Series · 15 parts
The UX Design Manifesto
From why UX design emerged to the mechanics of cognition, behavior, and emotion, through to the hands-on tools of observing, analyzing, and designing experience.
- 01The Common Misconceptions About UX DesignUX design shows up in job postings, project briefs, and portfolios alike. As familiar as the term is, it is just as often misunderstood — so we start from two of its most common misconceptions and look again.
- 02Why UX Design Emerged — From Consumer to UserUX design did not appear overnight. Tracing how design's focus shifted from ornamentation to product planning and then to user cognition, we examine the background behind the declaration that is 'UX design.'
- 03What Is Experience? — User Experience as a Process of AcquisitionExperience is a process of acquisition. Starting from everyday language and dictionary definitions, we examine how experience is formed through cognition and behavior, sequence and irreversibility — and reconsider what a UX designer actually does within that process.
- 04The Six Attributes of User Experience — The UX PyramidWhat does UX design actually work with? Using a framework called the UX Pyramid, we break experience down into six constituent attributes and look at where, among them, a designer can actually intervene.
- 05Usability, Conveniency, Pleasurability — The Three Parameters UX Design Actually Works WithWe define the three parameters UX design can actually adjust — usability, conveniency, and pleasurability — and examine the trade-offs between them through concrete examples.
- 06Inside the User's Mind, the Iceberg of Cognition — Selective Attention, Chunking, and Mental ModelsUser experience is ultimately completed inside the user's mind. Using the iceberg as a metaphor for cognition, we examine three cognitive processes at work beneath the surface: Selective Attention, Chunking, and Mental Model.
- 07How to Put Cognition to Work in Design — and the Quiet Persuasion of AffordanceWe look at what the three cognitive processes of selective attention, association, and mental models mean for actual design, and go on to examine affordance — the concept that guides user behavior through the unconscious.
- 08Behavior Is the Whirlpool of Cognition — How to Observe the InvisibleA user's cognition can never be observed directly. But wherever cognition goes astray, the user is bound to show behavior that differs from the norm. Through the shopping mall elevator and convenience store milk examples, we look at why observing behavior is the starting point of UX design.
- 09Emotion Is the Temperature of the River — The Third Parameter of UX DesignThis post addresses the layer of emotion that usability and conveniency alone cannot explain. Through Donald Norman's three levels of emotional response, we examine the role emotion plays in UX design and the traps that emotional design tends to fall into.
- 10Tools of Observation — When You Don't Know What Users Are DoingIntroducing eleven observation tools to reach for when you can't tell what users are doing or why. From Shadowing to ZMET, we look at each tool's use and its limits.
- 11The Tools of Analysis — When the Data Still Hasn't SpokenFrom Card Sorting to Affinity Diagrams, KJ Mapping, POV statements, and HMW questions — an introduction to the tools of analysis that read structure and meaning out of fragmented observation data.
- 12Tools of Expression — How to Share the Invisible with Your TeamUnderstanding the user shouldn't stay locked inside one person's head. We look at five tools — Persona, Empathy Map, Scenario, User Journey Map, and Storyboard — for sharing the invisible experience of the user with the rest of the team.
- 13Tools of Implementation — Making Ideas TangibleA look at four tools that turn ideas into something users can actually experience, from paper prototypes to the Wizard of Oz technique.
- 14The Tools of Validation — Confirming Whether the Design Actually WorksFrom usability testing to A/B testing and quantitative scales, we look at five validation tools that check, in front of real users, whether a design actually works.
- 15Epilogue: Back to the UserAs this series comes to a close, we return to the question of what UX design is, and trace once more where the answer ultimately leads.