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Chapter2.MeettheElements
Theuserexperiencedesignprocessisallaboutensuringthatnoaspectofthe usersexperiencewithyourproducthappenswithoutyourconscious,explicit intent.Thismeanstakingintoaccounteverypossibilityofeveryactionthe userislikelytotakeandunderstandingtheusersexpectationsateverystep ofthewaythroughthatprocess.Itsoundslikeabigjob,andinsomewaysit is.Butbybreakingthejobofcraftingtheuserexperiencedownintoits componentelements,wecanbetterunderstandthetaskasawhole.

TheFivePlanes
Mostpeople,atonetimeoranother,havepurchasedaphysicalproductover theWeb.Theexperienceisprettymuchthesameeverytime:Yougotothe site,youfindtheitemyouwant(maybebyusingasearchengineormaybe bybrowsingacatalog),yougivethesiteyourcreditcardnumberandyour address,andthesiteconfirmsthattheproductwillbeshippedtoyou. Thatneat,tidyexperienceactuallyresultsfromawholesetofdecisions somesmall,somelargeabouthowthesitelooks,howitbehaves,andwhat itallowsyoutodo.Thesedecisionsbuilduponeachother,informingand influencingallaspectsoftheuserexperience.Ifwepeelawaythelayersof thatexperience,wecanbegintounderstandhowthosedecisionsaremade.

TheSurfacePlane

OnthesurfaceyouseeaseriesofWebpages,madeupofimagesandtext. Someoftheseimagesarethingsyoucanclickon,performingsomesortof functionsuchastakingyoutoashoppingcart.Someoftheseimagesarejust illustrations,suchasaphotographofaproductforsaleorthelogoofthesite itself.

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TheSkeletonPlane

Beneaththatsurfaceistheskeletonofthesite:theplacementofbuttons, controls,photos,andblocksoftext.Theskeletonisdesignedtooptimizethe arrangementoftheseelementsformaximumeffectandefficiencysothat yourememberthelogoandcanfindthatshoppingcartbuttonwhenyouneed it.

TheStructurePlane

Theskeletonisaconcreteexpressionofthemoreabstractstructureofthe site.Theskeletonmightdefinetheplacementoftheinterfaceelementson ourcheckoutpagethestructurewoulddefinehowusersgottothatpageand wheretheycouldgowhentheywerefinishedthere.Theskeletonmightdefine thearrangementofnavigationalelementsallowingtheuserstobrowse categoriesofproductsthestructurewoulddefinewhatthosecategories were.

TheScopePlane

Thestructuredefinesthewayinwhichthevariousfeaturesandfunctionsof thesitefittogether.Justwhatthosefeaturesandfunctionsareconstitutes thescopeofthesite.Forexample,somecommercesitesofferafeaturethat enablesuserstosavepreviouslyusedshippingaddressessotheycanbeused again.Whetherthatfeatureoranyfeatureisincludedonasiteisa questionofscope.

TheStrategyPlane

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Thescopeisfundamentallydeterminedbythestrategyofthesite.This strategyincorporatesnotonlywhatthepeoplerunningthesitewanttoget outofitbutwhattheuserswanttogetoutofthesiteaswell.Inthecaseof ourstoreexample,someofthestrategicobjectivesareprettyobvious:Users wanttobuyproducts,andwewanttosellthem.Otherobjectivessuchas therolethatadvertisingorcontentproducedbyourusersplaysinour businessmodel,forexamplemightnotbesoeasytoarticulate.

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TableofContents Index Copyright AbouttheAuthor Acknowledgementsforthe SecondEdition Acknowledgementsforthe FirstEdition IntroductiontotheSecond Edition IntroductiontotheFirst Edition Ch.1.UserExperienceand WhyItMatters Ch.2.MeettheElements TheFivePlanes BuildingfromBottomto Top ABasicDuality TheElementsofUser Experience UsingtheElements Ch.3.TheStrategyPlane: ProductObjectivesandUser Needs Ch.4.TheScopePlane: FunctionalSpecificationsand ContentRequirements Ch.5.TheStructurePlane: InteractionDesignand InformationArchitecture Ch.6.TheSkeletonPlane: InterfaceDesign,Navigation Design,andInformation Design Ch.7.TheSurfacePlane: SensoryDesign Ch.8.TheElementsApplied Index

