Definitions of "User Experience"

February 18, 2003

In a recent interview, Jesse James Garrett of AdaptivePath talks about his recent book on user experience. The interview is a really great read.

His definition of the practice of UXP is really telling, particularly in grounding user goals and ROI:

"'User experience' simply refers to the way a product behaves and is used in the real world. A positive user experience is one in which the goals of both the user and the organization that created the product are met. "Usability" is one attribute of a successful user experience, but usability alone does not make an experience positive for the user. Historically, product design and development has considered the mere existence of a particular feature as evidence that a user goal is fulfilled by the product -- with no attention paid to the experience the user has with the product while using the feature. "

The full interview is here