Deeper trust –

good user experience that looks professional, secure, and consistent generates trust and credibility, which is the single most important criteria for consumers.

Higher competitiveness

applications distinguish themselves from their competitors because of their graphical user interface. As an analogy, unless you are a car freak, the great majority of people don’t look under the hood when they buy a car. Similarly, the great majority of software applications, except system software, are used by users who don’t look, notice, or care about the back-end. All they see and judge is the front-end. As users become less tolerant of poorly designed applications, only those with a functional, useful, usable, beautiful, rich, elegant, intuitive, effective, and efficient graphical user interface will survive.

Higher adoption –

applications earn wider market penetration, bigger market share, and stronger mind share at a faster rate.

Higher loyalty –

users become loyal and turn into evangelists by spreading the word around to their friends and colleagues.

Higher satisfaction –

software engineers are more likely to satisfy users because of the iterative process, the collaboration, and the early visibility and visualization of the application by users.
With RUE, users can be lured, engaged, converted, and retained. Undeniably, user experience is not just what would forge first impressions, but lasting ones too. A good user experience can turn users into evangelists, and a bad one can turn them over to competitors.

Longer shelve life –

applications with rich user experience typically have a longer shelve life than their counterparts.

Lower costs –

RIA reduces the cost of development, deployment, maintenance, training, and support, especially when applications are required to run on different platforms. Thus, the portability of RIA offers substantial benefits to IT departments.

Shorter cycle –

Developers enjoy the following benefits from RUE:
because of the new tools available, developing RIA applications is faster than conventional applications.

Lower need for training

users don’t need much training because of the intuitiveness of the application or the website.

Lower need for support –

users don’t need hand-holding because of the user-friendliness of the application or the website.

Lower rejection –

users who have a good experience when visiting a website tend to be more tolerant when they encounter obstacles. Corollary, when they have a bad experience, they become agitated and much less forgiving. 58% of first time visitors who encounter a bad user experience at a website indicate that they will never come back again to that site, and 41% who experience problems transacting would switch to a competitor or abandon a transaction entirely. This percentage has increased by 12% in 2007 indicating that users are becoming increasingly less tolerant and less patient with applications and websites with poor user experiences. Furthermore, a bad user experience tends to make users feel stupid, which in itself could be a fatal blow. So providing a good user experience is absolutely critical more than ever before.

Higher satisfaction

users can find what they want and they experience a good feeling when visiting. Research by User Interface Engineering (UIE) shows that, about 60% of the time, visitors to websites cannot find what they seek. Studies by Forrester Research estimate that approximately 50% percent of potential sales are lost because users cannot find information and that 40% of users do not return to a website when their first visit is a negative experience. A study by Zona Research found that 62% of online shoppers give up looking for the item they want to buy. According to Elizabeth Millard, only 42% of the websites evaluated were actually usable.

Higher productivity

users will become more productive, effective, and efficient. They also tend to make fewer mistakes when they have a good experience.

Higher usage –

users will use applications or websites longer and more often increasing their stickiness.

Higher usability

users will find applications or websites much more pleasant and friendly to use making them happier

Higher referral –

visitors to a website who get a good experience are 3 times more likely to refer the website to others.

Higher conversion –

visitors to a website who get a good experience are 87% more likely to make a purchase.

Benefits of Rich User Experience

Rich User Experiences (RUE) ignite a wow! factor that invokes instant and lasting emotions on users. Those emotions perpetuate in a domino effect that starts with a very good first impression on users that makes them receptive instead of being defensive as it is generally the case when confronted with something new or unknown. As they become receptive, they get curious, then informed, and then probably even entertained, which makes users addicted and obviously loyal. It is when they start becoming contagious by telling their friends about it, that the buzz breaks lose.
Users, visitors, and consumers enjoy the following benefits from RUE:

Applications of Rich User Experience - II

Applications that require ad hoc input from users such as annotations, collaboration, comments, mashups, wikis, etc.
 Application that require sophisticated and dynamic data visualization such as maps, weather systems, statistical analysis, decision support, etc.
 Applications that require extensive calculation and validation on the client-side.

Applications of Rich User Experience - I

 Applications that require a substantial amount of interaction with users such as registration, configuration, conversion, reservation, diagnosis, selection, etc.
 Applications that require grabbing the attention of viewers such as presentations, demonstrations, tutorials, wizards, etc.
 Applications that require some of the typical features found in desktop applications such as dragging & dropping, instant data refreshing, etc.
 Applications that require decision support capabilities such as dashboards, navigation, modeling, prototyping, simulation, what-if analysis, etc.

