It seems to me that if we are going to have a true critique of the user experience, we actually have to step back and consider that there are 2 parts to the actual experience.
First is the design%u2014the system, product, service, or whatever, that we create. Ostensibly, if we are user experience designers, then we have designed some kind of user experience into the design. In other words, we are expecting users to have a specific "kind" of experience when they interact with a design, whatever that design might be. The other part is the real experience users have when they actually use any or all of the things that were designed. This is very much driven by forces that are external to the design itself%u2014different contexts as Jared mentioned, changing intents, and evolving perceptions can result in very different experiences. I think both parts are important when critiquing a user experience design. We need to understand the forms, structures, and styles of the experience design itself and critique how they affected the actual experience of our users. This should result in a more holistic critique. Was the intended experience appropriate or misguided? Did the Design (the larger design, not the little details) provide the intended experience or did it go beyond expectations? What theories can we provide about how and why the forms, structure, and style impacted the experience? How do changing tastes and attitudes affect perceptions of an experience design? How do we build a theory that can be "proven" and discussed, much like the disciplines of drama, philosophy, or ethics? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Posted from the new ixda.org http://www.ixda.org/discuss?post=43338 ________________________________________________________________ Welcome to the Interaction Design Association (IxDA)! To post to this list ....... [email protected] Unsubscribe ................ http://www.ixda.org/unsubscribe List Guidelines ............ http://www.ixda.org/guidelines List Help .................. http://www.ixda.org/help
