Want to bake in an engaged user experience? It’s a piece of cake

User experience provides the foundation for engaging users.  Engaged users have higher productivity and accuracy.  They have higher satisfaction, usage, and efficiency. To me, baking an engaging user experience follows the same steps as baking a cake.  Let’s walk through them.

Start by identifying the context

When baking a cake, one starts by identifying the context.  Is it for a wedding, a birthday, a desert, or some other occasion?  The same is true of user experience.  What will the context of the user be?  Will the user be distracted?  Will use be sporadic?  Will the user be on the move?

Select the recipe

A good recipe makes for a good cake.  The recipe selection should be based upon the context.  Similarly, the correct recipe for a system should be based upon the context of the user.  Should the system be a wall-mounted kiosk, a smart phone, a tablet, or a desktop?  Should the system be a connected device as part of the Internet of things?

Use the correct ingredients

Just like with a cake, the correct ingredients need to be combined to create an engaging user experience.  Should the experience contain personalization, location awareness, or social network integration?  What accessories should be included?  Should geospatial be used?

Use the correct equipment

When baking a cake, the correct equipment must be used.  One would not attempt to bake a cake for a wedding on a campfire.  The same is true for user experience.  User experience is much more than the user interface.  What are the performance requirements?  Can the infrastructure handle the velocity and volume of information fast enough?  What type of analytics would enhance the experience?  What are the best channels – Web, App, API, etc.?

Mix and sample

Just as a great chef samples while mixing a dish, the user experience should be sampled.  The experience should be designed and built in iterations.  Each iteration should include the following steps: design, build, validate, and adjust.  Since the goal is to empower users, getting their feedback on small iterations and making adjustments is vital.

Also, remember the following.  You don’t always know what the user needs.  The user doesn’t always know what he or she needs.  The key is to try to dig out what the user really needs.  Some needs are spoken.  Some are not.

Add the frosting

For many cakes, the frosting adds the wow factor.  The same is true for systems.  This includes such things as gestures, animations, color schemes, etc.

Conclusion

Baking an engaging user experience follows the same steps as baking a cake.  Context drives the entire process and the frosting doesn’t make up for mistakes made along the way.