Last Thursday, I attended a great event hosted by Educelerateentitled “UX for .EDU”. The engaging panel included a good mix of designers, technologists, and educators offering their points of view on the importance of user experience in education-focused products.
A recurring theme throughout the evening was how user experience really boils down to a philosophy of how people react to various interfaces. For example, how many of us have been so frustrated by merely the usability of a site or application that we just give up? On the flipside, it seems as if every day I witness a new app or site that elicits a positive reaction solely because of the look and feel. I see this even more in the start-up space going to events where several companies are launching their product. Of course, the business model and problem they’re trying to solve is paramount but it’s hard to tell that story if there is a clunky-looking app running getting in the way.
Another great point raised by Chris Peterson, one of the panelists and a web designer at All Campus, was that he sees User Experience in everything. That term isn’t restricted to applications or even just technology. The way we use cars, the way we enter and exit buildings, everything we interact with has some type of user interface.
With this growing concern for UX in education it will be exciting to see the new wave of eLearning products on the horizon and the emphasis those companies place on an intuitive and engaging user experience.
For those of you who missed the event it is available on YouTube: UX for .EDU presented by Educelerate.