Experience Design and UX: What Is It and Why Is It Important?

In response to the evolving preferences of consumers, user experience studies and practices continue to grow and adapt. Experience design was born from that progression.?

Although Experience Design and User Experience have similar names and cover many similar topics, they are two different disciplines. Explore Experience Design, how it differs from other UX disciplines, and what it means for UX teams by reading on.

Experience Design (XD) Defined

Experience Design is a school of thought that leverages multiple user experience disciplines to create a holistic-based UX approach rather than focusing solely on the interactive design elements within your product. Experience designers create narratives instead of implementing mechanics.

Experience Design involves three-dimensional and four-dimensional surfaces, even topological ones in some cases. In addition, XD can also include environments, stages, sidewalks, performers, seats, and people moving in a real tangible space. Experience Design differs from UX primarily in the way that it attempts to weave a narrative out of all these different components.

Experience Design draws on UX practices , which include creating a customized, relevant experience for all who come in contact with your brand and your product. Beyond creating empathetic workflows, Experience Design considers:

• Location: Does the design speak to your rural user, or does your visual design display images of traffic jams and subways??
• Core values: Are the company’s core values represented in the content and the product, and do they align with your users’ core values??
• Emotions: How do end-users feel when purchasing and interacting with your user interface design??
• Senses: Are you engaging with your customers on multiple dimensions?
• Relationships: Does your content and design reflect the length and breadth of the relationship you hope to have with your users?
• Significance: Does your product make your users feel important, valued, and understood??

To sum up, Experience Design is a holistic understanding of your users beyond the screen. It’s your company living up to the beliefs and values important to your customers.??

Why is Experience Design so Important?

By incorporating Experience Design into your company or product, you will be creating a brand that understands your target users’ needs and wants, while being relatable and helpful to them.?

Additionally, Experience Design offers customers an experience instead of the traditional way of selling products.?

Finally, Experience Design is an essential part of the product development process since brands evolve in a way that ties them to customers' own memories. Because Experience Design aids in the creation of memorable experiences, as time passes and customers reappropriate them, they eventually become stories passed down to future generations.?

If you want to dive deeper into Experience Design and how to put it into practice, check out our extended blog post on this topic: https://decemberlabs.com/blog/experience-design/

Creating Technology That Feels Natural

Technology is part of our everyday lives. Experience design in software refers to the process of creating technology that integrates seamlessly into the daily lives of your users. Rather than having users feel like they're going to the dentist, your product should feel like a toothbrush.

The Design team at December Labs is ready to help you bring Experience Design to your next project. Reach out to us at [email protected] to discuss how we can collaborate to design a holistic user experience.