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.