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User Experience

The key to your solution’s success

User-friendly and modern interface motivating both your employees and client
With a well designed user interface to work more effectively
From your website’s visitors into clients
Improving efficiency of your business processes by implementing UX into the development of internal applications
Strengthening loyalty of your clients and enhance their relationship with your brand
Exceptional systems for exceptional clients
Reducing the time necessary for user training
Reducing the costs to the call center and Helpdesk
UX in itself as a competitive advantage
Unicorn as the only partner for UX and the whole development process

User Experience

In information and communication technologies, there is perhaps only one trend which is permanent and constant. Computers are becoming more and more “human”. It has nothing to do with their internal architecture, because, as a matter of fact, it has not changed since von Neumann’s time. However, today’s success of their deployment depends more and more on seemingly vague and unsure User Experience (UX).

It is interesting how little attention is devoted during the development of software solutions to users of the resulting systems themselves, although it is this group of people who will probably come into contact with it most intensively. The situation is much more serious when these users also happen to be your prospective clients. Neglecting or underestimating user perspective during software development can bring about the failure of the entire business concept.

In Unicorn Systems, we develop the systems which control crucial processes, such as energy transmission systems for entire countries. In other cases, these systems manage immense quantities of data where there is a zero tolerance for mistakes. At the same time, we know that the resulting efficiency does not only depend on the perfect functionality of the system, but also on the synergy it has with its operator. And it is people who operate it. People with limited perception, shifting attention, personal habits and yes – even emotions. Therefore we consider User Experience to be an integral and significant part of the development of our software solutions. It is a multi-disciplinary field where purely functional and technological characteristics meet with design, psychology and ergonomics. It is for these reasons that we have at our disposal both specialized workplaces and experts in, for example, interaction and information architecture, interface design or text specialists.

Fig. 1 – Parts of User Experience

A positive User Experience is made of a chain of conditions which must be met simultaneously (see Fig. 1): User Needs and Requirements must naturally correspond to what the respective system deals with. Its name, description and basic navigation or advertisement must not give the impression that it can do things which it really can’t. Another level at which the system must succeed in being attractive for its users is Functionality. This includes everything that users specifically want to do in the system (and partly also the information which they need for it). In order to use individual functions, it is necessary to have an Interface. Theoretically, this also involves a command line, but in this case it applies that the more convenient the interface, the more positive the resulting User Experience.

At this point Visual Design fulfills several functions: it directs attention in the interface, facilitates orientation, creates a basic emotional framework for using the application, and makes things easier to remember. And overall Interaction plays the most important role. Its quality depends on all the previously mentioned attributes. When you ask a user how he liked working with an application or website, he usually describes his experience with the overall interaction, while mentioning its pluses and minuses as to how it met his expectations, what worked well and what didn’t, what could not be found and what was poorly marked, and how pleasant/disruptive the design was. And that is exactly how the term of User Experience was created: gradually, it showed that none of these elements alone could describe the user’s final satisfaction or dissatisfaction.

People as a part of the system

The way users will evaluate their experience with the system will depend on many factors. Correctly defined requirements and full and smooth functionality are only some basic elements of success. Taking full advantage of system potential depends also on whether the users are able to fully and efficiently use all system functionalities.

And this is where “soft” human qualities come into play. These can still be bypassed, as far as specialized attendance at several workplaces in the company are concerned, and nearly anything can be overcome with an extensive (and also expensive) manual or training. Nevertheless, problems may start as early as when, for example, some manager wants to see data from the system. Or when data is to be available to all employees, field workers, partners, external specialists, clients, or, as the case may be, even via Internet – to anybody.

The interface’s importance increases with the number of users – as does its logic, intuitiveness, and understandability. Since human perception has been created by life in nature for millions of years, it is subject to relatively strict (and largely non-computerized) rules: warm colors mean “danger”, and cold colors are “quiet”. We devote more attention to symbols than to texts. Visual Design helps users, for example, orient themselves as to what is important and what is not, as well as what is supposed to be information and what is a control feature. And it has yet another considerable strength: it can form an emotional component of User Experience. It has been clearly proven that work efficiency with information systems is directly connected with the level of user satisfaction when working with them.

However, correct functionality, interface and even designs in themselves are not enough. The most important thing is how the system responds to user actions. A user must be sure how each component works when activated; he wants to know if the system accepted it, what’s happening at a given moment, etc. Simply speaking, the ultimate goal is comprehensively smooth interaction between man and machine. And this is where the resulting positive user experience stems from. This rule applies both to railway transportation control systems and to mobile operator information portals.

So many influential factors make it seemingly impossible to take into consideration everything that various people, with their different kinds of requirements and ideas, may expect from the system. In fact, this can be determined using several characteristics:

User Group – A director has different information needs than an accountant. A store manager needs different functionalities than a procurement manager does. The expectations of a company client differ from the expectations of a consumer. The basic division of users into groups by common characteristics clearly defines what these people will require from the system.

Methods of Use – For different types of tasks, we need different mechanical responses (just imagine how you would drive a car using an elevator control panel). So, while some people only need to display and edit summary information, others may need to control loading and unloading of trucks in real time, both using the same system. The system will have to treat each of them differently. And this is not connected with groups of people, but rather with the roles which they play within the system (sometimes alternatively).

