The five elements of user experience are the necessary knowledge and skills for product people. Due to the fragmented understanding of the network, it is often easy to create an image of inscrutable and obscure, and then put it on the shelf. But in essence, it is just a methodology of product analysis and design. Understanding it in the correct posture can help us better understand a product and design a product from 0 to 1.
1. What is user experience
User experience, as the name suggests, is "the psychological feeling of the user when using the product". User experience may come from the first impression of the product on the user, or from the positive or negative impact that the user has felt for a long time. The ideal user experience is one in which the user is happy, satisfied, proud or even in love with the product.
2. Why value experience
The Internet is redefining brands. Brands will no longer fascinate and worship people like religions. Consumers pay more attention to their own experience and feelings. Nowadays, products with the same features and functions can always find substitutes, and the barriers built by products are the elements of user experience. As the market competition becomes increasingly fierce, user choices increase. Users will not be loyal to the brand but more to their own experience.
Three, some user experience misunderstandings need to pay attention
1. A technologically advanced product does not mean a great user experience
From the 1970s to the 1980s, the most popular technology was artificial intelligence, and a large number of advanced enterprises in the field of artificial intelligence emerged. In recent years, the concept of artificial intelligence has been hyped again. Driven by capital, batch after batch of artificial intelligence research companies have been created.
Artificial intelligence products are also strange and varied, and their application scenarios are also very different. There are robots that imitate humans to dance, cook vegetables, write Chinese calligraphy, and play Go.
We can see that most companies are still not focused enough. For example, the market value of dancing robots is very limited. There are also many technologically advanced products that users do not buy, such as Hammer's TNT. Therefore, we can see that advanced technology must rely on market trends, user habits, and unique usage scenarios.
2. Good product quality does not mean good user experience
User experience is a purely subjective experience of a user when using a product, even if a product is of poor quality does not necessarily mean its user experience is poor.
For example: the design of the keyboard, the original intention of the design of the placement order of the keyboard keys is actually to reduce the efficiency of typing, because the operating efficiency of the computer at that time was low, so the input speed needs to be suppressed to ensure the processing efficiency of the computer. And now if a manufacturer of computers or keyboards produces products that are more conducive to typing speed, I believe no one will be willing to buy it.
Another example is washing liquid products. In fact, the amount of foam has nothing to do with the cleanliness of cleaning, but people still subconsciously believe that products without foam cannot wash clothes clean. Why? Because of habit, mainstream and perception.
3. User experience is different from person to person
Just like liking someone, there are also changes in marriage. And radish and cabbage each have their own favorites. Experience varies from person to person, and is related to gender, people's preferences, habits, common sense of life, life experience, and work experience. Therefore, changing a product that feels good to another person may not agree with it.
Since the user experience is so uncertain, how to measure the quality of a product? Since the feeling of experience is subjective, how to quantify user experience?
In fact, by observing products with good user experience, we will find that products with good user experience still have certain commonalities. If you want to make a good product, you can design according to several dimensions.
4. Design a product with a good experience
1. Strategic layer
A good product must first have its own strategic positioning. Due to the wide variety of personal attributes, if you want a good user experience, it must be based on a certain type of target user group with fixed needs. No product can cover all aspects of users. Therefore, first of all, when making strategic positioning, you must ask yourself, the team, and the company a few basic questions.
- Who are our target users?
- What are the pain points we solve?
- Why us?
- What resources do we have to get things done?
The summary is summarized in two points: user needs and product goals.
(1) Product target
A good product must be the embodiment of an enterprise's service capabilities. It is necessary to ensure that every product function can be implemented, otherwise the product is just a mirror image. Products that have no ability to support are hooligans. Therefore, based on the development layout plan of the enterprise, every core decision we make should be based on our exact understanding.
(2) User needs
Product designers can easily fall into the trap of idealizing requirements. Even if we think objectively from the perspective of users, the design will inevitably be subjective and superficial. Coupled with the strategic goals of the enterprise and the supporting needs of various departments, it is easy to form product demand accumulation, resulting in long-term iterations. At this time, the scope layer needs to be considered.
2. Range layer
The strategic layer allows us to have goals, but it is easy to cause too much demand and it is difficult to close the situation. The scope layer allows us to make trade-offs and schedules for functions, which in turn leads to the concept of versions.
Requirements cannot be added infinitely, and product managers must have priority concepts and version control ideas.
For Internet products, the first version of the online version should be less than 6 months as far as possible, and no more than 8 months at the latest. If the layer is not done well beyond the scope of the description, the version is not closed, and the product positioning is not clear. (This is essentially the relationship between MVP and PMF, skip here first, and I will introduce it in detail in the next article.)
The choice of functions mainly considers the industry, audience and competing products, as well as the company's resources.
(1) Industry trends
The industry trends, policies, laws, and economic conditions of the product environment we want to involve, whether there are policy and legal risks, whether there are ethnic, regional, and cultural conflicts, etc.
(2) Target users and competing products
Analyzing target users and competing products together is because there are companies in every track. The analysis of competing products of benchmarking companies helps to designate corresponding product strategies and form differentiated competition. At the beginning, the choice of target products should be avoid:
- The track where it is located is the Red Sea market, so it is not easy to have too many competing products or few giant companies enter the market;
- Homogenization of functions and competing products;
- The audience overlaps with competing products, especially giant companies.
