Strategy: UX Strategy

Some people mistakenly use the terms user experience and usability almost interchangeably. However, usability is increasingly being used to refer specifically to the ease with which users can complete their intended tasks, and is closely associated with usability testing. Therefore, many perceive usability to be a rather tactical aspect of product design. In contrast, UX professionals use the term user experience much more broadly, to cover everything ranging from ease of use to user engagement to visual appeal. User experience better captures all of the psychological and behavioral aspects of users’ interactions with products.

To help define the objectives and scope of user experience efforts, as well as enable their meaningful measurement, I would like to propose a conceptual framework that describes four distinct elements of user experience, as shown in Figure 1, and how they interact with one another in driving better product designs. Read More

The UX strategy tribe gathered once again for the UX STRAT 2014 conference in picturesque Boulder, Colorado, at the foot of the magnificent Rocky Mountains. After a day of pre-conference workshops on September 7 at the beautiful Hotel Boulderado, the main conference convened for two days, on September 8 and 9, just one block away at the lovely Art Deco Boulder Theater.

In this review, I’ll provide an overview of the conference, covering the same dimensions as the star ratings to the rig<>ht, and Jim Nieters and I will review four of the workshops that took place on Sunday, September 7.

Organization

Organization
Content
Presenters
Proceedings
Venue
Hospitality
Community

Paul Bryan, producer of UX STRAT 2014, who is shown in Figure 1, did a great job of organizing another excellent and enjoyable conference. I was really glad that UX STRAT 2014 was again a single-track conference, so all attendees could share a common experience. As Paul promised in his UX Strategy column on UXmatters, “UX STRAT 2014: Focusing on UX Strategy,” “Experienced UX strategy professionals will present their approaches to guiding UX projects, products, and programs.” This year, Paul decided to dispense with panels and vignettes, which allowed more speakers more time for in-depth explorations of their topics. In my view, these were good decisions. Read More

Metrics are the signals that show whether your UX strategy is working. Using metrics is key to tracking changes over time, benchmarking against iterations of your own site or application or those of competitors, and setting targets.

Although most organizations are tracking metrics like conversion rate or engagement time, often they do not tie these metrics back to design decisions. The reason? Their metrics are too high level. A change in your conversion rate could relate to a design change, a promotion, or something that a competitor has done. Time on site could mean anything. Read More