We started to use things for a specific purpose. So now we are called users. So, while we were doing this, did our souls become filled with light, or did we have a strange chill? What do we feel? What are we experiencing?
Are we happy or unhappy? Do we continue to do what we are doing? Will we do it again? Do we pay for this? Do we say to others, “You should do it too, it’s amazing”? This is what the quality of our experience tells us.
Of course, I am speaking in a limited way at the moment. We can call the mentioned experience a journey. It is a long journey to the screen of the device I am using, where the red color of the round-edged button at the point where the finger can reach and the message written on it revives which memory I had before.
Yes, it is a good definition;
Journey
Our mission is to ensure that this journey is smooth and enjoyable. Holding the user’s hand. Saying that ‘if you go from here, not from there, you will not have any problems. And, of course, to make them trust us and listen to us.
So, ladies and gentlemen, our job is to design this experience. As you guessed, the word Experience Design comes from here.
Let’s be honest, our users, our customers don’t have to do anything. They come, look, if they don’t like it, they go to the shop next door. If you think you are unique, I suggest you think again. I thought so. A long time ago. Then, wherever the urge came, I started looking for people like me on LinkedIn based on education and experience. I can’t finish it guys. I think there were several thousand people who were very similar to me. Many of them were more experienced and better educated than me.
If me and them stood before me, I would choose them.
Yani sizin hedefleyeceğiniz şey; tek, benzersiz, eşsiz, So what you will aim for; not to be unique, inaccessible, uncompetitive. Erase this from your mind. This is not a sensible business strategy. Your goal is to deliver a memorable and fluid user experience.
This is the magic thing that cannot be said no. A person doesn’t want to take whatever you’re offering just because it’s beautiful. He wants the journey he takes him to be good too. He looks at the light of the store he entered. He looks after the cleanliness of the floor. He smells it. Checks its temperature/coldness. He looks at the pictures and writings on the wall. He checks if he can walk comfortably between the shelves. He looks at the smiles of those who take care of him. Looks at their sentences. He sees if he can find something that fits his lifestyle. If he needs an idea, he looks to see if he is in an environment where he can find ideas. Sometimes even he himself is not aware that he is looking, but he looks.
There is a very important truth in my opinion that I have said in my trainings.
What you sell is perception, not product.
I have to put it properly. You don’t sell coats, you sell warmth. You don’t sell bikinis, you sell holiday dreams. You don’t sell food, you sell flavor and fullness. People focus on what the product will bring, not on the product. That’s why you make what the product brings into the experience. It probably goes without saying that it’s easier to sell a bikini with pictures of the sea and entertainment on the back wall.
In summary; Whoever your user is, if you ensure that they have a smooth journey under your control and create the most suitable environment for their expectations, you can make them press The Button you want.
You can even have your user press that button again and again if what you offer is suitable for this. That’s the reward for the right experience design.
Ates Evren Aydinel
Engineer. 22 years white collar. Financial digital projects manager. Guest lecturer at various universities and institutions. Consultant. Book writer and publisher. Founder of Ates Experience Design.