INTRODUCTION

The term “User Experience” is self-explanatory. It refers to a system that revolves around the user. From the standpoint of a designer or a customer, we can describe User Experience in several ways. User experience (UX) design is the process of designing products that give consumers meaningful, relevant, and adaptable experiences. This includes the entire design process of gathering and combining the product, including branding, design, usability, accessibility, and functionality. From a customer perspective User experience (UX) is how an individual feels while engaging with a product. The product might be a website, a web-based application, or desktop software, or it might be some type of human-computer interaction (HCI).

“Any product that needs a manual is broken”

Elon Musk

Today, UX has evolved into an essential design field that is still growing and evolving. While it is relatively recent, its multidisciplinary history may be traced back to 4000 BC in ancient Chinese philosophy. This project aims to investigate some of the significant historical events that demonstrate the growth of User Experience from the early eras of China & Greece to the present ages of Donald Norman. History is in the Making since UX design is constantly evolving, and the fascinating journey continues.

PROCESS

Materials & Tools

I used Knight Lab’s TimelineJS to design a timeline and illustrate the history and evolution of User Experience. TimelineJS is a free and open-source tool that allows anybody to create aesthetically appealing, interactive timelines. Initially, data had to be added into the Google spreadsheet that served as the data set. Eight different milestones were identified during the research from multiple sites. Although user experience is assumed to be a new concept, it consisted some important events back from Before the Common Era (BCE). Those events were added to the spreadsheet, and the years were mentioned with a negative value in the year column, as illustrated below. The events included in the timeline were chosen for their importance in the area of user experience. All of the data was collected and organized in the spreadsheet shown below. Along with the image, a summary of the milestone is provided to help the reader comprehend the significance of the event in history.

Method

When sorting through several ideas, I wanted to focus my investigation on something linked to my profession. As a User Experience Designer, there is no better topic to discuss than the history of User Experience. The more we understand the roots, reasons, and forces that shaped user experience, the best prepared we will be for the future. During my research, I discovered that the history of user experience was more than simply application and website design; it was a concept introduced even before Don Norman coined the term “user experience” in 1995. The research done on this topic was mostly secondary. The qualitative research was done by going through the relevant articles, news, videos, blog posts, and any other material relevant to it.

RESULT

The timeline below represents the result of the entire research. The timeline includes important dates, event summaries, and significant photographs and videos. After seeing the timeline, you will have a better understanding of the history and growth of User Experience. Visualizations assist in the structuring of huge information by placing it in a pattern and making it more memorable. This timeline presented the information visually help people to remember it for a long time.

REFLECTION

I really enjoyed this assignment. This helped me know more about user experience and visualization and learn new tools like Timeline JS. Timeline JS is a great tool for creating timelines. I find it easy to use. I really like the feature that allows adding gifs to the background of the timeline page. I believe it made the timeline more aesthetic.

Challenges: While creating the timeline, I encountered a few difficulties. As a design student with a graphic background, I enjoy visualizing and creating content with settings other than the defaults. Because of my lack of coding skills, I was unable to properly utilize the Timeline JS. Another problem I encountered when making this timeline was the back and forth between the spreadsheet and the timeline creating the page. Whenever I made a change to the timeline in google spreadsheet, every time I had to copy the spreadsheet link, paste it into the timeline creation page and then preview it. It was a little annoying, and I truly hope that Knight lab would modify this approach in the future to make the tool more user-friendly.

Future Direction: We should anticipate UX to continue to evolve as technology and the Internet become more integrated into our lives. In the upcoming year more milestones can be added to the present timeline. In the future this field can be divided into more specialized skills in the multidisciplinary practice, including user research, graphic design, customer advocacy, software development, and more. Wearables  may now keep us in continual touch with the Internet, which is no longer limited to our computers or cellphones. This opens up new doors for user experience professionals to create interactions that go beyond form factors, with the goal of enhancing people’s lives.

REFERENCE

Swain, A. (2020, September 16). Why UX is IMPORTANT! Coffee with The UI Girl. https://medium.com/the-ui-girl/why-ux-is-important-a6d9b9abb378

The fascinating history of UX design every mindful designer needs to know. (n.d.). Monica Ma Portfolio. Retrieved May 31, 2022, from https://www.monicama.com/blogold/the-fascinating-history-of-ux-design-every-mindful-designer-needs-to-know

Timeline JS. (n.d.). Timeline JS. Retrieved May 31, 2022, https://timeline.knightlab.com/

Vieira, T. (2020, January 26). A brief history of UX design and its evolution. TNW | Syndication. https://thenextweb.com/news/a-brief-history-of-ux-design-and-its-evolution

What is The History of UX Design? A Brief Timeline. (n.d.). Retrieved May 31, 2022, from https://careerfoundry.com/en/blog/ux-design/the-fascinating-history-of-ux-design-a-definitive-timeline/

What is User Experience (UX) Design? (n.d.). The Interaction Design Foundation. Retrieved May 31, 2022, from https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/topics/ux-design