User Experience

In this week's reading, Jesse James Garrett talks about the everyday gadgets and tools that we use that help us pick up the pace and make things easier for us. What people don't realize is that the hardest part of making these tools are the "user experience." People are attracted to things that spell it out for them, essentially, because that is the whole point of technology - to make things move along faster for them without having to do a whole lot to get there. This is his ultimate definition of the "user experience":

"Not about the inner workings of a product or service, it is about how it works on the inside, where a person comes into contact with it."

Another interesting thing that he mentions is the "form follows function" concept, where the design of the product is dictated by its functionality. An example I can think off the top of my head are like the Android phones versus the Apple iPhone 5's, versus Blackberry's (if people even use them anymore?) I personally have used all three of them, and have found that they are good and bad in different aspects. For instance, the Android is probably appearance-wise the most appealing, as it is very futuristic-feeling (hence why Apple probably felt the need to add the somewhat unnecessary fingerprint-scan security function on their latest phones). However, I didn't stick with the Android that long despite its pretty exterior, and even interior because it was so complicated to figure out. I couldn't navigate to even the simplest things and that made me extremely frustrated! The iPhone I would say is probably the most user-friendly, because everything is literally right there on the screen, and its simple designs take you anywhere you need to go.

                                        

                                    

In Chapter 2 of The Elements of the User Experience, Garrett talks about the user-experience I believe specifically in the case of online-shopping. Now, I am definitely no stranger to this experience, but when I think about it, there are only a specific number of websites that I am actually willing to buy from. For instance, there is a website called Taobao.com, which is essentially the Chinese version of Ebay. You can buy things, sell things, and you can even talk to the store owners or customers that are interested in selling you or buying your products! What I love about this particular website, is that when you search for a product, it gives you links to similar items at the top, or it helps you narrow your search. I think it's actually a pretty smart marketing tactic, in that it makes you want to buy all these things that you maybe wouldn't have thought about buying before. I haven't really experimented too much with buying stuff on ebay, and I generally don't like to do so because I know that they do a different thing where they auction it and there is only a limited amount of time. I also don't like that it shows you how many people are viewing this item, because it adds on so much unnecessary pressure! The whole point of online shopping should be fast and easy, so that you can do it in a short amount of time and not have to worry about the technical difficulties.