Thesefiveplanesstrategy,scope,structure, skeleton,andsurfaceprovideaconceptual frameworkfortalkingaboutuserexperience problemsandthetoolsweusetosolvethem. Oneachplane,theissueswemustdealwith becomealittlelessabstractandalittlemore concrete.Onthelowestplane,wearenot concernedwiththefinalshapeofthesite, product,orserviceatallweonlycareabout howthesitewillfitintoourstrategy(while meetingtheneedsofourusers).Onthe highestplane,weareonlyconcernedwiththe mostconcretedetailsoftheappearanceofthe product.Planebyplane,thedecisionswehave tomakebecomealittlemorespecificand involvefinerlevelsofdetail.

Eachplaneisdependentontheplanesbelowit. So,thesurfacedependsontheskeleton,which dependsonthestructure,whichdependson thescope,whichdependsonthestrategy. Whenthechoiceswemakedontalignwith

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thoseaboveandbelow,projectsderail, deadlinesaremissed,andcostsbeginto skyrocketasthedevelopmentteamtriesto piecetogethercomponentsthatdontnaturally fit.Evenworse,whentheproductfinallydoes launch,usersoftenhateit,becauseitdoesnt deliverasatisfyingexperience.This dependencemeansthatdecisionsonthe strategyplanewillhaveasortofrippleeffect allthewayupthechain.Conversely,the choicesavailabletousoneachplaneare constrainedbythedecisionswemakeabout issuesontheplanesbelowit.
Thechoicesyoumakeoneachplaneaffect thechoicesavailabletoyouonthenext planeaboveit.

Thisrippleeffectmeansthatchoosingan outofboundsoptiononanupperplane willrequirerethinkingdecisionsonlower planes.

Thatdoesnotmean,however,thatevery decisionaboutalowerplanemustbemade beforetheplaneaboveitcanbeaddressed.

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Dependenciesruninbothdirections,with decisionsmadeonupperplanessometimes forcingareevaluation(oranevaluationmade forthefirsttime!)ofissuesonlowerplanes.At eachlevel,wemakedecisionsaccordingto whatthecompetitionisdoing,industrybest practices,whatweknowaboutourusers,and plainoldcommonsense.Thesedecisionscan havearippleeffectinbothdirections.

Requiringworkoneachplanetofinish beforeworkonthenextcanstartleadsto unsatisfactoryresultsforyouandyour users.

Abetterapproachistohaveworkoneach planefinishbeforeworkonthenextcan finish.

Ifyouconsideryourdecisionsonlowerplanes tobesetinstonebeforeyoutakeonyour decisionsonhigherplanes,youwillalmost certainlybethrowingyourprojectschedule andpossiblythesuccessofyourfinalproduct intojeopardy. Instead,youshouldplanyourprojectsothat workonanyplanecannotfinishbeforeworkon lowerplaneshasfinished.Theimportant considerationhereistonotbuildtheroofofthe housebeforeyouknowtheshapeofits foundation.

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TableofContents Index Copyright AbouttheAuthor Acknowledgementsforthe SecondEdition Acknowledgementsforthe FirstEdition IntroductiontotheSecond Edition IntroductiontotheFirst Edition Ch.1.UserExperienceand WhyItMatters Ch.2.MeettheElements TheFivePlanes BuildingfromBottomto Top ABasicDuality TheElementsofUser Experience UsingtheElements Ch.3.TheStrategyPlane: ProductObjectivesandUser Needs Ch.4.TheScopePlane: FunctionalSpecificationsand ContentRequirements Ch.5.TheStructurePlane: InteractionDesignand InformationArchitecture Ch.6.TheSkeletonPlane: InterfaceDesign,Navigation Design,andInformation Design Ch.7.TheSurfacePlane: SensoryDesign Ch.8.TheElementsApplied Index

