3 takeaways from "Elements of User Experience"
1) “Creating successful user experiences requires having explicitly defined reasons for every choice you make.”
I see this requirement in almost every UX design job description I find, “The ability to clearly articulate design decisions.” After reading Garrett’s book Elements of User Experience, I now understand why.
The ability to clearly articulate a design decision is crucial because it leaves nothing to chance when designing an experience. Often times, speedy or uninformed decisions are made because it’s convenient, or because designers are under a lot of pressure to deliver on a deadline.
However, the ability to explain why each decision was made and understanding the effect it will have on the entire product from top to bottom is the only way to ensure success when designing experiences.
2) “Any time a person uses a product, a sort of dance goes on between them.”
Within user experience design, I am particularly drawn to interaction design because it is what makes a product unique and fun to use. When I unlock my iPhone, I love the way the apps land onto the screen. When mobile app designers started integrating the “swipe right” action as an alternative to the back button, I cried tears of joy.
In the case of Garrett’s statement above, I appreciate the dance metaphor to describe interaction design. As UX designers, we must be able to predict what action(s) the user wants to perform at each stage of the product, and if we are able to “anticipate” the actions of the user we will be successful in guiding them through the product.
3) “Instead of evaluating visual design ideas solely in terms of what seems aesthetically pleasing, you should focus your attention on how well they work.”
To someone who appreciates and has a love for beauty and aesthetics, I often thought "good" design was determined by visual aesthetics. After digging a little deeper and doing a bit of reading, I found this to not be true and especially in the case of software and digital interfaces.
When creating great experiences, visual design plays an important role, but the focus should not be solely placed on aesthetics. Rather, it’s more important how the visual elements make clear the options available to users. If I am designing an “add to cart” button and I don’t put it in the right place, no matter how sexy that button is the user probably won't see it.