User Profiles – People who work with a computer all day long are more adept at working with it than those who, for example, use their notebook only as an occasional communication tool. Some people spend entire days online, others make 3D models of machines. This is all reflected in their skills and in what responses they expect from the system. And this is, in addition to the group in which they belong and the way they need to use the system, a third major influential factor which must be accounted for in designing the interface.

Fig. 2 – Personas

This schema makes it clear why the work oriented toward User Experience focuses mainly on initial project stages. Human factors (in the outcome specified in profiles of “ Personas”) determine the measures which must be taken and the level at which they must be incorporated into the system development so as to make the User Experience an integral part of the quality of the deliverables (see Fig. 2).

UX in the development process

We divide the development process of the information system into two parts. In the Design portion, all of the client’s requirements are collected, analyzed and the method for their implementation is set. In the Implementation portion, the system is implemented and subsequently deployed into operation based on the Design outputs. The key part of the UX is the Design section. It has two phases: the Initial Study and the Engineering Project. The Implementation portion is divided into the Construction and the Deployment phases. Even though in the Implementation phase the UX’s role changes from conceptual to implementation, it is an integral part of all four phases which altogether form one stage of the implementation of software or web solution (see Fig. 3).

Fig. 3 – Development of Software Solution

Users are the only part of the information system which is fixed, even before the first line of the code is written. That is why these initial phases are the focal points of work in the UX field. In this phase, we focus on obtaining all available data on existing and future users. We need to know as much as possible about their expectations, needs, working style and, if possible, also about their real behavior at work with the system we are to develop or improve.

Doing this, we collect and sort out data from various sources – from records of user actions in the screen through bounce rate statistics and behavior at websites, official demographic statistics up to, for example, analysis of feedback from internet discussions. Based on this, we progressively design a detailed Interface Concept: what its logical structure, page layout, and color system will be, and which control features we will use and where. The general objective of these efforts is clear right from the beginning: the resulting system must be understandable for users, it must be efficient and it must comply with the intended purpose.

The involvement of users and the correct interpretation of their problems and needs is an essential prerequisite of a successful project.

Fig. 4 – UX Discipline

We start the project by assessing the current status and in the initial phases we typically perform a User Survey. The results are subsequently processed within the Interface Concept which forms a direct entry into the Implementation phase. During Implementation, the preconditions are iteratively verified against the partial outputs. After deploying the system into operation, we implement the processes to obtain feedback (see Fig. 4).

UX as a part of the Initial Study

In our company, development is a standardized process. In Unicorn Systems, both the twenty years of experience working on information systems of different sizes and uses and ongoing changes in technologies, platforms, methods of managing companies or business processes factor into it. Despite all of its specifics, the User Experience field forms an integral part of these processes. The Initial Study begins the entire development process and is of key importance for the resulting User Experience (see Fig. 5).

The preliminary UX analysis focused on User Experience forms an independent part of the Initial Study. Its objective is to independently assess the specification regarding its “human factors”.

Fig. 5 – UX in the Initial Study

Assessment of the current status

If the project's objective is to upgrade or redesign an existing solution, in the initial phase of the Design portion, we assess its current status (see Fig. 6).
An expert audit is based on generally accepted principles of the Human Computer Interaction (HCI). We assess the current solution from the perspective of information architecture, navigation, attention control, graphic and interaction consistency.

When the results of analytic tools are available, they may be used as a valuable source of quantitative information on real user behavior. Helpdesk, or a call center and FAQ databases are also considered to be a good source of information on problems regarding the existing status.

The Status Assessment also includes the Analysis of competitive solutions which quite often represents an interesting source of inspiration in designing the future system.

Last but not the least, it is necessary to consider the current and probable future trends in ICT in order to provide for an easy dissemination of ICT solutions in the future.

Fig. 6 – Status Assessment

User Survey

In justified cases, we include a User Survey in the Initial Study phase (see Fig. 7). Under the term of User Survey, we understand a set of activities and processes which eventually lead to understanding the actions and motivations of the existing and prospective users of an application. It reveals the types and characters of users, their requirements for functionalities and interactivity, and identifies obstacles and frustrations, if any, in using the existing solutions. The research results from key inputs both for the Interface Concept and functional and technical analysis, as well as design.

Fig. 7 – User Survey

User Survey differs by project. In addition to a classic usability study it is possible to also apply qualitative research methods such as group or controlled individual interviews.

UX in the Engineering Project phase

The user perspective must be taken into account in nearly every aspect of the Engineering Project. Information gathered during the Initial Study is transformed into specific deliverables. For instance, detailed use case specifications are built upon the approved user scenarios. Wireframe model is defined with the respect of the target audience, goals and frustrations.

However, in the Engineering Project phase, the team developing the user interface is required to partially fulfill the tasks which in other areas are performed during the Construction phase. The reason is simple: When the development team begins programming, the Interface Concept must be clear and its fundamental construction elements (Graphic Element Library, Texts, Navigation Wording) complete, at least to an extent enabling immediate programming. This prevents the occurrence of eventually useless iterations where the system would first be developed with a “temporary interface” and later reworked into its final version (see Fig. 8).

