Software Development

What is User Experience?

Quick answer

The overall experience a person has when using a product or service, including how easy, useful, and satisfying it feels.

User Experience, explained

User experience (UX) covers the entire journey, from first discovering a product to using it regularly and getting help when something goes wrong. It includes usability, accessibility, performance, content clarity, and emotional response. The term was popularized by Don Norman in the 1990s.

UX designers research users through interviews, surveys, and usability testing, map journeys, create wireframes and prototypes, and iterate based on feedback. For example, a UX review of a blog might reveal that readers struggle to find related articles on mobile, leading to a clearer navigation design. UX is closely related to user interface design, but broader: a beautiful interface can still deliver a poor experience if it is slow, confusing, or inaccessible.

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