Restaurants: Translating UX Thinking to Everyday LifeNorah Johnson | 12.16.2013

When designing an experience – whether virtual or in-person – every decision affects the end outcome, feeling, attitude and response.

Agenda

• Intro

• So, what is UX?

• What does good UX do?

• UX Thinking

• An overlay: bringing UX to life with an example from everyday life

IntroInspiration for this presentation:

• UX has become one of “those” terms.

• The value of comparing a concept with a real world example.

• What works well, in this case?

So, first off, what is UX?

• The result of how a person feels when interfacing with a system.

• The system could be a website, an app, software, etc.

• Not just about usability, but the human part of HCI.

Source: “What is User Experience Design? Overview, Tools & Resources,” Jacob Gube, Smashing Magazine, October 5, 2010

From the Inventor of UX

“I invented the term [User Experience Design] because I thought human interface and usability were too narrow. I wanted to cover all aspects of the person’s experience with the system including industrial design, graphics, the interface, the physical interaction, and the manual.”

Source: Don Norman, cognitive scientist & author of “The Design of Everyday Things” Quote cited in “UX Design Defined,” UXdesign.com, August 16, 2010

What UX Is Not

• UX is not IA

• Not a buzzword for usability

• Notion that you can’t design UX but can design for UX

So, What Does Good UX Do?

• It considers the specific user or group that the solution is being created for/around

• Good UX helps create and shape a specific event, encounter, etc.

So, What Makes Up An Experience?

• Experience: the combined outcome of perception, action, motivation, and cognition.

• “A complex fabric of feelings, thoughts and actions.”

Hassenzahl, Marc (2013): User Experience and Experience Design. In: Soegaard, Mads and Dam, Rikke Friis (eds.). "The Encyclopedia of Human-Computer Interaction, 2nd Ed.". Aarhus, Denmark: The Interaction Design Foundation. Available online at http://www.interaction-design.org/encyclopedia/user_experience_and_experience_design.html

Philips Wake-Up Light

• E.g. of using design and technology to mimic a familiar experience.

• Not so much about specific elements of industrial design or fancy interfaces.

• More so about how you transcend the material to create an experience

Hassenzahl, Marc (2013): User Experience and Experience Design. In: Soegaard, Mads and Dam, Rikke Friis (eds.). "The Encyclopedia of Human-Computer Interaction, 2nd Ed.". Aarhus, Denmark: The Interaction Design Foundation. Available online at http://www.interaction-design.org/encyclopedia/user_experience_and_experience_design.html

Inevitable Variables

• The user

• Each individual assigns unique attributes to a product or service when using it.

• Unique expectations based on past experience, personal preference, etc.

• The situation

(“Why User Experience Cannot Be Designed,” Helge Fredheim, Smashing Magazine, March 15, 2011.)

Assessment

UX Methodologies In Problem Solving

• Discovery

• Iteration

• Execution/Implementation

• Evaluation

Value of UX Thinking

The end product isn’t just a solution to a problem, but the best solution for the specific audience or user.

Wait. Where Are We?

• Industry-accepted definitions of UX

• The value of UX

• Applying UX thinking in problem solving

Restaurants Through the Lens of UX

• The product

• The physical element

• The human element

The Product

• Ingredients (sourcing, freshness, origin, etc.)

• Cuisine focus (Asian fusion, French, etc.)

• Aesthetic (presentation, plates, etc.)

• Quality assessment (taste versus price versus expectation)

The Physical • Location

• Interior and exterior design

• Auditory

• Olfactory

• Visual/Optical

• Feel/Tactile

• Gustatory Perception/Taste

The Human Element

• Greeter/host, servers, employees, cooks v. chefs, even the busboy

• Vernacular

• Service structure: takeout/behind the counter v. table service, etc.

• The variables of the individual and the situation

Quantity v. Quality

Conditioned Expectations

So The UX Of A Restaurant Is The Combined Result Of:

• The Physical

• The Human

• The Product

• Variable of past experience

• Variables of individual and situation

Restaurants & UX Thinking

Are they doing it?

Wrap It Up• What is UX?

• What does good UX achieve?

• UX Thinking

• The UX of Restaurants

• Conclusion

• Questions

Thank you. Questions?