Fig. 8 – UX in the Engineering Project

Information/Application Architecture is a pillar of the entire concept. It determines the basic layout of items in a page, application control features, nesting and interconnections of individual components, quantity and layout of navigation items. Most frequently it is made in the form of a "functional layout”, which is an interactive series of wireframe screens where the items are only outlined, regardless of their final appearance (defined in Templates). The resulting behavior is simulated by active features leading to the following screen status. Although such models are sometimes regarded as prototypes, in our case they are used for user testing only as an exception. The reason is simple: it is the final graphics that allow the testing of factors such as colors, shapes, and movements which significantly affect attention and the ability to remember.

Mood Boards have only one clearly defined purpose: to enable the most natural possibilities for the overall design of the final application or web. Although, seemingly, it is the least precise part of the Concept, it is of crucial importance for the overall result of User Experience. In testing, the part devoted to basic impressions is referred to as “look&feel". So it is not an accident that the tool we use for this definition is named the “Mood Board”. We design several alternative versions. Serious or, on the contrary, playful, hi-tech or retro, a dynamic or rather a peaceful layout of features, the selection of a basic color scheme, the use of texts and symbols – all of these, in various combinations, affect the user’s overall impression of the application. For web projects, this is supplemented by the fact that internet visitors usually visit websites with certain expectations which they bring from their “off-line” world, from advertisement, personal experiences with the brand or from other people. Consequently, the final design must both respect the brand attributes and positively fulfill these expectations. The same way the Information/Application architecture defines the principles of working with the content, the Mood Boards determine the basic direction of development of each feature of the resulting design.

The Interface Prototype, unlike the Prototype of the entire project, does not necessarily depend on a complete definition of functionalities. Since it is used only to verify the concept of control features, it should primarily be the most accurate interface model (including graphics and colors), which only simulates the behavior of the final application or web. Using the Interface Prototype, only a limited set of functionalities crucial for working with principal features of the future system are verified. The approximately two-hour limit, during which the tested user still performs “normally”, without the effects of fatigue, is the main limiting factor. The Interface Prototype can be later deployed also for the Prototype of the entire system, which is developed within the Engineering Project in order to provide for the functionality simulation.

Concept Tests are actually the last chance to verify the interface in the design process from the perspective of the overall User Experience. Depending on the project type, these tests can have several forms – from specific tests (a semantic test focused on terms used in navigation, sorting cards to verify navigation scenarios and routes) up to complete usability tests performed on the Interface Prototype. Generally, the more complex the project is, the more types of users (Personas) the resulting system will use and the more technological platforms (net books, mobile phones, etc.), the more advantageous and effective detailed testing of each separate part (navigation, scenarios, design) will be. Subsequently we may project this knowledge into the prototype(s) and also conduct complete usability testing to verify the concordance of all parts of the User Experience.

Definition of the interface standards is a clear definition of design rules and features so as to allow every member of the development team to know the limits in which he should deal with individual functional specifications of the interface. This basic document precisely defines colors, rules and formats of graphic elements, fonts used, or, if appropriate, approved deviations. If it is part of the order, this definition forms the basis for the Graphic Manual which may be supplied within the System Deployment. The Manual is then used as a guarantee of consistency with the original solution in case of future development iterations.

UX as a part of Construction and Deployment

The User Experience activity does not end with the completion of the Engineering Project. It often happens in practice that during implementation, new circumstances and limitations arise which could not be revealed during the analysis phase, especially with respect to a variety of marginal conditions or the true form of data. The UX design is regularly updated in order to always correspond to the application’s needs, while maintaining consistency and the overall Interface Concept. It is unthinkable that developers themselves could decide on solutions to the situations which had not been specified in the UX design! During this phase, you will fully appreciate Unicorn as the only partner both of the UX discipline and solution implementation (see Fig. 9).

Once the application or module is almost finished, we perform verifying UX tests with future users. In this phase, no major surprises should occur, but rather minor corrections or interesting ideas regarding application extensions.

Fig. 9 – UX Design Update in Implementation

Assessment and feedback

We collect user feedback regarding the resulting system immediately following its deployment. In some cases, quantity metrics are available right away, such as the number of application downloads and its assessment by user ratings. However, more often user feedback must be gathered actively. To this end we have many techniques and tools which we try to integrate directly into the client’s processes. We design a concrete solution tailored to the specific client’s needs.

UX v Unicorn Systems

In Unicorn Systems we have been implementing procedures and methods in User Experience gradually. Since 2010, we offer our customers our comprehensive methodology which profits from our long-term experience in this field and systematically integrates it into the overall development process. In case of exceptionally extensive or non-standard solutions, we are able to enlarge our team as necessary with further specialists and quality methods to develop the interface for the latest equipment (see Fig. 10).

Fig. 10 – Unicorn as the only partner for UX and the whole development process

Thanks to our systematic approach, methodology, experience and unique know-how, we are able to provide our customers with a competitive edge and a high added value.

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