Ofcourse,therearemorethanjustfive elementsofuserexperience,andaswithany specializedfield,thisonehasevolveda vocabularyallitsown.Tosomeone encounteringthefieldforthefirsttime,user experiencecanappeartobeacomplicated business.Alltheseseeminglyidenticalterms arethrownaround:interactiondesign, informationdesign,informationarchitecture. Whatdotheymean?Anything?Orarethey justmoremeaninglessindustrybuzzwords? Tofurthercomplicatematters,peoplewilluse thesametermsindifferentways.Oneperson mightuseinformationdesigntorefertowhat anotherknowsasinformationarchitecture. Andwhatsthedifferencebetweeninterface designandinteractiondesign?Isthereone? WhentheWebstarted,itwasallabout information.Peoplecouldcreatedocuments, andtheycouldlinkthemtootherdocuments. TimBernersLee,theinventoroftheWeb, createditasawayforresearchersinthehigh energyphysicscommunity,whowerespread outallovertheworld,toshareandreferto eachothersfindings.HeknewtheWebhadthe potentialtobemuchmorethanthat,butfew othersreallyunderstoodhowgreatitspotential was. PeopleoriginallyseizedontheWebasanew publishingmedium,butastechnologyadvanced andnewfeatureswereaddedtoWebbrowsers andWebserversalike,theWebtookonnew functionalcapabilities.AftertheWebbeganto catchoninthelargerInternetcommunity,it developedamorecomplexandrobustfeature setthatwouldenableWebsitesnotonlyto

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distributeinformationbuttocollectand manipulateitaswell.Withthis,theWeb becamemoreinteractive,respondingtothe inputofusersinwaysthatbuiltuponand sometimesmovedbeyondtraditionaldesktop applications. Withtheadventofcommercialinterestsonthe Web,thisapplicationfunctionalityfoundawide rangeofuses,suchaselectroniccommerce, socialmedia,andfinancialservices,among others.Meanwhile,theWebcontinuedto flourishasapublishingmedium,withcountless newspaperandmagazinesitesaugmentingthe waveofWebonlyblogsandezinesbeing published.Technologycontinuedtoadvanceon bothfrontsasallkindsofsitesmadethe transitionfromstaticcollectionsofinformation thatchangedinfrequentlytodynamic, databasedrivensitesthatwereconstantly evolving. WhentheWebuserexperiencecommunity startedtoform,itsmembersspoketwo differentlanguages.Onegroupsawevery problemasanapplicationdesignproblem,and appliedproblemsolvingapproachesfromthe traditionaldesktopandmainframesoftware worlds.(These,inturn,wererootedincommon practicesappliedtocreatingallkindsof products,fromcarstorunningshoes.)The othergroupsawtheWebintermsof informationdistributionandretrieval,and appliedproblemsolvingapproachesfromthe traditionalworldsofpublishing,media,and informationscience. Thisbecamequiteastumblingblock.Verylittle progresscouldbemadewhenthecommunity couldnotevenagreeonbasicterminology.The waterswerefurthermuddiedbythefactthat mostWebsitescouldnotbeneatlycategorized aseitherfunctionalapplicationsorinformation resourcesahugenumberseemedtobeasort ofhybrid,incorporatingqualitiesfromeach world. Toaddressthisbasicdualityinthenatureof theWeb,letssplitourfiveplanesdownthe
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middle.Ontheleft,wellputthoseelements specifictotheWebasaplatformfor functionality.Ontheright,wellputthe elementsspecifictotheWebasan informationmedium.

Onthefunctionalityside,wearemainly concernedwithtasksthestepsinvolvedina processandhowpeoplethinkaboutcompleting them.Here,weconsidertheproductasatool orsetoftoolsthattheuseremploysto accomplishoneormoretasks. Ontheoppositeside,ourconcerniswhat informationtheproductoffersandwhatit meanstoourusers.Creatinganinformation richuserexperienceisaboutenablingpeopleto find,absorb,andmakesenseoftheinformation weprovide.

