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It’s very rare, these days, that I go though my RSS feeds without coming across an article relating to content. It’s a sign of how much further to the forefront content has become in the digital landscape.

So, how intertwined is content with the user experience? It is completely wrapped up in it, In my opinion. However, in many organisations the content team is a different team to the UX and Design teams, oftentimes with different priorities.

Before I go any further, I had better explain what I mean by the user experience trinity! I believe that the user’s experience is made up of 3 primary elements: UX, Design and UI (or front-end/client-side) Development.

UX

What we would see as the role undertaken by a user experience (UX/IA/UEA.. whatever) professional. The flow and features of a site. How the pages hang together and the architecture of each individual page. Drawing on usability and ethnographic research to craft a site/application/product that meets the needs to the user and the needs of the business.

Design

The visual and aesthetics of a site. Does the visual style reflect the brand? Does is match the user’s, and the market’s, perception of the brand and its values? Is the visual tone of voice meeting the needs of the site? Does each page have a proper design balance? Are the appropriate visual treatments being given to the important areas on a page?

UI Development

This is physical manifestation of the experience. How does the site feel? What happens when a button is clicked? How quickly do overlays render? This is all about interaction design and the mechanics of the experience – the tactical nature of the interface (even more important in this world of touch based technology).

It’s at the intersection of all three of these ( ‘UX ∩ Design ∩ UI Dev’ if I remember my set theory correctly!) that I believe we find the sweet spot of the user experience.

It’s only when all three disciplines work together, each bringing their distinct point of view to the table, that the best experiences are crafted.

So, that’s my UX trinity. But of late I’m wondering if we need a 4th set?

More

Alex Horstmann’s user experience, usability, design, eCommerce and design bookmarks for November 23rd.

• James-Lange theory – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  The James-Lange theory refers to a hypothesis on the origin and nature of emotions and is one of the earliest theories of emotion, developed independently by two 19th-century scholars, William James and Carl Lange.
• Web Content That Persuades and Motivates :: UXmatters
  There are several key elements that are missing from a large number of Web sites, and these missing elements often lead to bad user experiences and the total ineffectiveness of those sites.
• » Design Jam London 1 Johnny Holland – It’s all about interaction » Blog Archive
  Design Jams are one or two day design sessions, during which people team up to solve engaging UX challenges. While conferences and talks are very popular in the UX community, we don’t have many events for actual collaboration, like the ‘hackdays’ enjoyed by the development community. Only a few UX designers participate in hackdays or open-source design initiatives –  how can we change this and get UX designers more involved? How can we introduce them to open collaboration formats? The idea of an event to get designers together to learn from each other while working on actual problems was born. Design Jams champion open-source thinking & sharing and are non-profit, run by local volunteers. The London team are Desigan Chinniah, Johanna Kolllmann, Joe Lanman and Franco Papeschi.
• E-commerce (A-Z of user experience design resources)
• Bounce Rate Demystified
• Agile UX in Practice | Agile UX
  Agile development and user experience can work brillantly together… well, but how?<br />
  <br />
  Even if the effort related to Agile User Experience (Agile UX) continues throughout the project (with “just in time” designing and user testing) the User Experience foundations must be initiated at the very beginning of the project, during the first sprints.
• Stressed Out About Holiday Shopping? Your Customers Are! | experience matters
  Regardless of their budget though, consumers told us that holiday shopping is stressful. Of course there are obvious reasons like crowded malls, outrageously chaotic traffic conditions and increased family obligations, but consumers face other speed bumps that companies can help with.

Please do feel free to suggest other related (and unrelated ones)!

I bookmark a lot of pages and sites which I find interesting, inspirational and informative every day! I’d like to share some of them with you here. In general they are about user experience, usability, UCD, accessbility and design. In general, but not always!!

