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Five lessons for UX Designers from the Windows User Experience
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All indications are that Microsoft’s big experiment with a modern, touch-focused user experience is coming to an end on desktop devices – but not on tablets or mobile screens. While the move to the modern user interface by Microsoft that completely changed the user experience across all devices can be considered a bold move, as it is rolled-back, it also provides a number of lessons for UX designers.
Know your audience: When designing apps, create personas that include details beyond what an app is being used for, and who is using it. Include details such as whether they are working on a touch device, what size screen, and their level of computer skills. Microsoft didn’t pay enough attention to the users working on traditional computers that are not touch-sensitive. Remember your audience may be working on different devices, with different resolutions, screen sizes, and may not include touch-centric displays. A good user experience always takes into consideration the needs of the user.
Delight your users: Sure, apps need to get the job done, but in doing so they should provide a user experience that delights the user, making jobs such as accessing information, entering data, or sharing easy, intuitive, regardless of the device they are using. Like a good meal, an outstanding user experience leaves users happy and satisfied, no matter whether they are eating it using a fork, spoon or chopsticks.
Use new interaction paradigms cautiously: Users should not be surprised about what happens when they swipe or click. The interactions should be as-expected and consistent. Avoid forcing users into an unfamiliar user experience, with interactions that aren’t intuitive on all devices and interaction methods. If a user has been interacting with your apps or operating system in a consistent way for many years using a desktop device, make it easy for them to understand how to perform the same core functions, even as you add support for touch screens.
Conduct research and test: Before rolling out a large user experience change, gather user feedback, either in the wild, in a usability lab, or through research and testing. Gather and incorporate this feedback to make certain your designs perform their core functions as expected, and be certain to test on all devices and input methods your audience will be using – including keyboard and mouse.
Admit UX mistakes: When your UX goes wrong, be nimble enough to incorporate the user feedback and adapt the user experience to fix any mistakes or improve any weaknesses. Microsoft is clearly doing this with Windows 8.1 and the forthcoming Windows 9. This iterative approach to user experience is a critical lesson for anyone wanting to build and maintain best-of-breed applications.
We teach many of these core concepts in the UX classes that we offer at American Graphics Institute, which can provide a useful foundation if you haven’t had any formal UX training.
About the author
Jennifer Smith is a user experience designer, educator and author based in Boston. She has worked in the field of user experience design for more than 15 years.She has designed websites, ecommerce sites, apps, and embedded systems. Jennifer designs solutions for mobile, desktop, and iOT devices.
Jennifer delivers UX training and UX consulting for large Fortune 100 companies, small start-ups, and independent software vendors.She has served as a Designer in Residence at Microsoft, assisting third-party app developers to improve their design solutions and create successful user experiences. She has been hired by Adobe and Microsoft to deliver training workshops to their staff, and has traveled to Asia, Europe, India, the Middle East, and across the U.S. to deliver courses and assist on UX design projects. She has extensive knowledge of modern UX Design, and worked closely with major tech companies to create educational material and deliver UX workshops to key partners globally. Jennifer works with a wide range of prototyping tools including XD, Sketch, Balsamiq, Fireworks, Photoshop, Illustrator, and Blend for Visual Studio. She also works extensively in the fields of presentation design and visual design.
Jennifer is also an expert on Photoshop, digital image editing, and photo manipulation. Having written 10 books on Photoshop, and having consulted and provided training to major media companies and businesses around the globe.
Jennifer is the author of more than 20 books on design tools and processes, including Adobe Creative Cloud for Dummies, Adobe Creative Cloud Digital Classroom, and Photoshop Digital Classroom. She has been awarded a Microsoft MVP three times for her work with user experience design in creating apps for touch, desktop, and mobile devices. Jennifer holds the CPUX-F certification from the User Experience Qualification Board and assists others in attaining this designation in leading a UX certification course at American Graphics Institute. She is a candidate for a Master’s degree in Human Factors in Information Design.