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TableofContents Index Copyright AbouttheAuthor Acknowledgementsforthe SecondEdition Acknowledgementsforthe FirstEdition IntroductiontotheSecond Edition IntroductiontotheFirst Edition Ch.1.UserExperienceand WhyItMatters Ch.2.MeettheElements TheFivePlanes BuildingfromBottomto Top ABasicDuality TheElementsofUser Experience UsingtheElements Ch.3.TheStrategyPlane: ProductObjectivesandUser Needs Ch.4.TheScopePlane: FunctionalSpecificationsand ContentRequirements Ch.5.TheStructurePlane: InteractionDesignand InformationArchitecture Ch.6.TheSkeletonPlane: InterfaceDesign,Navigation Design,andInformation Design Ch.7.TheSurfacePlane: SensoryDesign Ch.8.TheElementsApplied Index

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Nowwecanmapthatwholeconfusingarrayof termsintothemodel.Bybreakingeachplane downintoitscomponentelements,wellbeable totakeacloserlookathowallthepiecesfit togetherinthecourseofdesigningthewhole userexperience.

TheStrategyPlane
Thesamestrategicconcernscomeintoplayfor bothfunctionalityorientedproductsand informationorientedresources.Userneeds arethegoalsforthesitethatcomefrom outsideourorganizationspecificallyfromthe peoplewhowilluseoursite.Wemust understandwhatouraudiencewantsfromus andhowthatfitsinwithothergoalstheyhave. Balancedagainstuserneedsareourown objectivesforthesite.Theseproduct objectivescanbebusinessgoals(Make$1 millioninsalesovertheWebthisyear)or otherkindsofgoals(Informvotersaboutthe candidatesinthenextelection).InChapter3 wellgointomoredetailabouttheseelements.

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TheScopePlane
Onthefunctionalityside,thestrategyis translatedintoscopethroughthecreationof functionalspecifications:adetailed descriptionofthefeaturesetoftheproduct. Ontheinformationside,scopetakestheform ofcontentrequirements:adescriptionofthe variouscontentelementsthatwillberequired. Chapter4willcoverthescopeelements.

TheStructurePlane
Thescopeisgivenstructureonthe functionalitysidethroughinteractiondesign, inwhichwedefinehowthesystembehavesin responsetotheuser.Forinformation resources,thestructureistheinformation architecture:thearrangementofcontent elementstofacilitatehumanunderstanding. YoullfindmoredetailsontheseinChapter5.

TheSkeletonPlane
Theskeletonplanebreaksdownintothree
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components.Onbothsides,wemustaddress informationdesign:thepresentationof informationinawaythatfacilitates understanding.Forfunctionalityoriented products,theskeletonalsoincludesinterface design,orarranginginterfaceelementsto enableuserstointeractwiththefunctionalityof thesystem.Theinterfaceforaninformation resourceisitsnavigationdesign:thesetof screenelementsthatallowtheusertomove throughtheinformationarchitecture.Theres moreabouttheskeletonplaneinChapter6.

TheSurfacePlane
Finally,wehavethesurface.Regardlessof whetherwearedealingwithafunctionality orientedproductoraninformationresource, ourconcernhereisthesame:thesensory experiencecreatedbythefinishedproduct. Itstrickierthanitsoundsyoucanfindoutall aboutitinChapter7.

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TableofContents Index Copyright AbouttheAuthor Acknowledgementsforthe SecondEdition Acknowledgementsforthe FirstEdition IntroductiontotheSecond Edition IntroductiontotheFirst Edition Ch.1.UserExperienceand WhyItMatters Ch.2.MeettheElements TheFivePlanes BuildingfromBottomto Top ABasicDuality TheElementsofUser Experience UsingtheElements Ch.3.TheStrategyPlane: ProductObjectivesandUser Needs Ch.4.TheScopePlane: FunctionalSpecificationsand ContentRequirements Ch.5.TheStructurePlane: InteractionDesignand InformationArchitecture Ch.6.TheSkeletonPlane: InterfaceDesign,Navigation Design,andInformation Design Ch.7.TheSurfacePlane: SensoryDesign Ch.8.TheElementsApplied Index

