What is UX?
UX is not something that was newly coined or invented with the advent of digital businesses and startups.
The official Wikipedia definition is:
User experience is a person's emotions and attitudes about using a particular product, system or service. It includes the practical, experiential, affective, meaningful and valuable aspects of human–computer interaction and product ownership.
Source: Wikipedia
Now that is what I call saying a lot without really saying anything. Sorry Wikipedia!
However the concept of UX has really been around for a while, we merely have to think back to our offline experiences whenever we queue to buy movie tickets at a cinema, check in and out of hotels, move through immigrations at an airport etc.
Credits: Google
My own layman interpretation of the domain of UX is broader and anchored by design thinking which itself is an application of First Principles Thinking.
UX is the optimisation of the user’s journey (both digital and physical) towards achieving their goals and motivations with the least amount of friction, from the user’s perspective.
A Common Cents definition
Key takeaways from the podcast
For this episode, I have Edmund who used to lead Product Design back in Traveloka and Sweet Escape as our guest. I learnt a fair bit about Product Design from him while we were collaborating together on a major product development project in Traveloka back in 2017.
An element that most UX and Design Thinking literature out there don’t cover is the friction or tension between Product Design teams and business objectives. As with other Product related domains, the most important aspect is learning to say no and stakeholder management. During our discussion, Edmund shared some of his learnings in helping his team strike a balance with business objectives and acting as a counter balance to leadership’s ambitions.
Empathy sits at the core of UX and Product Design and again, customer centricity is a key pillar in creating products that your users love. However, a good product does not always make a good business (i.e. pre reforms WeWork) and Product leaders need to be cognizant of both the macro operating environment and the company’s strategic objectives.
Edmund also shares a non conventional view of where Vision ranks in importance vs the Team, Process and Analytics. We have been taught by mainstream media profiling tech moguls such as Steve Jobs that Vision is the most important factor behind great products. On the contrary, a high performing team with a repeatable and sound process is likely more critical for success.
For example, it makes a lot of sense (and cents) to focus the ideation - prototyping -test phases on validating or invalidating your “Most Risky Assumptions” rather than chasing an airy-fairy vision that is sold to investors (oops?).
Tune in to the episode for more nuggets of wisdom derived from Edmund’s experience!
What makes a well loved product and what is the role of UX and Product Design?