Web Design - the OXO test

“User-centered design” is often used to describe designing products and services from the consumer’s point of view, which is something we are very fond of here at Trioro.

Recently the User experience arts blog outlined the 4 criteria that OXO use to evaluate which consumer product ideas to commercialize. I think these criteria also work well to evaluate websites.

So does your website pass the OXO test?

• You must be able to understand what it does [or what type of information it contains] just by looking at it
• Knowing how to use it has to be obvious (no instructions!)
• It must be thought provoking
• It should warrant consistent use (not a use-once-and-put-away product)

Source Michael Grossman, User Experience Arts

Designing customer experiences - New?

To some it seems that designing customer experiences is a completely new phenomenon.

I've been reading Polar Unlimited's blog, since being introduced to them through a mutual client, and have been reminded again of the business world's continued focus on "design thinking" and "customer experience".

In 2002, Roger Martin (Dean of the Rotman School of Management) created the Desautels Center for Integrative Thinking to bring together design and business thinking "to change the way business schools teach business". P&G's CEO has over the last several years been leading a transformation of the largest package goods company in the world to a design focused company. And more recently, Microsoft has launched Expression Studio, a suite of tools to make it easier for designers and developers to work together to create better user experiences for web and windows applications. The launch in Toronto was accompanied by a presentation from NextD on the future of design to solve the worlds "wicked problems".


However, designing customer experiences is not new.

From Shakespeare and Motzart to George Lucas, Cirque du Soleil, and Nuit Blanche (which I had the pleasure to attend this year in Toronto). Individuals and organizations have aspired to capture the hearts and the minds of their audience. To engage and delight, to awe and inspire; sometimes for purpose and sometimes for play. (there is a reason that the word "art" appears in the title of Roger Martin's The Art of Integrative Thinking)

A focus on design and experience is not new, but it is incredibly important.

What is new is the means. The tools and technology to design customer experiences is ever-evolving, and the online world is the new stage. I don't think anyone can claim to have completely figured it out yet - and that's why Trioro exists. We're here to help our clients apply these new online technologies, and find the path to delivering great experiences online.