The Ultimate “What did UXpect?”
The first time I heard about User Experience, or UX, I thought it was all about making things look better so that users enjoy using the app/website. Even with my insufficient understanding of the definition of UX, I knew that it was important. It’s not hard to understand that making something look more organized, clean, and beautiful gives users a more pleasing experience
Now that I know a bit more about UX, I’ve seen that it’s more than just the aesthetics.
Research and Expectations
I was deeply enamored by the research side of UX especially knowing that it reveals so much about the people who could be future users of any app or website I might be making. While my UX teammates and I were doing the research portion of our project, I was surprised to see an amazing amount of variation in consumer backgrounds. People from many walks of life were interested in PC Building, even the ones we didn’t expect to see such as managers and engineers.
Of course, this led to the realization that while we may have preconceived notions about what we think we know, we have to be open to the possibility that our own research might prove us wrong. It is what it is. Assumptions need to be dropped at the doorstep before one crosses the threshold with expectations.
My Advice?
If I were to advise someone about to take the course, I’d want to tell them to be open-minded. Coming to class with assumptions can be incredibly disastrous. Granted, our professor did put research at an early point of the quarter so that there was no chance for us to actualize an idea born from assumptions, it’s still hard when one has already latched onto an idea, even if it’s bad. I personally can’t relate to that in the context of this class, but I’ve had other experiences where I’ve been forced to let go of what I initially thought was a good idea and I know how upsetting it can be. My advice would probably be “keep being open-minded and avoid making assumptions.”
The Struggle
The hardest thing for me was the design learning curve. It was quite steep. I had to cram the principles down and I’m still not absolutely certain that I understand them completely. It was a bit overwhelming and there were times where we strayed from them and had to reevaluate our design choices. However, I understood the concept of contrast and visual hierarchy so at least I had that going for me.
Conclusion
Overall, I learned a lot from UX. Moving forward, I intend to follow my own advice and keep myself open-minded so that I can improve my UX mindset.