Thismodel,dividedupintoneatboxesand planes,isaconvenientwaytothinkaboutuser experienceproblems.Inreality,ofcourse,the linesbetweentheseareasarenotsoclearly drawn.Frequently,itcanbedifficulttoidentify whetheraparticularuserexperienceproblemis bestsolvedthroughattentiontooneelement insteadofanother.Canachangetothevisuals dothetrick,orwilltheunderlyingnavigation designhavetobereworked?Someproblems requireattentioninseveralareasatonce,and someseemtostraddlethebordersidentifiedin thismodel. Fewproductsorservicesfallexclusivelyonone sideofthismodelortheother.Withineach plane,theelementsmustworktogetherto accomplishthatplanesgoals.Separatingthe effectsofdecisionsyoumakeaboutone elementfromallotherelementsontheplaneis verydifficult.Forexample,informationdesign, navigationdesign,andinterfacedesignjointly definetheskeletonofaproduct.Allthe elementsoneveryplanehaveacommon functionindeterminingthelargeruser experienceinthiscase,definingtheproducts skeletoneveniftheyperformthatfunctionin differentways. Thewayorganizationsdelegateresponsibility foruserexperienceissuesoftencomplicates mattersfurther.Insomeorganizations,youwill encounterpeoplewithjobtitleslikeinformation architectorinterfacedesigner.Dontbe confusedbythis.Thesepeoplegenerallyhave expertisespanningmanyoftheelementsof userexperience,notjustthespecialtyindicated bytheirtitle.Itsnotnecessarytohavea

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memberofyourteamwhoisaspecialistin eachoftheseareasinstead,youonlyhaveto ensurethatsomeonespendsatleastpartof theirtimethinkingabouteachoftheseissues. Acoupleofadditionalfactorsgointoshaping thefinaluserexperiencethatyouwontfind coveredindetailhere.Thefirstoftheseis content.Theoldsaying(well,oldinWeb years)isthatcontentiskingontheWeb. Thisisabsolutelytruethesinglemost importantthingmostWebsitescanofferto theirusersiscontentthatthoseuserswillfind valuable. UsersdontvisitWebsitestoexperiencethe joyofnavigation.Thecontentthatisavailable toyou(orthatyouhaveresourcestoobtain andmanage)willplayahugeroleinshaping yoursite.Inthecaseofanonlinestore,we mightdecidethatwewanttheuserstobeable toseecoverimagesofallthebookswesell.If wecangetthem,willwehaveawaytocatalog them,keeptrackofthem,andkeepthemupto date?Andwhatifwecantgetphotosofthe bookcoversatall?Thesecontentquestionsare essentialtotheultimateuserexperienceofthe site. Second,technologycanbejustasimportant ascontentincreatingasuccessfuluser experience.Inmanycases,thenatureofthe experienceyoucanprovideyourusersis largelydeterminedbytechnology.Intheearly daysoftheWeb,thetoolstoconnectWebsites todatabaseswerefairlyprimitiveandlimited. Asthetechnologyhasadvanced,however, databaseshavebecomemorewidelyusedto driveWebsites.Thisinturnhasenabledmore andmoresophisticateduserexperience approaches,suchasdynamicnavigation systemsthatchangeinresponsetotheway usersmovethroughthesite.Technologyis alwayschanging,andthefieldofuser experiencealwayshastoadapttoit. Nevertheless,thefundamentalelementsof userexperienceremainthesame. AlthoughIdevelopedtheElementsmodelin
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thecourseofmyworkonWebsites,others havesinceappliedittoawiderangeof productsandservices.IfyouworkontheWeb, everythinginthisbookappliestoyou.Ifyou workonotherkindsoftechnologyproducts, youllseestrongparallelstofamiliar considerations.Evenifyouworkonproductsor servicesthathavenothingtodowith technology,youcanmaptheseconceptsto yourownprocesses. Therestofthisbooklooksattheseelements, planebyplane,ingreaterdetail.Welltakea closerlookatsomeofthetoolsandtechniques commonlyusedtoaddresseachelement.Along theway,wellseehowtheseelementscome intoplayinproductsthatarentWebsitesat all.Wellseewhattheelementsoneachplane haveincommon,whatmakeseachone different,andhowtheyaffecteachotherto helpuscreatethetotaluserexperience.

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