What happens when the usability of a system is bad, can the overall (user) experience of the system save the day?
How important really is usability to the big picture.
During a recent project I had the opportunity to observe (in an ethnographic capacity) people using a system that had an unending list of shortcomings.
In fact I still haven’t really found anything the system did well. Yes it was a UX horror story.
The people using the system where amazing, they had taken this poorly designed and contrived system and turned it into a workable, functioning, and productive series of procedures and sometimes supplementary systems.
Time and time again we tell ourselves that the best designs are the simple ones. That the best services are the ones that are clear concise, simple and direct to the point.
Often in our goals to make things simple and easy to use we will remove all the clutter. However sometimes we also remove all the little things that can make a design shine. That special attention to details that tells you the designer cares about the product or service in question.
Well on Christmas eve 2010 I was reminded of this in two surprising ways. Both of these reminders came in the form of parcels.
It’s a little frustrating and amusing at the same time. Of late I have been reading and talking with a fair few designers who are sprouting on about building and creating user experiences.
Er, No. You have it wrong.
Let’s consider this for a moment, (yes I’m being picky).
Yes that’s right they said they are building, creating the user experience for the web site concerned.
They are so sure of their design abilities that they can state that when the audience arrives at the said site they will have the exact experience they had planned and designed.
