User Experience (UX)
User Experience (UX) is the overall quality of a person’s interaction with a product, service, or company, covering perceptions, emotions, usability, and outcomes across the entire journey (before, during, and after use). Leading definitions emphasize that UX encompasses all aspects of the end-user’s interaction with an organization’s offerings, not just the interface.
The international standard ISO 9241-210 describes UX as the user’s perceptions and responses that result from the use or anticipated use of a product, including emotions, beliefs, preferences, and behaviors, and frames human-centred design as the process to achieve good UX.
Why It Matters
Drives adoption & retention: Products that are easy, useful, and satisfying keep people coming back, UX is a core driver of product-market fit. (Human-centred design standard.)
Improves business outcomes: Better UX raises task success and reduces time/effort, which translates into higher conversions and lower support costs.
Creates brand trust: Consistent, accessible experiences strengthen credibility across touchpoints. (UX = holistic relationship, not just UI.)
Examples
E-commerce checkout: Clear steps, error prevention, and fast performance increase task completion and revenue.
SaaS onboarding: Guided tours and helpful defaults shorten time-to-value.
Mobile banking app: Simple navigation and accessible controls reduce mistakes and support tickets.
Best Practices
Follow a human-centred design process: Empathize → Define → Ideate → Prototype → Test (iterate with real users).
Design the journey, not just screens: Map end-to-end tasks and edge cases (before/after use).
Measure UX, not opinions: Track task success rate, time on task, errors, satisfaction (e.g., SUS/CSAT).
Differentiate UX vs. UI: UI is the visual/interactive layer; UX is the overall experience the two are related but not the same.
Design for accessibility: Build inclusive interactions (keyboard use, contrast, clear language) to improve outcomes for all.
Close the loop: Pair quant analytics with qual research (interviews/usability tests) to understand the “what” and the “why.”
Related Terms
UI (User Interface)
Usability
UX Research
Human-Centred Design (HCD)
FAQs
Q1. What’s the difference between UX and UI?
UX is the overall experience (usefulness, ease, emotion) across the journey; UI is the visual/interactive layer. They’re tightly related but distinct disciplines.
Q2. How do you measure UX quality?
Use task success rate, time on task, error rate, and post-task satisfaction; compare before/after designs to quantify improvement.
Q3. Is UX only about digital products?
No. UX applies to products, services, and systems, digital and physical. The standard and leading guides define UX holistically.
Q4. What’s a typical UX process?
A user-centred, iterative flow: research, define requirements, ideate, prototype, test, and iterate with stakeholders.
Q5. Who works on UX?
UX designers/researchers collaborate with product, engineering, and marketing; they use psychology, design, and research to make products intuitive and effective.