The UX Lenses
What makes a good experience? These UX "lenses" (or design principles) can help you design better products and critique designed experiences to find areas of opportunities.
An ever evolving collection of design goals and tenets adopted over my career.
The UX Principles
Principles curated to not only design by, but to also use in the evaluation of designed [digital] experiences.
Areas of Impact
The UX lenses can impact various areas of an experience.
These areas are broken into three quadrants: Think, Feel and Use.
These areas are broken into three quadrants: Think, Feel and Use.
Areas of Impact
The UX lenses can impact various areas of an experience.
These areas are broken into three quadrants: Think, Feel and Use.
These areas are broken into three quadrants: Think, Feel and Use.
References:
UX Honeycomb, Facets of User Experience Design. Peter Morville, 2004 • semanticstudios.com
Optimized Honeycomb, Small amendment to the classic diagram – improving connections. Katerina Karagianni, 2018 • workwithk.com
"The UX Lenses", A collection of mental lenses to consider when designing and evaluating experiences. Damien Dalli, 2020 • theuxlenses.com
UX Honeycomb, Facets of User Experience Design. Peter Morville, 2004 • semanticstudios.com
Optimized Honeycomb, Small amendment to the classic diagram – improving connections. Katerina Karagianni, 2018 • workwithk.com
"The UX Lenses", A collection of mental lenses to consider when designing and evaluating experiences. Damien Dalli, 2020 • theuxlenses.com
The UX Lenses
Experiences should be...
Purposeful
...Purposeful design promotes a clear, primary purpose, supporting the "Why" behind the experience. It focuses on the benefit, aligning with top tasks and providing clarity of information and affordance. The design should be driven by user goals and supportive of business goals.
Scannable
A scannable experience makes the most important actions and information readily accessible for quick processing. It distills necessary facets while reducing cognitive load, allowing users to find what they need swiftly and easily.
...Contextually Aware
Contextually aware design tailors the user experience based on both user behavior and the immediate environment. It provides relevant, timely, and hyper-personalized information by understanding the user's context, including their behavior, location, time of day, device, and past interactions. This ensures that the product adapts dynamically to offer the most relevant and valuable experience at any given moment.
...Validated
...Validated design is supported by research and insights, using qualitative and quantitative data to refine the product. This ensures confidence and mitigates risk by continually verifying the design with user feedback and established patterns.
Clear & Concise
Clear and concise content delivers information straightforwardly, avoiding jargon and unnecessary complexity. It ensures that the information is easy to understand and navigate, reducing confusion and enhancing user comprehension.
...
Aesthetic
Aesthetic design integrates visual beauty with functionality, reducing distractions by eliminating non-essential elements. It enhances user experience through positive emotional responses and tolerance for minor usability issues due to appealing visuals.
...Optimized
Optimization focuses on speed and efficiency, considering device and use case. It ensures that the product performs well under various conditions, providing a seamless and responsive user experience.
...Inclusive
Inclusive design ensures that the product is accessible to everyone, considering diverse backgrounds, abilities, and perspectives. It removes barriers and adheres to accessibility standards to create an inclusive experience.
...>= Expected
Exceeding user expectations involves delivering a product that aligns with or surpasses learned behaviors and interactions. It ensures that the design does not deviate too far from established patterns, reducing confusion and friction.
...Fail-safe
Fail-safe design prepares for and minimizes the impact of errors. It provides clear error messages, undo options, and failover mechanisms to help users recover from mistakes gracefully.
...Suitable
Suitability ensures the product addresses the problem it aims to solve, starting with user needs rather than technology. It tailors solutions to fit user problems effectively, avoiding distractions from unnecessary technologies. Nothing worse than a solution in search of a problem – Start with the problem, not a solution.
...Consistent
Consistency maintains uniformity in visual elements, interactions, and messaging, supporting learned behaviors. It reduces the cognitive load by adhering to design standards and creating a cohesive experience.
...Simple
Simplicity focuses on reducing complexity, making tasks easier to complete. It limits unnecessary steps and interactions, ensuring users can achieve their goals with minimal effort.
...Socially Proven
Social proof uses user reviews, testimonials, and endorsements to build trust and credibility. It leverages real user experiences to help new users feel confident in their decision to use the product.
...Ethical
Be mindful of persuasive design mechanisms (like scarcity or fear of loss tactics) and be respectful in their implementations.
Don't trick people with Dark Patterns – tricks used in websites and apps that make people do things that they didn't mean to do, like buying, downloading/installing, or signing up for something; which is further compounded if the designed experience targets those that may lack technical aptitude or experience (like children).
Be conscious of implementing more addictive interaction design patterns, such as infinite scrolling. An experience can and should be engaging, but it should also be humane.
...Don't trick people with Dark Patterns – tricks used in websites and apps that make people do things that they didn't mean to do, like buying, downloading/installing, or signing up for something; which is further compounded if the designed experience targets those that may lack technical aptitude or experience (like children).
Be conscious of implementing more addictive interaction design patterns, such as infinite scrolling. An experience can and should be engaging, but it should also be humane.
Anticipatory
Anticipatory design predicts user needs and proactively offers solutions or suggestions before the user explicitly requests them. This involves leveraging data and behavioral insights to understand user patterns and deliver a seamless, intuitive experience.
...Transparent
Transparency in design ensures that users are clearly informed about how their data is used, what actions are being taken, and the reasoning behind design choices. This builds trust and allows users to feel more in control of their interactions with the product.
...Delightful
Delightful design aims to surprise and engage users with pleasant and unexpected experiences. This involves adding small, thoughtful details that enhance the overall user experience and create a memorable interaction.
...Feedback-rich
A feedback-rich design provides users with clear, timely feedback on their actions, helping them understand the consequences and next steps. This includes visual, auditory, and haptic feedback that guides users and reinforces positive behaviors.
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