All right. 1
So we've talked a little bit about user interface design and now we're going to move on to the next 2
topic which is user experience or UX design. 3
Now user experience is something that's all pervasive. 4
It's not just about designing websites or designing for apps. 5
It's actually all around us. 6
So the classic user experience story that gets told is about a college that was newly built and they 7
were asking the architect you know where should we put down the footpaths? 8
So people had different ideas. 9
One guy said you should have the footpath so that they link up all of their college buildings. 10
Another person said no you should have the footpaths skirt around the building so that people can walk 11
around it and navigate their way. 12
But the architect had the final word 13
and he said "No. Instead we will just lay down a load of lawn and there would be no footpath." 14
So everybody else thought that this guy's probably crazy but we'll go along with it because he's the 15
architect. 16
And a year later the architect came back and had a look at the paths that were worn down by footfall 17
from the students. 18
And then based on that he created the footpaths. 19
So this is a story to illustrate that you can try and predict people's behavior as much as you can but 20
very often you have to be flexible and you have to tailor your designs. 21
So a design that's created just for form and not for function is a bit like this path on the right. 22
You know it looks very nice, 23
it's very organized, 24
it fits a certain aesthetic but none of that matters if it obstructs people's user experience. 25
So user experience is all around us. 26
It's not just an app or web design. 27
Whether if it's-- whether if it's a path whether it's a parking meter or anything else for that matter. 28
How can you make their experience as pain free and even as enjoyable as possible? 29
So this is what we're going to talk about in this module. 30
Well let's think about a drawing app. 31
This is a drawing app. 32
This is also a drawing app. 33
This is paper and one of my favorite apps to use just because of how delightful the user experience is. 34
So compare these two apps. 35
Which one do you think I'm going to use and 36
which one do you think I'm going to keep on my phone given that I don't need a billion different sketching 37
apps? 38
So this is why it's important to get the user experience right. 39
Because there's such an abundance of choice on the app stores that unless users really enjoy using your 40
app they really love the experience, 41
very often you'll find that your app will get deleted on the first time that it gets installed 42
and that is a pain that we don't want you to go through. 43
So we're going to consider some really basic user experience concepts that are fundamental to making 44
a good quality app. 45
Now I'm just going to show you another example to highlight my point. 46
This is the Apple reminder app and this is notoriously bad in terms of UX. 47
And the point I'm trying to make is that even if you are Apple, even if you can get your app installed 48
by default onto every single iPhone it doesn't mean that people will use it. 49
And the proof is the fact that there are so many to-do list and reminder apps out there that have taken 50
the place of the reminders app. 51
The fact that they have a market is because Apple didn't maximize the user experience of their own app. 52
So always keep that in mind when you're thinking "Oh do I really have time to think about user experience?" 53
This is so important 54
and getting it right and wrong can be the difference between success and failure for you app. 55
So I highly urge you to think about this deeply when you're making your own app. 56
So in this module, we're going to be presenting seven questions for you to answer when ever you designing 57
any sort of digital project whether it's a mobile app or whether it's a website. 58
So in the coming lessons I'm going to show you examples of when user experience was thought about and 59
my questions were answered 60
and when it was not thought about and you'll see the difference is dramatic. 61
So, without further ado let's get started.