Let me get one thing out of the way: I am not a user experience architect or designer. I can’t make a wireframe to save my life. BUT…I can break ‘em pretty good. 
One of my roles as a customer experience consultant is to explore the online experience. And by “explore” I mean evaluate it like a real, live customer. I do this by stepping in during the design process to review wireframes, help set up user tests, and also review live sites from a customer’s perspective.
Often, in these evaluations, the sites themselves work just fine. Clean, usable forms, good functionality, and sometimes even nice bells & whistles. So while USABILITY may be high, USER EXPERIENCE often is not.
What’s the difference?
| USABILITY | USER EXPERIENCE |
| Tasks can be accomplished | I enjoy the tasks! |
| I can get help if needed. | Help gets me. |
| Forms are clean. | Forms use language matching the brand I know & trust. |
| I know when I’m finished. | I feel rewarded when I finish! |
| Site works, but is different than my offline brand experience. | Site matches my offline experience. |
| I can do things pretty quickly. | I can do things with very little effort or learning curve. |
| When I’m done, there’s no reason to stick around. | I like exploring the site. |
| I can find a human when I want human help. | Sometimes I want to connect with humans because I love the brand. |
Usability tests are incredibly important, but don’t forget about User Experience in the process. Usability tests often set out to verify specific sections, updates or tasks. While a user might complete the task just fine, the user might not be able to articulate what’s important about the user experience.
So every so often take a minute to review your entire site with a critical eye – not just specific tasks or user paths. Do some comparisons against competitors, both in and out of your industry. And pay attention to where users spend time on your site through your analytics.
Otherwise you may have a highly functional site, but not an engaging one.
What do you think? Is there a difference?
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- jeanniecw: Nice post. RT @ginidietrich: Guest blogger @LenKendall RT @spinsucks Crowdsourcing Means More Work for You, Not Less http://bit.ly/aU6Ucx
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11:14 PM on July 21st, 2010
This is a very good point (and quite true as well). I probably never considered it before because it never occurred to me to treat Usability and User Experience as two separate things. In my opinion, one depends on the other (like Yin and Yang) to make something that is both usable and meaningful.
But, after reading your post, I realized that not everyone thinks that way and that many professionals and companies do indeed treat those two pieces separately or (even worse) start believing that usability is an end on itself.
So, even if it is not always clear, there’s a real difference in between usability and user experience. I’d say that the first can be achieved by working on the “what” and “how,” but really good user experience can only be reached when you focus on the “WHO.”
5:20 AM on July 22nd, 2010
Two parts to my comment. First, a nitpick. Then, enthusiasm.
1. The usability standards geek speaks in a nitpicking manner:
The international standard definition of usability, in ISO 9241:11 1998, describes usability in terms ofusers achieving their goals with efficiency, effectiveness, and satisfaction. Notice that the satisfaction bit is a third of the issue, and also that it’s about goals, not specific tasks.
To me, what you call ‘usability’ is about limiting the definition to efficiency and effectiveness. It’s when we really think hard about the satisfaction part that we get what I’d call ‘usability’ and you call ‘user experience’.
2. The user experience practitioner speaks enthusiastically:
Where we both heartily agree is that it’s daft to focus just on effectiveness and efficiency. I love your side-by-side checklist, and especially your point about the language of forms. I spend a lot of my life trying to persuade people to stop stressing about minor details of forms layout, and instead to focus on what the forms conversation is all about and whether it is appropriate to the relationship between the user and the organisation publishing the form.
Cheers
Caroline Jarrett
7:52 AM on July 22nd, 2010
Hi Caroline -
Interesting definition, and I think this underlines the point about focusing on the details of usability instead of the holistic experience for the user. Forms are so important, especially in limiting the effort for the user, but the language has an important place, too. Thanks for your insights!
7:55 AM on July 22nd, 2010
I totally agree in the Yin and Yang of these ideas. If usability is not stressed, the experience will lag. I also love your point about the danger of usability as an end in itself. I especially think the danger shows itself when the results of a usability test focused on a few tasks are seen as “checked off the list.” That’s where I’ve really seen organizations focus on task-based usability issues instead of a holistic experience. Thanks for the thoughts!!
5:26 AM on July 22nd, 2010
@jeanniecw talks about user experience http://bit.ly/9YUR8Z: “Forms use language matching the brand I know & trust”. Hear hear.
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11:44 AM on July 22nd, 2010
Usability vs. User Experience. Is there a difference? Jeannie Walters breaks it down. http://ow.ly/2f9zD
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6:12 PM on July 22nd, 2010
too often functionality & usability trump UX RT @jeanniecw: UX vs usability http://bit.ly/b9h19m #ux #cem
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6:32 PM on July 22nd, 2010
Great approach between Usability vs. User Experience difference. Complete post by @jeanniecw : http://bit.ly/b9h19m #usability #ux
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10:20 PM on July 23rd, 2010
Nice summary! RT @Dimaproject: Great approach between Usability vs. User Experience difference. http://bit.ly/b9h19m #usability #ux
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