User Experience, Misuse and Social Uses of Technologies
User Experience (UX) = User + Interaction
User Experience can be defined as the overall experience users have when they are interacting with something. It focuses on the user's emotions and looks into creating technologies that solve human's problems.
UX Design consist of the cycle of Research, Design, Prototyping, Testing and Measurement
With this process we can create designs that are useful, usable and desirable.
Usability is a part of UX Design, however, if something works, that doesn't mean that it provides a good experience. In fact, UX catches our attention mores when it's bad. Simultaneously, a beatiful design does not mean it's intuitive.
UI = the things the user will actually interact with and see
UX = the overall experience
Users can impact the design and create the experience themselves.
No matter what you design people will often find an appropriation of misuse. Misuse has several meanings: "to use something in the wrong way or for the wrong purpose" or "the wrong or improper use of something" "to use incorrectly". People often understand "misuse" as something negative. Next to misuse, there's also the act of repurposing a design. Repurposing means to adapt a use for a different purpose. In other words, people make do with what is available and change its functions for their own needs.
Misuse is also linked to knowledge: if you don't know how an object works, you will not use it correctly and therefore misuse it.
Repurpose is linked to necessity. Necessity will cause people to change things for their own purpose. It is also linked to solving problems, for if we are confronted with a problem we are more likely to repurpose an existing and available object.
Social Uses of Technologies
Humans are social creatures and have a need of belonging to a society. This sense of inclusion is only possible by following the socially acceptable rules. While doing so, we try to portray ourselves in the most favourable light in order to impress as many people as possible - so called Impression Management.
Through social uses of technologies, Impression Management and establishing oneself in a society has become easier to practise. These days social environments are not created by the users. They are created and provided by bigger companies or governments. They are the ones who have the power influence our social surroundings.
Understanding and recognising these social experiences is the main focus of co-experience. Interaction designers should learn to apply co-experience in order to design environments in which social interactions can flourish.
Through social uses of technologies, Impression Management and establishing oneself in a society has become easier to practise. These days social environments are not created by the users. They are created and provided by bigger companies or governments. They are the ones who have the power influence our social surroundings.
Understanding and recognising these social experiences is the main focus of co-experience. Interaction designers should learn to apply co-experience in order to design environments in which social interactions can flourish.