In a world where digital interactions pervade almost every experience that customers have with a brand, business leaders can’t afford to get UX wrong. But how can they get it right when design opinions are endless, design patterns are seemingly infinite, and consumer interactions and expectations are ever-evolving? I recommend starting by taking a step back, understanding the foundations of experience design, and debunking some of the contemporary, mainstream myths.

1. Dispelling 5 Myths
About Experience Design
S T E F A N S C H R O E D E R

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About me
Manager Experience Design @ SapientRazorfish
A German obsessed with post-its
@schrdr

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12k 70 25+ 1
C O M P A N Y
O F F I C E S
G L O B A L L Y
C O N N E C T E D
Y E A R S O F
C U S T O M E R
I N N O V A T I O N
P E O P L E

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In a world where digital interactions pervade almost every
experience that customers have with a brand, business
leaders can’t afford to get UX wrong.
But how can they get it right when design opinions are
endless, design patterns are seemingly infinite, and
consumer interactions and expectations are ever-evolving?

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M Y T H # 1
Place important content above the fold

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“The fold” is a term adopted from
newsprint media, referring to the
physical crease of a folded newspaper.
This term and design philosophy was
adopted by digital media in the 1990’s
for the default view of a webpage,
without scrolling.

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B U S T I N G T H E M Y T H
The fold is nonexistent or irrelevant

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These days, we observe scrolling as a reflexive action on page load.

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Guiding the user through storytelling and AIDA.
Introduction
A
I
D
A
ATTENTION
Provide unexpected, surprising content to get the attention
INTEREST
Provide a relevant message based on the user’s context
DESIRE
Communicate unique benefits, building unique brand image,
offer products based on user’s context
ACTION
Provide possibilities to purchase, subscribe, contact
Introduce the topic

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M Y T H # 2
Design standards yield success.

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“If it looks good, eat it.”
– Andrew Zimmern

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“Saying a website is ‘usable’
is like dinner was edible”
- Jared Spool

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Standardized design patterns address the visual appearance (the “look”) and interactions
(the “feel”). Many brands feel that this will ensure a good user experience.

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B U S T I N G T H E M Y T H
Standards are necessary, but not sufficient!

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Where the rubber meets the road – with actual usage.

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Effective user experiences rely on a
deep understanding of the user
model.

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Effective user experiences rely on a
deep understanding of the user
model.

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M Y T H # 3
Analytics alone reveal user needs.

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Forming insights around user needs and motivations
doesn’t follow naturally from activity and site-log analysis.

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Activity and site logs illustrate
what end users are doing,
but not why.

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B U S T I N G T H E M Y T H
Analytics need to be supplemented with qualitative research!

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Start with selecting and shaping cost-effective research activities to gather customer
insights and experience opportunities.

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M Y T H # 4
Consistency = the same.

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With the explosion of consumer device types and sizes,
brands are challenged by content presentation.
https://opensignal.com/reports/fragmentation.php

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B U S T I N G T H E M Y T H
“Consistent” does not mean “the same”!

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A consistent experience across devices
also entails explicitly tuning the
interactions to the device, and further
varying the experience to address the
changing context of usage.

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Optimize the experience across the customer journey and avoid the trap of “sameness”.

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M Y T H # 5
You can’t really measure experience.

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A typical assumption that we run
across is that experience design is
about touchy-feely impressions and,
therefore, is hard to measure.

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B U S T I N G T H E M Y T H
There are many sound ways to measure experience.

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How would you
measure this
experience?

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These five dimensions define the key characteristics of user experience
brands must consider when shaping their stories.
Control Access Fit Sense Continuity

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A long-term digital experience measurement and optimization approach.
Understand
Context
Situate &
Scale
Measure &
Evaluate
Recommend
Optimization
Design &
Deliver

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L A S T B U T N O T L E A S T
The way forward

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Extend well beyond design standards
and analytics. Ensure early and
continuous involvement of target users.
TAKE AWAY #1

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Apply ruthless attention to detail
and user’s context, ensure all
design flaws are addressed.
TAKE AWAY #2

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Identify metrics of success that
tie directly to business goals.
TAKE AWAY #3