According to the Oxford Dictionary, user experience (UX) is defined as “The overall experience of a person using a product such as a website or computer application, especially in terms of how easy or pleasing it is to use.” However, the world we are living in is becoming more digital by the minute and UX and digital interactions go well beyond a website. As such, a new way of thinking is required to ensure better design and better experiences are created now and in the future.
A Digital First philosophy
Digital touches everything that we do, it is omnipresent. The smartphone in your pocket (if you are one of the 1.91 billion people that currently have one) means you are never far away from digital interaction; whether it is browsing the web, posting a status update on LinkedIn or Facebook, or sending a tweet or text. The sheer pervasiveness of information as a result of our flourishing digital lifestyles means we have to look closely at the products and services we use and the digital footprints they leave behind in order to make sense of our interactions.
Our emerging digital reality is so enticing that many organisations are exploring what benefits it may yield including access to new markets, ones that may never have existed, even seemed possible, or were unthinkable. Welcome to the new world digital order of post-postmodernism or Alan Kirby's digimodernism.
Thinking about the role and impact of digital is no longer a novelty, it is a necessity. Therefore, the value of Digital First thinking is that it provides a platform on which a user experience strategy can be approached, created and applied in the right way. Today, the reality is digital is everywhere.
Better thinking, equals better design, equals better experiences
Digital First provides a robust way of thinking that can support any organisation tasked with the complex challenge of digital transformation.
Ultimately, a Digital First philosophy represents the glue that binds an organisation’s digital and physical experiences, helping to deliver a superior user experience that has greater depth and connects with people (customers) emotionally. It can provide a way of thinking that works to effectively combine technology, context or behaviour.
Digital First represents a highly relevant philosophical position for any organisation looking to differentiate through better user experience. It addresses the ambiguity of digital as it shifts from the psychological (immaterial) to the physical (material). Essentially, digital allows many aspects of our lives to be meaningfully combined, and in turn can make people feel more connected.
Embracing a Digital First approach can help unlock untapped potential, ensuring greater customer-centricity. It provides a robust way to 'think digitally' and ultimately supports the thinking that translates into practice which results in better experiences.
What does good UX look like?
A question that is often asked is: “What does ‘good’ look like?” This is a deceptively simple, yet important question to answer especially when we are thinking about digital and user experience. Ultimately, “good” can mean many different things to many different people and in many different contexts. Therefore, the focus should be identifying many relevant performance continuums. By using Richard Saul Wurman’s performance continuum tool, single measures of experience do not have to be seen as mutually exclusive; it encourages multiple measures to be considered.e.g. this could include measuring various aspects of digital performance i.e. new vs existing customers.
This will in turn provide unique and relevant measures for an organisation so the goal of delivering a great customer experience becomes more achievable and therefore truly 'being digital' becomes achievable.
In a Digital First reality, performance continuums could allow organisations to measure the key success factors and indicators that better reflect the complex nature of user experience rather than merely measuring single discrete components within a digital ecosystem. Performance continuums allow a macro (holistic) perspective which aligns with measuring the ‘experiential gestalt’ - the bigger picture.
An ecological approach
Appreciating the importance that Digital First has in helping to shape user experiences regardless of device, user interface, channel, touch point or context is a great approach for becoming ecological about your digital estate.
Any organisation that has ambitions to deliver better user experiences must strive to become ecological if their goal is to provide customer engagement. A Digital First philosophy ensures digital can become the primary channel for interaction, sales and support.
By Simon Norris, CEO of Nomensa.
PrivSec Conferences will bring together leading speakers and experts from privacy and security to deliver compelling content via solo presentations, panel discussions, debates, roundtables and workshops.
For more information on upcoming events, visit the website.
comments powered by Disqus