(3) Enterprise resources
When considering a new product line, it should be combined with the actual situation of the company to see if it is sufficient to support the product service. The main things to consider here are:
- funds. Functional cost, resource usage estimation;
- return. What are the benefits brought by the function;
- resource. What resources does the company have available for support;
The relationship between the strengths and weaknesses of the enterprise and the functions of the product.
3. Structure layer
After the scope layer determines product positioning and functional specifications, the structure layer is used to design the process through which users can meet their needs, and to consider where they can go after completing their work.
(1) Interaction design
Interaction design first considers how to make the product easy to use, effective and pleasant. A good experience design needs to understand the target users and their expectations, understand the behavior of each other when users interact with the product, and understand the psychological and behavioral characteristics of "people" themselves. Enhance and expand.
We want users to operate according to the interaction habits we set, but there will always be deviations in cognition, habits, and understanding. Therefore, do a good job of risk prevention, remind users who misuse, and help them find the correct way of use. Inform the user where the error is, and at the same time provide a solution to the problem or a channel to guide the user to perform the correct operation.
(2) Information Architecture
It refers to a chart that is separated from the actual page of the product, abstracts the data of the product, and combines the categories. It is to help sort out the logic between products and functions, describe the composition of complex content information, and avoid omission, confusion, and repetition of information content during the display process.
There are two commonly used methods to express the information architecture of a product:
Hierarchy:
In fact, the structure is similar to the tree structure, and the main feature and advantage is the clear hierarchy. However, the relationship between levels is difficult to explain clearly.
Matrix structure:
This method attaches great importance to the relationship between various requirements and functions, and connects them organically, but it looks confusing without a clear affiliation.
4. Frame layer
After considering the interaction process and information architecture, the next step is to consider the specific interface design of each page, which controls, which icons and text information, etc. should be considered. This is the content of the frame layer. Divided into three categories: interface design, navigation design, and information design.
(1) Interface design
The most basic performance of the interface is its functionality and usability. Through the interface design, the user can understand the functional operation, and the information of the work itself can be transmitted to the user more smoothly, that is, the user is the basis and value of the existence of the functional interface, but Due to the differences in the knowledge level and cultural background of users, the interface should reflect the information of the work itself in a more international and objective way.
(2) Navigation design
Navigation is the most intuitive display of the business logic behind our products to users. Good navigation design not only solves the problem of where users should go, but also de-emphasizes visual behaviors, allowing users to cultivate or use existing instincts. Behavioral operation.
(3) Information design
Information design is the information covered by the interface. It conveys ideas to our users. Whether it is interface functions or navigation links, the ultimate goal is to convey to users what they want to know and what they want to know. Therefore, a good information design is an indispensable support for the above two points. After all, no matter how beautiful the process is, the sad result is useless.
5. Presentation layer
The frame layer design resembles a low-fidelity prototype. The presentation layer is similar to a high-fidelity prototype page without interaction. The presentation layer focuses on visual communication and is a direct sensory stimulus to the user's vision.
The presentation layer is where the user will focus first. Here, content, function and aesthetics come together to produce a final design. Complete all the goals of other levels, and at the same time satisfy the user's senses.
Although the presentation layer is like a human face, a good-looking interface design will give people a refreshing feeling, and the improvement of user experience is by no means a simple interface design, but is closely related to all levels.
User experience is actually a relative concept. In the early stage of design, it is necessary to maintain restraint on the user experience and not blindly follow it. The version should be closed, and the demand should be scheduled.
5. Analyze the pros and cons of a product experience
1. Take Lao Luo’s TNT as an example
May 18. Luo Yonghao announced the "revolutionary TNT" device at the Bird's Nest Stadium, priced at 999 yuan.
The main functions are as follows:
Voice input : In the TNT system, as long as you place the cursor in an input box that can be typed, a small blue microphone icon will appear on the top immediately. This is the voice trigger button in the TNT system, as long as it is clicked (or touched), it will enter the voice recognition state.
Voice interaction : When you press and hold any blank part of the screen, a small circle will pop up automatically. At this time, the system is also in the state of voice recognition, and this voice is limited to opening the application.
10 custom buttons : on both sides of the bottom of the TNT desktop, corresponding to several voice buttons including Global Search, Flash Capsule, and Bullet SMS, as well as several shortcut functions for photos, folders, clipboards, and screenshots.
Search : TNT's voice search corresponds to results from multiple search sources. By default, the system displays search results from Baidu, JD.com, Weibo, Wikipedia, Taobao, Twitter and Youtube side by side, and TNT also provides dozens of search sources for you to customize.
Browser : Hammer's own browser in TNT can support stretching operations, and the default is to open a full-size desktop website.
6. Summary
The five elements of user experience are the necessary knowledge and skills for product people. Due to the fragmented understanding of the network, it is often easy to create an image of inscrutable and obscure, and then put it on the shelf. But in essence, it is just a methodology of product analysis and design. Understanding it in the correct posture can help us better understand a product and design a product from 0 to 1.
Emphasis on user experience requires us to design a product from the perspective of users. And user-centered design thinking requires us to:
- In every step of developing a product, the user must be considered.
- Avoid perfectionism and consider cost, time, experience and other components comprehensively.
- Make the best solution after trade-offs and compromises.
User experience is reflected in the user's satisfaction with the product. Therefore, early user research, data embedding during development, and convenient feedback channels after launch are essential.