Intuitive UX Design

One important virtue of software is UX. If you design it better, it will make the software better. Every software has two important aspects from a UI perspective: one would be the look and feel, and the second one would be the software UX. Of these two, UX would play the larger role. UX should follow more a pragmatic approach so that it is user-friendly for users.

The software should be more interactive than merely an event-based system. In earlier days, designing better UI would have been enough. However, now with an increased level of expectation of creativity among software consumers, you need to design top-notch UX design. Software systems must be built with better user experience that are intelligent and interact with users.

UX can be of two types: event-driven and intuitive UX. Let's discuss briefly the differences between those two.

Event-Driven UX

This type is mainly based on the actions performed by the user, like clicking a button or menus. Software systems do not provide any outcomes unless the user performs an action/event. These are getting outdated as consumers are less willing to be patient to figure out what action needs to be performed on the screen to get the desired output. The efficacy of software is measured by the number of clicks required to accomplish a use case.

Intuitive UX

The latest trend would be about how software systems are built intellectually to help users. New systems should be built to empathize the customers, go beyond their thinking, and facilitate their needs.

In every domain, there are predefined workflows. When software is built, we must go one step ahead to make software that can understand the user's situation, workflows, and bring up the corresponding UI to the user without any interaction or event initiated by the user.

Every system has a life cycle. Let’s takes an example from an e-learning domain and see how UX can make a better impact.

First-Time Login

In an e-learning domain, if an instructor logs in to the system for the first time, the software should be smart enough to detect that the user is coming for the first time and bring up corresponding screens like:

• Profile setup
• Bringing up content corresponding to the instructor area of teaching
  
• Set up a calendar for the class
• Invite students to the class
• Assigning piece of content to students and scheduling assessment for the students

The above activities are pretty much pre-defined in an e-learning domain. When we are sure of the list of activities that will be done by an instructor then UX should be smart enough to bring up those corresponding screens for users one after another.

The user should feel that they are interacting with a personal assistant who is guiding them and also doing the job required.

Subsequent Logins

When the same instructor comes back again for the second time, the system should understand the next activity and bring up the corresponding screens for the user. It should interact with the user and recommend the next activity to be done in the system. For example, if the user has to schedule assessments for the students then software should automatically bring up the assessment scheduling screen for the user.

When an instructor is in the stage of scheduling content then the system should provide some statistics along with screen like:

• 20% of students have background knowledge of the subject
• 50% of students are new to the subject

It should recommend corresponding content that can be scheduled based on the complexity of the topic and the knowledge level of the students, as well as intuitively interact with the user and recommend necessary steps for the user instead of waiting for an action from the user to provide information.

Usually, it is a more guided system that makes the user experience smoother and happier. Even the moderately software-savvy should also use the software systems with ease.

Dashboards

As the user makes progress in the lifecycle of the product, summarizing the work done by the user is very important. Data plays always a vital role in making decisions. Accommodating a very good summary of user progress data would help them to take appropriate next step.

Going one step ahead, the system should bring such dashboards to the user's attention and recommend the next set of activities pending to be done. 

How to Get the Intuitive UX Right

To get the intuitive design right, we must know these details flawlessly

• In-depth domain knowledge – Lifecycle of users in the domain
• Customer value at every stage of user interactivity
• Research on users' interactivity or behavior
• A strong analytical component for capturing user interactions
• UI principles like best UI Components, device form factors etc.,

Benefits of Intuitive UX

There are many benefits in developing the best user experience:

• Efficacy in workflows
• Fewer production tickets.
• Efficient use of customer time
• The user can focus more on using than figuring out the software
• A happy customer means more business

An intuitive user experience will help the customer sail through the software from beginning to the end effortlessly. It means the purpose of the software is accomplished in a great way.