Built For Use

Over the holiday season, I read Built For Use, a book that champions the notion of user experience as a critical component of success in the digital media, primarily focusing on the Web.

The notion of user experience has garnered a great deal of scrutiny since the book was originally published (in 2002), but the fundamental principles remain unchanged: on the internet, where competitors offer similar value at similar prices, the primary means of competition is user experience. The companies that get it “right” will attract and retain a loyal cadre of regular customers, and those that don’t will ultimately fail.

Much of this is old news by now, but one concept the author discusses that many in the UX profession often overlook is the importance of mutual benefit. The focus these days seems to be exclusively on the user, but it remains true that the site operator must also gain a financial benefit in order that the site will be able to cover its operating expenses and generate sufficient profit to remain in business.

The book was written in the wake of upheaval, after many businesses collapsed for failure to consider that notion, so I expect it was a very salient point at the time – but it remains a valid consideration even today. While most site operators can be counted upon to think of their own profit first and the user experience second, ensuring that UX must battle even for a fair hearing, there advocates of experience may be pulling too strongly in the opposite direction … and would be well reminded of the necessity of financial viability.

Being as the book was published a decade ago, it suffers a bit from age. The notion of UX was very primitive at the time, so the concepts that the author explains are somewhat basic and not very well developed – and it doesn’t help that many of the sites held up as positive examples have since collapsed. It’s nonetheless a good read, as it helps to reflect on past notions to see what has persevered and what has fallen by the wayside.