User Experience Design: Creativity versus Coherence By: Codal, Jenna Erickson _________________________________________________________________________ Many user experience designers make the mistake of trying to be as creative as possible, instead of having coherence and clarity within their design.
What is user experience? UX is the overall experience that a user gets when using a mobile or web application. A UX designer’s goal is to create an easytouse, simple but elegant design, not to create a design that is so creative and innovative that it is confusing or difficult to use. Peter Morville, of usability.gov states that information in a valuable UX should be: useful, usable, findable, accessible, credible and desireable. Nowhere does he state that a good UX should be creative, innovative, or experimental. Clarity and usability should always come before creativity, because clarity is what drives conversions. A better, more clear user experience, means more conversions for your business. Approximately every dollar that you invest in UX, can result in $100 in return. If a user cannot find what they are looking for, they will simply leave. Think about it: every large company has user experience, UI and usability standards. Why? Because they know that these standards are clear to their users, and that any design with these guidelines will be usable for their users. If you do end up going down a more creative route, it is best to conduct a user test, in order to see how users are interacting with the product. With user test’s, you will be able to see if users are doing what they want them to do.
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