• Communicating errors
  Ideally, you'll design your system to prevent errors from occurring in the first place. But no matter how simple your system, someone, somewhere, will make an error when using it. The difference between a great user experience and an awful one is what your system does next.
• Content strategy for dummies
  Information architects need to understand content. Content strategists need to understand context. In terms of traditional sitemaps, the boxes have no value without the interconnecting arrows. And the arrows have no meaning if there are no boxes to which to point. And that’s why there is so much gray area in the definition – and why the pedants will spend years fighting over definitions in the years to come
• Management 3.0: Being an Agile Manager | Agile UX
  During an agile transition program, do not let your managers by the roadside! Rather help them to become Agile managers and to control the evolution of their profession.
• 500 Internal Server Error
  500 Internal Server Error
• Next generation of consumers – smart but not predictable | Tnooz
  I am fascinated by the buying behavior of different sections of society and different nationalities/tribes and what makes the consumer tick.<br />
  <br />
  Recently I have been thinking about the Millenials – those who are the next generation after the Gen-Y.<br />
  eMarketer has done two pieces on Millenials and its buying behavior. In the first, Millennials Show Off Brand Relationships, looked at how Millenials interact with and view brands.

Please do feel free to suggest other related (and unrelated ones)!

I bookmark a lot of pages and sites which I find interesting, inspirational and informative every day! I’d like to share some of them with you here. In general they are about user experience, usability, UCD, accessbility and design. In general, but not always!!

• Absorb Emulate and Innovate
  There’s something good to be said about mimicry. When artists learned their trade in the way old days (and often today), they were pushed by their teachers to emulate the great masters, to understand their choices, to learn their brush strokes. Sometimes, it would be years of emulation and copying before a student was set free to try her own hand at a creative work. In marketing (and in business innovation overall), I’ve made quite a habit of absorbing other ideas that make sense from other industries or verticals, emulating key elements of their methodology, and then innovating to make them make sense for me.
• 4 Unexpected Situations For Creating Content
  To an already busy small business owner or marketer, you may wonder, how in the world do I make time to create content? To blog once or more a week on top of everything else I already do?
• How to treat new employees
  A person’s first day on a new job is a stressful time even under the best of circumstances. You don’t know anyone there, you don’t know your job, you don’t know the written and unwritten rules of the workplace – and yet you have a burning desire to do well, to show your worth and to excel.
• Start – Treehotel
• Old Spice Sales Double With YouTube Campaign
• Balanced Arguments Are More Persuasive — PsyBlog
  Every argument has at least two sides, even if sometimes, we're not prepared to admit it. But in the heat of battle many people present their own side of the argument as though there's no alternative.

Please do feel free to suggest other related (and unrelated ones)!

I bookmark a lot of pages and sites which I find interesting, inspirational and informative every day! I’d like to share some of them with you here. In general they are about user experience, usability, UCD, accessbility and design. In general, but not always!!

• Readability: the Optimal Line Length – Baymard Institute
  Having the right amount of characters on each line is key to the readability of your text. It shouldn’t merely be your design that dictates the width of your text, it should also be a matter of legibility.
• A List Apart: Articles: Art Direction and Design
  Glorifying the supposed arrival of art direction on the web is one of the latest trends in interactive design. There are several galleries devoted to it. There’s even a plug-in for it. Sadly, many designers don’t understand the difference between design and art direction; sadder still, many art directors don’t either: Art direction gives substance to design. Art direction adds humanity to design.
• How to Communicate Value and Engage Users Instantly | UX Movement
  Does your web site offer value to users? The chances are that it does, but users can’t see it. If users can’t see the value of your web site, there’s no chance they’ll stick around for long.
• Usability for Handheld Devices Versus Computers :: UXmatters
  Many people now use different mobile devices—including smartphones, digital cameras, MP3 players, eReaders, and GPSs (Global Positioning System)—in particular contexts. How are users interacting with these devices when they are away from their computers? How does the design of a device—including the controls its hardware provides, its interaction models, and its form factor—determine the design and usability of the software applications that run on it? How can we understand user experience on the move?
• Conversion Room: Introducing Web Analytics TV
  We’re excited to introduce Web Analytics TV – a fun and interactive source of information for everything Analytics related. This exciting series of YouTube videos is presented by Avinash Kaushik and Nick Mihailovski from the Google Analytics team. You can ask questions, and vote for your favourite questions from other viewers, via the Google Analytics Google Moderator site and then have our experts answer them in the next installment.

Please do feel free to suggest other related (and unrelated ones)!