http://www.insideria.com/2008/12/what-makes-a-user-experience-e.html

My Comment:

RJ_

Great primer for UX input and defining, especially in the this context of RIA’s.

Your points are valid and I feel the key issues you bring up are the relation of storytelling to customer satisfaction. The new ROI these days, particularly in interactive media and applications is the “value add” – not that it should be – of a quality customer experience. From the Apple store (marketing engagement) to the packaging (learnability), and final daily use of a product (usability) leads all to multiple points of engagement and most importantly the deepening of the customer/user’s positive value in the overall experience.

Recently I’ve been trying to key in on how to communicate that user story from engagement, introduction, acceptance and ultimate efficient use of a solution throughout the production cycle: to client/stakeholders, to design, to development, and ultimately seeing that become reality in the product and testing/use of the solution.

Beth’s comment on IDEO as a prime example is key: the three prong model of biz viability, tech capability, and most of all user desirability feels right on for the growth – as we’re calling it – of user experience or desirability of use, engagement, and repeat customer satisfaction.

Overall, some key elements of a “User Experience Expert” are a few of my favorite things:

• The question that drove me to UX: “How do you REALLY know that the website ‘works’ for people?”
• I have an excitement at seeing well done, easy, smooth interactions with a tool that brings about a solution for human beings – the “Wow Factor”, “That worked well”, “I really enjoyed that, surprisingly” – which can happen with a coffee thermos, an iPhone, and even a financial data mapping application.
• I plan and build online experiences for people by focusing on making things easy to use and enjoyable.
• I do that by listening to people and working to incorporate solutions to meet the needs of the people that will use it.
• Overall, I pretty much just love efficiency and optimizing things for others as best as I can.
• A User Experience – Interaction Designer is a multifaceted thing (or team) and utilizes skills in human-to-human interpersonal relations (listening and engaging), sketching, research, categorization, organization, communicating through words (writing) and images (design), documentation, collaboration, leading, empowering others, technical understanding, some development/tech/prototyping ability, and a thirst for learning from others and the world.
• I feel – and love – that it is a hub of many disciplines and also that it connects multiple perspective, people, and ultimately reconciles expectations into a harmonious solution.

All that said, your post has got me going a bit, and I love the dialogue and comments and look forward to hearing more from this community.

Oh, my inspirations/”mentors”: Jessie James Garrett, Alan Cooper, Donald Norman, Edward Tufte, Dan Saffer, among others.