My Top 7 Examples of Bad User Experience

I recently had a client looking for a very senior User Experience Designer to add to their team. In my quest for this person, I started asking myself ...

"what really makes a great user experience designer?"

Along the way, I remembered my own first experiences in college.

I feel old typing this. But, "when I went to college".. it was 1994

• We were using dBase on an Apple II
• We used CorelDraw 4 & 5 on our friend's computer he had in his dorm room. Having a computer and that newest expensive software? Was a HUGE deal-it was super $$$.

Back then, was the birth of the web. Not everyone had cell phones, either. SHOCKING!!

Today, we visit websites and apps via our tablets, mobile phones and anywhere we have a connection. I am going to come right out with it..

EVERY company

needs User Experience people

2012 eCommerce & B2C facts

Percentage of online shoppers that base their opinions on a website 

by the design of the site alone: 

42%

Percentage of online shoppers that did not return to a site 

based on the site aesthetics: 

52%

My 7 top examples of Bad User Experience and User Interface Design

• Mobile "optimized" site - that looks like a table of contents
• Flash - I have an iPhone, iPad and a MacBook
• Pop Up Ads - I click to close them. Period.
• Flashing Banner Links - again, it looks like an ad and I will not click
• Site Consistency - your user needs to feel comfortable
• Auto Play Video - huge problem on major media/magazine sites
• Keep it simple - the best design is often the most clean

I'm considering switching banks. A good percentage of my frustration is their UI and UX on their website.

What sites frustrate you? What else would you add to my list?




*I registered for Stanford University HCI classes to dive deeper into Human Computer Interaction. They start sometime in February!

Once it starts, I'll be writing on the blog to let all of you know how the class is going!

Here's a nice 2012 B2C Color Infographic from the folks at: The Infographics

The difference between being a leader, and leading

"Whatever else each of us derives from our work, there may be nothing more precious than the feeling that we truly matter — that we contribute unique value to the whole, and that we're recognized for it."

What a powerful statement. It's very simple, really. Most of the time, it's easier to push people for "more". Whether more is more time, more production, more sales, more contacts, more meetings, more coding, more traveling... More gets in the way of Appreciation, too often.

http://blogs.hbr.org/schwartz/2012/01/why-appreciation-matters-so-mu.html

by TonySchwartz

Points from Tony's blog:

•  "The single highest driver of engagement, according to a worldwide study conducted by Towers Watson, is whether or not workers feel their managers are genuinely interested in their well being. Less than 40 percent of workers felt so engaged."
• "Oddly, we're often more experienced at expressing negative emotions — re actively and defensively, and often without recognizing their corrosive impact on others until much later, if we do at all."
• "Feeling genuinely appreciated lifts people up. At the most basic level, it makes us feel safe, which is what frees us to do our best work. It's also energizing. When our value feels at risk, as it so often does, that worry becomes preoccupying, which drains and diverts our energy from creating value. "

This is why I'm incredibly passionate about company culture creation and preservation. Think about what you say, what you do and how you lead.. as if your grandmother were sitting on your shoulder watching your every move.

Would she be proud?

Someone reminded me on Twitter tonight about an old saying. What do you want people to say about you and remember you by at your funeral? Now, go do that. 

Simple, but perfect.