Written by Seetha Talluru
Hey everyone! Welcome to another recap in our IterateUX Event Blogging series! Today, Natalie Oh Jia En presented and demonstrated how to provide delight and joy in UX Design. She shared some cool things about bringing joy and happiness to the design world. We’ll give you a quick rundown of Natalie’s experiences and some neat examples of how to make UX Design delightful. So, let’s jump right in!
Natalie has been designing products for about 2 1/2 years, focusing on design systems and creating creative designs. She used to work at SPH Media, where she ensured that designs brought users joy and delight. She has shared her knowledge about designing for different languages and cultures at meetups in the USA. She’s also talked about the future of AI in design communities back in Singapore.
Key 1: What is creating delight in design?
Natalie described how delight comes in 3 ways:
· It can be an emotion
· A moment of truth
· It could be an experience
Imagine you’re at a special event like a holiday party with your friends or coworkers. You decide to do a gift exchange, like Secret Santa. Giving someone a gift and seeing their face light up with happiness is a delight! It’s the joy we feel when we connect with others through giving presents and sharing good times.
Another big part of making designs delightful is the hierarchical pyramid. Natalie talked about what she learned from Aaron Walter’s book on making user experiences truly enjoyable using this pyramid. The pyramid divides things into five main parts to help designers and product teams create delight in their work.
The base of this pyramid is “access,” and it’s all about making sure people with disabilities can use and enjoy what’s been designed, which is super important! The other slabs in the hierarchy of delight are:
· Utility: Functionality on how successful the feature is
· Experience: Making sure users and designers enjoy a personalized and intuitive experience that brings them the most joy.
· Aesthetics: Making sure our visuals and UI come together
· “Delight” Delight: The pinnacle of the pyramid is the visible delight, meaning something you can see on the surface.
Key 2: Thinking Cap Session
Natalie led two enjoyable FigJam thinking sessions. In one of them, she asked us to think of an app showing how design can make people happy. We had about 5 to 10 minutes to brainstorm ideas. I joined in and talked about how my Fitbit smartwatch gives me a special badge when I reach specific steps, which always makes me feel accomplished and happy.
Key 3: Walkthrough on the Tamil Language App Project
Natalie talked about a project she did at SPH Media in Singapore called the Tamil Murasu app. The app is a digital version of Tamil Murasu newspaper, bringing together culture, heritage, tradition, and the latest news to the Tamil audience. The process involved breaking down the product’s true purpose and questioning its existence and the purpose of serving the users. They conducted usability tests on the app with intrinsic users. Natalie explained how she and her team used design thinking to determine why the app was necessary for the business and the users. She also mentioned how she mapped the intrinsic motivations that contain the essential demographics, behaviors, and cultural aspects of the Tamil Murasu app.
Wrap-Up
Natalie’s presentation gave a detailed look at how to make designs enjoyable. She used cool examples like holiday moments and the Tamil Murasu app to show how it’s done. Plus, she had a fun brainstorming activity for us during the event. The main thing to remember is that whatever you’re designing — an app, a website, or anything else — should be memorable and bring happiness to the people using it. I hope you enjoyed the IterateUX event on “Creating Delight in Design and Joy in Human Connections.”
For more information on this event, please watch the event recording on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FQ5Z9HW-V4&t=748s
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Feel free to reach out to Natalie on questions regarding this event: https://www.linkedin.com/in/natalie-oh-098?utm_source=share&utm_campaign=share_via&utm_content=profile&utm_medium=android_app
