Lessons Learnt in NM4210

NM4210 is a great course for learning about just how ambiguous user experience design is. I appreciated the professor's view that there is no set approach to user experience design. This course gave me the motivation to learn more about this topic and to keep my mind open about different methods in conducting user experience research. 

Here are just some the things I learned in this course:

Identifying your user

I learnt that when you design a product, you should design it for a particular user (as opposed to designing it for everyone). This way, at the very least, the people who fit your target user description, will enjoy your product. If you try to design for everybody, there is a chance no body will like your product. Also, if you design a product that is VERY successful with a particular group, then other people will start to adapt to your product even though it was not necessarily designed for them at first. I.e. PC users convert to MAC even though MAC was not designed to suit PC users.

The brand over the product

The experience you create through your brand is more important than the product itself. For example, people trust Honda. Some people will buy a more expensive, smaller engine, more mundane looking car, just because it is made by Honda.

Create your own niche

Even though a product, a service, or a particular idea already exists on the market, it doesn't mean innovation stops there. There is always a niche market that someone has not identified. For example, cellular phones were not uncommon when Research in Motion (RIM) developed their first Blackberry. However, RIM found a largely untapped market of phones for work and business communication. If you look at RIM's earlier line of Blackberry(s), they were not as good looking as say the Motorola Razor. However, the Blackberry has outlived those trendy phones and continues to gain more user subscriptions.