User Experience Design
Summary
First wave of HCI: until the 80’s. The goal was to optimize the fit between human and
computer to allow task performance. Individual task-based work. Research studied
computer science.
Second wave of HCI: 80’s – 90’s. The goal was to optimize accuracy and efficiency of task
performance = usability. Situated work (real life workspace). Research studied human
cognition, more system-focused.
Third wave of HCI: 2000s. The goal was to support situated actions in everyday life and self-
expression = user experience. It went beyond work, and more about private and everyday
life. Research studied cultural studies and ethnography; more person focused.
Fourth wave of HCI: now! Hypermobility, ubiquitous computing, data explosion, blending of
humans and technology. The goal is to design for the greater good, social responsibility.
Research studies values.
In conclusion, there is a shift from a utilitarian and work-oriented focus to focus on non-
utilitarian approaches (everyday actions & self-expression). Moreover, our interaction with
computers have developed to being more intimate and our lives are intertwined with
computers.
Utilitarian = to optimize well-being for everyone involved/to prevent the happening of
mischief for everyone involved.
Experiencing: an ever-present stream of feelings and thoughts while being conscious.
An experience: particular actions, feelings, and thoughts tied to a particular episode. An
experience has a clear beginning – middle- end structure. Moreover, an experience is a
construct: we tend to construct a coherent narrative.
- We experience several different ‘things’
- A meta process is used to create a coherent whole out of these things. This process also
comes back in the appraisal theories of emotion. This theory states that emotions are
extracted from our evaluations of events that cause specific reactions in people.
For example, when we receive a grade for an assignment, the grade in itself is the stimulus.
The interpretation of the grade will be determined by the grade as well. If the event (the
receiving of the grade) is relevant to our wellbeing, we go through the appraisal process in
our minds, which leads to a certain appraisal outcome. Whether the outcome is positive or
, negative, is based on if we see the event (the grade) as advancing (a high grade) to our
personal goals or as obstructing (a low grade) them.
An experience is not identical to what we experienced at the time. It makes use of the peak-
end-rule, which states that our experience is based on the memory of the peaks and the
ending of the event. This also related to the recency effect, which states that we remember
best what happens at the end of the event. Therefore, this also shapes our memory of the
experience.
What is User Experience (UX)?
User Experience is the HCI version of experience à experience resulting from the use of
interactive products. The (interactive) product mediates and shapes the experience.
However, from a user’s point of view, there is no difference between experience and user
experience.
UX started rising in the 3rd wave of HCI and goes beyond the instrumental: functionality and
usability are not enough. ‘Non-utilitarian’ aspects are also taken into account, such as:
identification, stimulation, enjoyment, fun, pleasure, etc.
The definitions of UX are quite vague. However, they all seem to have in common that UX is
about some kind of totality/entire set, combined with an interaction.
"User experience encompasses all aspects of the end-user's interaction with the company,
its services, and its products.” (Norman & Nielsen)
”UX is a momentary, primarily evaluative feeling (good-bad) while interacting with a product
or service.” (Hassenzahl, 2008)
“The user experience is the totality of end-users’ perceptions as they interact with a product
or service.”
Therefore, during this course we use the following definition: UX is a holistic view on what
users experience when interacting with a product. (think of the meta process)
Key properties of (user) experience (Hassenzahl, 2010)
1. Subjective: experiences are created and remain in our heads. The subjective experience is
not what objectively happened.
- task completion time (objective experience) and satisfaction with task completion
time (subjective experience) are hardly correlated.
- perceived usability is affected by a product’s aesthetics and not (only) by actual
usability.
2. Holistic: there are different levels of interacting with a product.
- Be goals: self-referential outcomes that provide meaning, motivation, and emotion
to an activity. This related to our psychological needs and values. Be goals go
beyond the instrumental.
- Do goals: concrete desired outcomes of activities an actor wants to attain.
- Motor goals: sub goals required to attain a do goal, regulate activities on an
operational level.
Traditionally, interaction design addressed motor goals and sometimes do goals. As a UX
designer, you have to take all three levels seriously to create a valuable experience.
3. Situated: ‘perpetual novelty’ à no two experiences are exactly the same. Individuals
experience the same event differently. Experiences strongly depend on their context
(situatedness). Our previous experiences shape our current experience. For example, when
Summary
First wave of HCI: until the 80’s. The goal was to optimize the fit between human and
computer to allow task performance. Individual task-based work. Research studied
computer science.
