There has been much ado about User Experience (UX) in the digital space lately, and rightly so, it’s extremely important in what we do. Perhaps most important. The classic story of modernist design theory - form follows function – certainly applies. That something works well and achieves its primary purpose is of utmost importance. Of course, it’s the job of the designer to ensure that it looks beautiful as well. The KeepCup that sits on my desk is the perfect example of excellent User Interaction design. It performs its primary function (to hold and transport my morning Mocha safely while retaining its delicious warmth) perfectly, and it looks beautiful at the same time. Every detail has been thoroughly considered. Anything superfluous has been stripped out and I am left with an accessory that I hold as dear as my handbag (well, nearly).

"It performs its primary function (to hold and transport my morning Mocha safely while retaining its delicious warmth) perfectly, and it looks beautiful at the same time."

This is particularly interesting in the wireframing phase of our process here at FM. Wireframes are the bare bones of a site, they dictate what needs to be present on the website, where it fits in, and how it will all work seamlessly together.  Even before the baseline grid is laid down, the bones of the website exist, and everything has been thought through. The big decisions have already been made. 

More and more we need to be putting ourselves in the shoes of a user. A user has certain expectations of any digital experience. They might be very basic expectations, “my credit card details will be secure”, but expectations nonetheless. Working in the digital space gives us a much higher tolerance for UX pain than an end user does, I think. We can persevere much longer on a website when any other end user would have already left. That said, one of the most confusing and convoluted interfaces I’ve seen, that of social network giant Facebook, manages to hold onto its users regardless of how difficult and frustrating it can be.  This just goes to show when a website offers such an immense value to a user, as Facebook does, even the most inexperienced users (my grandma) can persevere with it. However, this is an exception. It must never be the rule.

As digital experts we need to work with our clients to produce the best possible outcome for them. And our clients will have ideas about what they want or need and what is going to work for their target market, but these may not always ring true. We need to work together harmoniously as client and agency to work out the best possible solution for whatever the problem may be.