There’s no denying it, the new found popularity of rich internet applications (RIA) has been bought about by the ability for users to interact with web based data in a more aesthetically pleasing, coherent, user-friendly, and intuitive manner. This fresh focus on the benefits of user experience (UX) is IMHO the main reason why RIAs exist today. It’s for this reason, that i’ve decided to kick off my RIA Motivators series on UX!
In the following weeks i’ll be looking at some other factors i’ve identified as key motivators driving increase of the rich internet applications;
- Corporate Champions
- Brand Awareness/Enhancement
- SOA & Web 2.0
- Financial Benefits
Over the past 10-15 years, the design of application user interfaces (UIs) has evolved from a focus on utilitarian to intuitive, as users have become more sophisticated (and aware) of how they interact within information spaces. As such, traditional applications have been required to evolve to provide richer, more intuitive, and user-friendly UIs to address the information navigation requirements of its users – enter rich internet applications.
In the past, application UI design was very much at the bottom of the priorities list when it came to developing web applications. It was a task that was handed to someone who had an eye for matching colour styles, and could perhaps optimise graphics for the web. Back then, the primary motivator driving application development was the technology or the architecture. Oddly enough, the (end) user experience was often a mere afterthought.
Fast forward to today, and the pendulum has swung completely back in the other direction. In a market overcrowded with failing, unattractive, unintuitive web applications (born from solely architecture or technology driven motivators). Organisations are finally sitting up and taking notice of what actually motivates people when they interact with application information spaces. What was once an afterthought is now a major focus. The light has finally come on regarding the impact, benefits and importance, user experience (UX) has on the overall success of a web application.
So what constitutes a good application UX? Let me preface this by stating that i’m by no means a UX expert, and the points i’m outlining below are simply my educated take on the subject.
A good place to start would be a clear definition of what exactly user experience is. The guys over at UX Matters. define user experience design as “the integration of interaction design, industrial design, information architecture, visual interface design, instructional design, and user-centered design, ensuring coherence and consistency across all of these design dimensions.“. What, so you mean it’s not just eye-candy and pretty animations 
Using that definition as a foundation, i’m of the (educated) opinion that good RIA UX design should contain the following;
Design – It would be too easy to gloss over this point as simply the presentation design element of an application. In reality, as demonstrated by the UX Matters definition above, the ‘cover-all’ term of Design relates not only to visual interface design but also integration, industrial and user-centred design.
I could discuss the individual elements of UX Design for hours and not even scratch the surface. Needless to say, this simply further demonstrates the importance (and complexity) of these disciplines in relation to the planning of successful rich internet applications.
Personalisation – This refers not only to allowing the user to customise they way in which they interact with information within an application (i.e views), but also how the application intelligently ‘learns’ the requirements of the user and adapts accordingly.
Most user’s interactions with web applications revolve around the repetition of a similar task (such as; chatting with friends, checking account balances, paying bills, purchasing goods or services, or making travel plans). It is for this reason, that application UIs need to be intelligent enough to know what task the user is currently attempting to complete. When I refer to ‘intellegence’ i’m actually referring to the analysis of behavioral patterns. These paterns in-turn are used to present a more personalised set of options to the user based on the task they’re trying to complete (as opposed to presenting the user with all possible options for all possible tasks). This personalisation of data/options increases the value associated with each user interaction with the application. This is due to user gestures not being wasted on options that are irrelevant to the task at hand.
Productivity – Is closely related into the above point. There’s no point in having a UI that looks appealing if it doesn’t allow me to perform the tasks that I originally set out to achieve. The management of the usability of complex information spaces is another key factor in UX. The ability to understand, and cater for, the different productivity requirements of an application’s users is paramount. This is especially important for Super-Users (i.e. users who have a requirement to perform repetitive or time-sensitive tasks).
Another major element of productivity revolves around the streamlining of existing (complex) processes. This ‘enhancement’ of the way in which (large) complex information sets are interacted, with helps greatly reduce process abandonment (one of the major misgivings of todays applications). Take for example the humble online application form. Research shows that there is a 5% abandonment rate for each form page a user is required to complete online. Thus the benefit of simplifying a 10 page form (which traditionally would have led to a 50% abandonment rate) and distilling that down into a 4-5 page form results in at least a 25% reduction of process abandonment
The key take-aways regarding UX in relation to the motivators driving the increase in rich internet applications are as follows;
- UX is not just eye-candy to make the application look pretty. It is a critical factor in the overall success (or failure) of a web application. As such it should be treated with the same effort, and importance, as any other part of the project such as architecture, or code-cutting.
- Usability Experts and UX Designers are not second class citizens of your devteam. As such, they should be factored into the project skills/staff mix from the onset of project planning (and not simply thrown in afterthought). Despite general opinion – A skilled UX expert is as valuable a team member as an information architect, or a skilled programmer.
- Ensure that your UX team are continually upskilled/trained/educated. In doing so you’re guaranteed that they’re going to be on top (or ahead) of emerging usability/UI requirements and trends.
- It’s imperative that not only the devteam, but all key project stake holders, be educated on the importance of UX. Communicating the value of UX to stake holders gives them a clearer understanding of the benefits (and impact) that UX has on the success (or failure) of an application project.
Matt Voerman | 
8th 12, 2008| 