Applications of Rich User Experience

We now live in a digital world. We are deluged by electronic gadgets and we are drowning in the World Wide Web. Software is everywhere – in computers, cameras, phones, printers, stereos, fridges, cars, airplanes, cash registers, and kiosks. Software is very pervasive, and every piece of software that interacts with users requires a graphical user interface.
Few interfaces are great, yet the great majority are, not just bad, but terrible!!! For instance, when was the last time you tried, and succeeded, to configure your computer, program your cable box, adjust the clock on your portable radio, or reset some gages in your car dashboard.
Of course, not all applications are created equal – some require a higher degree of richness compared to others. Currently, web applications and websites suffer the most due to poor usability, lack of intuitive navigation, improper information architecture, and awful aesthetics. The web is getting old and in desperate need for renovation. After all, the web started as a communication tool, became a publication platform, and recently morphed into an application platform even though it remains ill suited for the latter despite the advent of new technologies such as DHTML, XHTML, AJAX, JavaFX, and RIA.
With the advent of Rich Internet Applications (RIA) along with higher users’ expectations, almost all software applications or websites, even the most mundane ones, can use a bit of enhancements in their graphical user interface. However, those applications or websites which need a Rich User Experience (RUE) the most are the following:

Disciplines of Rich User Experience

Disciplines of Rich User Experience

We are at the crest of a new era in software – the first phase was about data which included data types, data storage, data modeling, data base management, and the like. The second phase was about process which included graphical user interfaces, navigations, usability, and the like. The third and upcoming era is about user experience whose wings spans over every aspect and every touchpoint between a user and an application. User Experience is a multi-disciplinary field that includes usability, interaction design, navigation design, information design (information architecture, content design, and media design), visual design (graphical design, animation design, and layout design), and sound design.
The ―rich‖ in “Rich User Experience‖ spans its wings on all aspects of a graphical interface from functions to forms. For a user experience to be rich, it has to be stunning, compelling, engaging, enticing, entertaining, exciting, connected, dynamic, alive, immersive, interactive, collaborative, responsive, intuitive, unobtrusive, portable, customizable, delightful, and personable, with self-explanatory labels, logical taxonomy, flexible ontology, intuitive navigation, social features, remembrance, intelligence, elegance, and multi-lingual capabilities.
With wider adoption of broadband, more computer power, advanced graphic monitors of all sizes, along with standards will help diffuse RUE into the mainstream. Such wide spread adoption will force RUE to eventually command a formal new discipline in experience design, similar to how industrial design started in the late 1920’s as a melting pot of different specialties with no standards, but subsequently evolved into a formal discipline.

Art:

capability of designing artwork such as illustrations, icons, logos, fonts, backgrounds, textures, themes, skins, layouts, special effects, animations, sounds, gadgets, and widgets such as tabs, buttons, radio buttons, check boxes, data entry boxes, drop down lists, scrollable bars, toolbars, progress bars, windows, panels, sliders, carousels, docks, accordions, tables, etc.

Cognitive Behavior:

capability of understanding behavioral sciences, human factors, human-computer interfaces, applied experimental psychology, and user-based system design principles.

Flow Architecture:

capability of designing workflows with emphasis on intuitive navigation and connectivity.

Information Architecture:

capability of organizing information with emphasis on logical taxonomy, user-generated folksonomy, and self-explanatory naming conventions, all centered on tasks, personas, or behaviors.

Software Engineering:

capability of implementing algorithms using the appropriate technologies with emphasis on standards, best-practices, and industrial robustness features such as scalability, efficiency, reliability, maintainability, reusability, flexibility, expandability, adaptability, accessibility, searchability, resiliency, agility, portability, security, and privacy.

Computer Science:

capability of solving problems algorithmically with emphasis on conceptuality followed by functionality.

Disciplines of Rich User Experience

RUE is not magic.

First, if an application is useless to begin with, RUE can make it functional, usable, and beautiful, but not useful.

Second, RUE is still software – a hazardous exercise to novices. Frankly, RUE could be a double-edge sword – its own strengths can also be its weaknesses, if not built correctly by experienced and trained hands.

Furthermore, RUE requires expertise in several disciplines including:

Valuable.

Our sites must deliver value to our sponsors. For non-profits, the user experience must advance the mission. With for-profits, it must contribute to the bottom line and improve customer satisfaction.

Credible.

Thanks to the Web Credibility Project, we're beginning to understand the design elements that influence whether users trust and believe what we tell them.

Accessible.

