.

During interviews, I recommend that you adopt a benevolent, curious and even naive posture to encourage your interlocutors to express themselves… and, of course, that you conduct all interviews with a UX Designer. 😉

A concrete analysis tool: the experience map

The experience map helps identify the difficulties encountered by your target during his / her tour. Each experience map corresponds to a persona — i.e: to a user archetype -, a scenario, a goal and a duration.

For a cultural or tourist institution, the experience map represents the motivations, actions, thoughts and emotions of a typical visitor during his / her visit.

Thanks to the interviews, four personas were identified and prioritized.

For instance: Claire, a 24-year-old student, visits the museum on a Wednesday afternoon. There is a queue in front of the institution and the young woman is quickly irritated by this waiting time. When she arrives at the checkout, she’s informed that entry is free for those under 26: that puts the smile back on her face!

How to improve Claire’s experience? UX Design helps identify leads and propose improvement solutions. For example: put on-line rush hours at the museum, remind in the queue the different admission fees…

From interviews with your visitors, you will be able to sequence the different stages of their tour and identify their actions, thoughts and emotions. It is important to record both positive and negative feelings: they will allow you to draw a curve and thus identify the highlights of the visit as well as the areas that can be improved.

An experience map takes the form of a linear frieze or of a wheel. It illustrates the thoughts, emotions and actions of a persona throughout his / her tour. The experience map will help you develop a strategic vision, establish a list of recommendations or define design principles, for a mediation device for example. Finally, keep in mind that the experience map is an evolving tool: the experience of your target may change and, accordingly, the conclusions that you will draw from it.

Collaborating with smArtapps means benefiting from our expertise in UX Design, a real asset to design applications that improve your visitor’s satisfaction. We realize “tour guide” apps but we also advise you on the most appropriate features according to your publics, their needs and behaviors. 👍