Second wave of HCI: 80’s – 90’s. The goal was to optimize accuracy and efficiency of task
performance = usability. Situated work (real life workspace). Research studied human
cognition, more system-focused.
Third wave of HCI: 2000s. The goal was to support situated actions in everyday life and self-
expression = user experience. It went beyond work, and more about private and everyday
life. Research studied cultural studies and ethnography; more person focused.
Fourth wave of HCI: now! Hypermobility, ubiquitous computing, data explosion, blending of
humans and technology. The goal is to design for the greater good, social responsibility.
Research studies values.
In conclusion, there is a shift from a utilitarian and work-oriented focus to focus on non-
utilitarian approaches (everyday actions & self-expression). Moreover, our interaction with
computers have developed to being more intimate and our lives are intertwined with
computers.
Utilitarian = to optimize well-being for everyone involved/to prevent the happening of
mischief for everyone involved.
Experiencing: an ever-present stream of feelings and thoughts while being conscious.
An experience: particular actions, feelings, and thoughts tied to a particular episode. An
experience has a clear beginning – middle- end structure. Moreover, an experience is a
construct: we tend to construct a coherent narrative.
- We experience several different ‘things’
- A meta process is used to create a coherent whole out of these things. This process also
comes back in the appraisal theories of emotion. This theory states that emotions are
extracted from our evaluations of events that cause specific reactions in people.
For example, when we receive a grade for an assignment, the grade in itself is the stimulus.
The interpretation of the grade will be determined by the grade as well. If the event (the
receiving of the grade) is relevant to our wellbeing, we go through the appraisal process in
our minds, which leads to a certain appraisal outcome. Whether the outcome is positive or
, negative, is based on if we see the event (the grade) as advancing (a high grade) to our
personal goals or as obstructing (a low grade) them.
An experience is not identical to what we experienced at the time. It makes use of the peak-
end-rule, which states that our experience is based on the memory of the peaks and the
ending of the event. This also related to the recency effect, which states that we remember
best what happens at the end of the event. Therefore, this also shapes our memory of the
experience.
What is User Experience (UX)?
User Experience is the HCI version of experience à experience resulting from the use of
interactive products. The (interactive) product mediates and shapes the experience.
However, from a user’s point of view, there is no difference between experience and user
experience.
UX started rising in the 3rd wave of HCI and goes beyond the instrumental: functionality and
usability are not enough. ‘Non-utilitarian’ aspects are also taken into account, such as:
identification, stimulation, enjoyment, fun, pleasure, etc.
The definitions of UX are quite vague. However, they all seem to have in common that UX is
about some kind of totality/entire set, combined with an interaction.
"User experience encompasses all aspects of the end-user's interaction with the company,
its services, and its products.” (Norman & Nielsen)
”UX is a momentary, primarily evaluative feeling (good-bad) while interacting with a product
or service.” (Hassenzahl, 2008)
“The user experience is the totality of end-users’ perceptions as they interact with a product
or service.”
Therefore, during this course we use the following definition: UX is a holistic view on what
users experience when interacting with a product. (think of the meta process)
Key properties of (user) experience (Hassenzahl, 2010)
1. Subjective: experiences are created and remain in our heads. The subjective experience is
not what objectively happened.
- task completion time (objective experience) and satisfaction with task completion
time (subjective experience) are hardly correlated.
- perceived usability is affected by a product’s aesthetics and not (only) by actual
usability.
2. Holistic: there are different levels of interacting with a product.
- Be goals: self-referential outcomes that provide meaning, motivation, and emotion
to an activity. This related to our psychological needs and values. Be goals go
beyond the instrumental.
- Do goals: concrete desired outcomes of activities an actor wants to attain.
- Motor goals: sub goals required to attain a do goal, regulate activities on an
operational level.
Traditionally, interaction design addressed motor goals and sometimes do goals. As a UX
designer, you have to take all three levels seriously to create a valuable experience.
3. Situated: ‘perpetual novelty’ à no two experiences are exactly the same. Individuals
experience the same event differently. Experiences strongly depend on their context
(situatedness). Our previous experiences shape our current experience. For example, when