Just as our buildings have elevators and ramps, our web sites should be accessible to people with disabilities (more than 10% of the population). Today, it's good business and the ethical thing to do. Eventually, it will become the law.

Findable.

We must strive to design navigable web sites and locatable objects, so users can find what they need.

Desirable.

Our quest for efficiency must be tempered by an appreciation for the power and value of image, identity, brand, and other elements of emotional design.

Usable.

Ease of use remains vital, and yet the interface-centered methods and perspectives of human-computer interaction do not address all dimensions of web design. In short, usability is necessary but not sufficient.

Useful.

As practitioners, we can't be content to paint within the lines drawn by managers. We must have the courage and creativity to ask whether our products and systems are useful, and to apply our deep knowledge of craft and medium to define innovative solutions that are more useful.

Properties of Rich User Experience

RUE combines function & form, substance & style, and art & science. RUE applications are incredible, extraordinary, and sophisticated applications that are highly useful and usable. They show off their industrial robustness while making no apologies for their striking elegance. They cleverly address both the front-end and the back-end. On the front-end, RUE applications are stunning, compelling, engaging, enticing, entertaining, exciting, connected, dynamic, alive, immersive, interactive, collaborative, intuitive, customizable, personable, and beautiful. On the back-end, RUE applications are scalable, reliable, portable, flexible, extensible, expandable, adaptable, maintainable, manageable, reusable, accessible, searchable, available, resilient, robust, agile, unobtrusive, responsive, efficient, secure, and private. RUE applications include user-centric or task-centric taxonomies or folksonomies, social features, intelligence, remembrance, self-learning, and self-diagnosis with the capability of making recommendations based on users’ preferences, behaviors, and attitudes.
User Experience is defined by Peter Morville as a honeycomb which is an extension of Jesse James Garrett’s UX diagram.

Definitions of Rich User Experience (IV)

User Experience (UX or UE) encompasses all aspects of a digital product that users experience directly—and perceive, learn, and use—including its form, behavior, and content. Learnability, usability, usefulness, and aesthetic appeal are key factors in users’ experience of a product.
Pabini Gabriel-Petit
 User Experience (UX or UE) encompasses the visual appearance, interactive behavior, and assistive capabilities of software. From an application's graphical user interface to its use of additional technologies such as speech recognition and speech synthesis, a cohesive and professional user experience is what Mac users have come to expect.
Apple Leopard Reference Library

Definitions of Rich User Experience (III)

This evolution was feasible because the digital world has been morphing from a world of scarcity (classic Adam Smith economic model) to a world of abundance (Chris Anderson’s Long Tail theory) of resources resulting into lower prices and higher availability of chips, servers, computers, bandwidth, software, etc. However, the advantages that RIA offers do not come without some inherit risks such as security compromises, poor indexing for searching, inefficiency, complexity, and high development costs in certain instances.
Below are few good definitions of user experience:
 User Experience (UX or UE) is a term used to describe the overall experience and satisfaction a user has when using a product or system. It most commonly refers to a combination of software and business topics, such as selling over the web, but it applies to any result of interaction design.
Wikipedia
 User Experience (UX or UE) encompasses all aspects of the end-user's interaction with the company, its services, and its products. The first requirement for an exemplary user experience is to meet the exact needs of the customer, without fuss or bother. Next comes simplicity and elegance that produce products that are a joy to own, a joy to use. True user experience goes far beyond giving customers what they say they want, or providing checklist features. In order to achieve high-quality user experience in a company's offerings there must be a seamless merging of the services of multiple disciplines, including engineering, marketing, graphical and industrial design, and interface design.
Nielsen Norman Group

Definitions of Rich User Experience (II)

Rich User Experience (RUE) invokes the wow! factor. It ignites emotions in users by first impressing them and then making them addicted, loyal, and contagious.
RUE goes beyond the conventional point & click interface by incorporating a gesture interface and speech recognition making the user experience truly immersive.
RUE goes beyond the aesthetics of the fancy Flash applications of the yesteryears which offered pretty screens, captivating layouts, fashionable backgrounds, trendy skins, stylish themes, cute buttons, colorful icons, cool illustrations, dazzling animations, entertaining sounds, amazing effects, smooth transitions, handy zooming, convenient sizing, and easy dragging & dropping, but with limited functionality, no search capability, and poor performance.
RUE goes beyond the interactivity and portability of Rich Internet Applications (RIA) which bridged the gap between desktop applications and web applications. RIA is maturing at dizzying speed yet its horizon is ever expanding. It has entered the mainstream with companies like AOL, eBay, eTrade, IBM, MTV, NASDAQ, Wilson, and many others who have already adopted it and benefited from it. Because of their portability across devices, platforms, operating systems, and browsers, Rich Internet Applications started to be referred to as Rich Interactive Applications.

