As any designer could tell you, great user experience is really a sum of its parts. It’s the creation process just as much as the final product. It’s equally the fun and function of it. With all those variables, though, how can we pinpoint its fundamentals? Is there even a point in doing so?
As a hiring manager, knowing these necessary components of great UX design will help you select the best talent for your company.
1. Usefulness and usability
In the early 1990s, Fred Davis, a professor at the University of Michigan, developed the Technology Acceptance Model, a standardized questionnaire that measures technology acceptance.
Through this model, Davis found that usefulness was 1.5 times more important than usability scores. Essentially, good UX design starts with the product itself, then involves successfully portraying its efficacy to the world, which brings usability into the equation.
No matter how functional your product is, if your website or other consumer-facing platforms aren’t well-designed, that asset can be completely lost. Clear, focused design helps announce your product’s most compelling qualities and present its value. For that reason, usefulness and usability must be considered together.
Enjoyability can influence how consumers perceive usability.2. Enjoyability
The next tenet of great UX design is the emotional response it elicits. If your design isn’t enjoyable to users, then what is motivating them to come back?
“At the first level, all great user experiences are easy to use and delightful to their users,” Jim Nieters, the global head of user experience at HP’S Consumer Travel Division, told UXMatters. “They enable users to perform their tasks with ease and engage them in the right ways.”
Emotions play a hugely important role in how human beings make choices, so great UX design should, at its core, incite positive responses. Not to mention, a study by Japanese researchers Masaaki Kurosu and Kaori Kashimura found that “delightability” could significantly influence how consumers perceive your product’s usability.
According to Fast Company, stimulating visuals and reward-based systems engage users and inspire the type of emotions that create returning visitors.
3. Accessibility
If you’re trying to appeal to a global market or even widen your targets domestically, accessibility is key. Neill Feather, president of website security provider SiteLock, told Forbes that after a few missteps, his company has learned the value of using a high-quality translation team.
“Limiting text in favor of icons and graphics helps, but investment in great translation and localization of your copy pays off tremendously,” he said.
Also, make sure your website works across different platforms and web browsers. The last thing you want to do is alienate certain users because your site isn’t compatible. Great design will adapt as necessary so you can reach wider audiences.