I recently attended the Microsoft REMIX08 conference held in Brighton. The main theme of the conference was the user experience.
In the past, the some of the most successful software has offered the best user experience. Bill Buxton said in his keynote speech that he admired some of Microsoft’s most successful competitors including Google and Apple, for their user centric applications and devices.
Why did he admire them? Probably for the same reason that has made many people buy their products. They have turned the focus of the product to User Experience. They make their products a joy for the consumer to use.
From the initial stages of creating a product, it should not just be engineers that are involved in shaping the product, with the designers involved at the end to make it look nice. Designers are the creators of as important a part of the product as any other – creating the interface and thus experience that the user has while using the product. This is not something that can be added at the end, it is intrinsic to the design, specification and implementation of the product.
Successful projects have shown the importance and success that can be obtained from developing a user experience that works.
Apple’s success came from the design of some key products – the iPod and iMac. Before these products were created, Apple was not as successful. However, the designer that created the iPod and iMac was an Apple employee in both eras. So what happened? What happened was the focus of the development of the new products changed to include design from the start – Apple had found a winning formula. Their products were easy to sell as the user experience had been developed as part and parcel of the products.
Microsoft have bought into this idea, and so showcased a variety of new technologies and development tools that can be used to create Rich Application Interfaces (RAI). One of the most talked about ones is Silverlight. Expect lots more on this in the coming months.
At the designer panel, an open discussion was had about the role of Designers and Developers. Developers can gain an understanding of design, but cannot become a designer, just as designers could not develop a technical application. The roles of both are key and equally as important. Developers should work with designers and not think they can do their job!
The room was mostly full of designers. To bridge the standoff, one lead designer said to fellow designers – adopt a developer. I agree! I am a developer, and can develop whatever is wanted.
Go on Mr Designer, I’m a developer, adopt me! Let’s make a great user experience!