Definitions of Rich User Experience (I)

The term ―User Experience‖ was originally coned by Donald A. Norman who introduced it to Apple back in 1993. He eloquently said then: ―when technology satisfies basic needs, user experience dominates”.
Sure enough, we are now entering a phase where the unique value proposition and the main distinguishing factor between competing products are indeed their respective user experience.
User experience is everything because users and customers are still kings, and will forever remain so. Users rule the experience, advertisers pay for it, and competitors fear it.
After all the marketing, promoting, packaging, and spinning, what sticks in users’ mind is indeed their experience with your product, application, website, or game. Their experience determines their selection, their purchase, their loyalty, their referral, and their enthusiasm to your brand (or lack thereof).
User experience is very encompassing – its wings spans over anything and everything that a user or a customer touches from the packaging to shipping, from functions to features, from sales to support, and anything in between. For the purpose of this white paper, our definition of user experience is limited to software and not any other product or service. Furthermore, our coverage of user experience is strictly limited to issues related to the actual software and ignores peripheral issues such as packaging, sales, branding, customer support, etc.

Needs for Rich User Experience (II)

Desktops, mobile phones, and the web (not to mention games for some) have become an integral part of our lives. The value of all such devices is mainly in their software. Because of such ubiquity, we are entering an era where software is no longer geeky but trendy. Software is no longer restricted to improving corporate productivity, but is entrenched in consumer social behavior - from informing to entertaining, and from socializing to dating, software touches almost every aspect of our lives. Software defines personas, positions brands, creates communities, democratizes markets, etc. In addition, there is a need for standardization and portability of applications across all platforms from desktops, to the web, to hand-held devices, to embedded systems, and even to games. There is a need for software applications, of any kind and on any platform, to incorporate best-practices and best-of-all-worlds, specifically:

 Functionality, navigation, customization, and responsiveness found in desktop applications;

 Security, scalability, reliability, and fault tolerance found in enterprise mission critical applications;

 Connectivity, collaboration, and personalization found in web applications;

 Interactivity found in Rich Internet Applications (RIA);

 Beauty, elegance, and WOW factor found in Flash applications;

 Efficiency found in embedded applications;

 Simplicity, locality, and convenience found in mobile applications; and

 Engagement and entertainment found in games.

Meeting such high standards will not be easy, especially with the lack of standards and skills necessary, but it is indeed a goal that we should aim for, and it is surely very exciting.

Finally, inventions and innovations don’t stem out of market surveys. When it comes down to needs, classic marketing principles taught us how to establish needs: ―ask what the market needs, then provide it‖. Such conventional wisdom is applicable to defining existing needs in well-established markets but not creating new needs in emerging markets in which buyers don’t know what they need. For example, if few decades ago a market researcher would have asked consumers if they need a personal computer, 99.99% of the respondents would have said ―no‖. When Henry Ford built his first car, he was quoted as saying ―If I’d asked my customers what they wanted, they’d have said a faster horse.‖ Users don’t necessarily know what they need or want relative to their experience with software. It is up to the players in the industry to create the need through their inventions or innovations, and then refine their solution based on specific usability testing.

Needs for Rich User Experience (I)

Before the iPhone was introduced, almost all mobile phones offered more or less the same functionality and utility. Aside Apple’s marketing prowess that ignited a huge demand, what distinguished the iPhone from the pack was its rich user experience. Similarly, in order to be competitive, applications, of all kinds, must nowadays go beyond their mere functionality, utility, usability, and efficiency. They must become brandable and desirable. Starting with trust, desire turns into loyalty, which can quickly morph into advocacy which is a key indicator of long term customer value and retention.

For the longest time, the usability world was divided into two extremist camps – those who think with their left brain (developers from Mars) who produce efficient but unusable and ugly applications, and those who think with their right brain (designers from Venus) who thought that the web was created to showcase their artwork. Currently, users are demanding new computing paradigms and expecting that their applications mimic their world by adapting to their needs instead of them tolerating the idiosyncrasies of an application.

The World Wide Web started as a communication platform, morphed into a publishing platform, and evolved to become an application platform. The reasons for the success of the browser are obvious: standard interface, global access from anywhere, easy deployment, easy maintenance, easy to use, and no training required. The biggest disadvantage of the browser is the limitations of HTML and its inability to offer the richness of desktop applications.