12. Michael Wesch, Professor
Kansas State University
Digital Ethnography
Understand how
individuals and
communities use
technology to ascribe
meaning in their lives.
Kelly Goto, author
Design Ethnography
“Understand how real
people integrate products
and services into their
daily lives”
Yes UX does focus on ease-of-use, perceived value, and efficiency. In this way UX is a lot like User-Centered Design. Except now we’re evaluating these factors in the context of the user’s life… their story… before, during, and after they use our app or site.
In the old days, we were accustomed to some uninspired experiences online. Websites were difficult to use and some didn’t seem to serve much purpose. We didn’t really notice, because we were excited to be using the World Wide Web.
http://www.oocities.org/televisioncity/1639/
http://www.wired.com/business/2010/11/geocities-lives-on-as-massive-torrent-download/
Now we have iOS, Amazon, Club Penguin, and Kindles. Rich, intuitive experiences that are emotionally satisfying as well as helpful. Even if citizens don’t expect gov sites and apps to be at that same level, they’re still disappointed when they don’t get it.
Our agencies have different missions, but we share certain goals: improve the lives of citizens and help the country grow. Behavior change is key to making that happen. We want people to do something new or different.
BJ Fogg, the founder of Stanford’s Persuasive Technology Lab, sums up behavior in three words: motivation, ability, and triggers. When someone uses a gov app, they’re motivated and triggered. The question is: will we support their ability to complete whatever task they’ve set out to do? And in a satisfying way?
http://www.behaviormodel.org/
Usability isn’t always directly correlated to user experience. Look at eBay in 2003. It was a bit of a mess. But users saw so much value in the site that it didn’t matter. We loved the experience.
http://mashable.com/2010/08/07/ebay-facts/