No One Likes a Two-Faced, Manipulative Weasel: The Art of User Experience Design

“User experience design” is a phrase most often associated with digital marketing. It refers to “the creation of the architecture and interaction models that affect user experience of a device or system.” You can thank Wikipedia for the vague definition.

But, then again, user experience design IS kind of vague. Because if we think about a company as a ‘system’ (which, really, it is) then isn’t marketing a type of user experience design?

User experience design is more than designing an easy-to-navigate website or streamlined iPhone app. It is carefully crafting the overall experience that a person has with a company, product or service. Or, carefully crafting the experience as much as you can…

This blog from Jackson Fish Market, a user experience design company out of – you guessed it! – Seattle, “Marketing IS User Experience” is pretty much right on.

I often muse about the disconnect between what marketers say and what consumers actually experience. Marketers promise the moon and the stars and the sun and, um, more stars. And consumers generally get only the moon. And while the moon alone is a pretty sweet deal, it pales in comparison to the stars and the sun and, um, more stars.

The consumer experience is more robust than ever, and it becomes more robust each day. There is the traditional user experience – the way that consumers interact with your company’s online and mobile tools. But then there is the social media experience – the way your company appears through the lens of a consumer’s friend’s experiences. The social media experience also helps a consumer decide if your company’s personality is a match with his or her own. And then there is the marketing experience – the way consumers respond to marketing and advertising messages.

And all of this – let me repeat  – ALL OF THIS needs to jive with the real user experience. The reality of the consumer’s experience when they do business with your company.

In the Jackson Fish Market blog, the author makes a fantastic analogy: If you meet a person and they act one way in one situation and then give you a completely different impression in another, you will not quite know how to feel about them.

Well, I disagree. I would definitely know how to feel about them. They’re two-faced manipulative weasels who you can’t trust father than you can throw them.

So, if you’re not going for a brand image of “two-faced manipulative weasel” then I suggest not making promises you can’t deliver on. A seamless user experience – complete with transparency and honesty – will work.

And if you’re worried that transparency and honesty will hurt your sales, then it’s time to rethink your business’s strategy.