Designing the Digital Experience: How to Use Experience Design Tools & Techniques to Build Web Sites Customers Love - Softcover

King, David Lee

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0910965838 ISBN 13: 9780910965835

Verlag: INFORMATION TODAY INC, 2008

Inhaltsangabe

Written for creative, tech-savvy, and business-minded individuals who want to increase the accessibility of their websites, this sensible guidebook explains the concepts behind designing experiences on the internet. From helping customers quickly find information and make their purchases to clearly communicating needs and interests, this resource will not only develop consumer loyalty but will encourage them to spread the word about the sites they frequent. Focusing on the three key areas of structure, community, and customers, designers will enable clients to focus on their own goals rather than on difficulties in navigating. Also included are tips on how to generate conversations with blogs, wikis, and podcasting to create a personal touch.

Über diesen Titel

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

David Lee King is the digital branch and services manager at the Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library. He is the coauthor of the “Internet Spotlight” column in Public Libraries Magazine and was named a "Mover and Shaker" by Library Journal. He lives in Topeka, Kansas.

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Designing the Digital Experience

How to Use Experience Design Tools and Techniques to Build Websites Customers Love

By David Lee King

Information Today, Inc.

Copyright © 2008 David Lee King
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-0-910965-83-5

Contents

Copyright, 
Acknowledgments, 
About the Web Page, 
Foreword, by David Armano, 
Introduction, 
Chapter 1: Welcome to the Experience Economy, 
PART 1: STRUCTURAL FOCUS, 
Chapter 2: What Is Structural Focus?, 
Chapter 3: Elements of Digital Experience Design, 
Chapter 4: Information Architecture and Usability: Experience-Focused Design, 
PART 2: COMMUNITY FOCUS, 
Chapter 5: What Is Community Focus?, 
Chapter 6: Emerging Tools for the Digital Community, 
Chapter 7: Community Building Through Invitation, 
Chapter 8: Community Building Through Social Networking, 
PART 3: CUSTOMER FOCUS, 
Chapter 9: What Is Customer Focus?, 
Chapter 10: Staging and Theming Digital Experiences, 
Chapter 11: Customer Journey Mapping and Personas, 
Chapter 12: Customer Focus Ideas, 
Chapter 13: The Next Step, 
Resources and Recommended Reading, 
Glossary, 
About the Author, 
Index, 

CHAPTER 1

Welcome to the Experience Economy

What's my daughter playing on the computer this evening? Oh, she's on the American Girl site, and she's playing Kaya's Catch of the Day. She also sent an American Girl ecard to her cousin and looked at this year's new doll. We receive American Girl catalogs and magazines in the mail and check out the latest books from the library. We even visited American Girl Place in Chicago last winter as a birthday surprise (the girls and mom watched a musical, had a tea party, and shopped, while my son and I checked out the science museum and LEGO Store).

What's going on here? Why is my daughter so into this stuff? Because American Girl is all about the experience. It focuses on the fun of exploring and living as a girl in America's past. The American Girl people are engaging their market in creative ways — specifically targeting grade school and middle school girls. They know how to delight their customers. I know — I've seen my daughter's smiles. As we continue to think about experience, let's consider the experiences of a trip to an amusement park and the purchase of a computer.

Silver Dollar City

Have you visited Silver Dollar City, a popular theme park located in Branson, Missouri? My family visits the park a couple of times every year (my parents retired in Branson, so we have an added incentive). According to its website, "Silver Dollar City ... is one of the most popular vacation destinations in the country. Travel back in time to the simplicity of 1880s America." The site elaborates even further on another page:

Silver Dollar City ... combines the wholesome family fun of a major theme park with the timeless appeal of crafts and a dedication to preserving 1880s Ozarks culture. Over 100 craftsmen are on park demonstrating glass blowing, basket weaving, blacksmithing, pottery, candy making, candle making, and many other disciplines. Packed with over 20 rides and attractions, 60 unique shops and restaurants, and 40 dazzling shows a day, Silver Dollar City truly appeals to all ages. It also hosts five major festivals per year and was named one of the Top Theme Parks in the World by the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions.

Why do we go back to the park year after year? For the "experience," of course.

Besides the fun theme rides, we love the old-timey stuff! It's quite fun to watch glassblowers and ride behind a steam-powered locomotive. The shows tend to be geared toward the park's theme as well, so lots of dulcimer and fiddle music can be heard. And, of course, everyone who works there is dressed as a character from the 1880s, and some of the rides even include brief historical snippets of the Ozarks in the 1880s.

We enjoy Silver Dollar City because it provides the complete package. We aren't going to the park just to ride a roller coaster or eat kettle corn. We're paying to participate in a version of 1880s southern Missouri and to have some memorable family-oriented fun in the process. We are there for the experience.

Buying an Apple

Let's move to a completely different type of experience: buying a laptop. But not just any laptop — an Apple. I bought my first laptop last summer. (I actually purchased it to write this book.) I bought the computer online at the Apple Store. It was a breeze. Apple's site is extremely easy to use. To get to the store, I simply clicked on "Store" from the main page. Each laptop is actually displayed on the main Store page! Fantastic! Ever bought a PC? Many PC makers have a lot of different laptop models, all hidden under a variety of model names and labels. Apple makes this part easy by having just two to choose from: the MacBook and the MacBook Pro (I went with the MacBook Pro).

Next, I had to pick the screen size (easy again) and had the option to upgrade the laptop a bit (which I did). The paying part was very familiar — similar to that of other large sites, such as Amazon.com. Again, easy as pie! This was a pleasing experience. Not once did I have to think about Apple's website, obtuse language, which oddly named laptop model I wanted, or how to work the page. Instead, I was able to think about what I wanted to do (choose and buy a laptop from Apple) the whole time.

I don't mean to evangelize for the Mac (although it's hard not to sound that way, because Apple gets many things right). But get this: I announced my purchase on my Flickr account, and I heard from other "evangelists"! Here's what some of my Flickr pals told me when I announced that I had just purchased a Mac:

• "Nice work. What are you going to do with all that free time you spent cursing?"

• "One of us, one of us! Let's all chip in for David's tattoo — neck or wrist or elsewhere?" (The words neck, wrist, and elsewhere all pointed to pictures of actual tattoos people had gotten of the Apple logo!)

• "Rock on, David! life will never be the same :)"

It's not hard to see what went on here. Apple made the purchasing process extremely easy. It provided only enough choices to make me feel as if I had a choice (desktop vs. laptop, two laptop models), and it made the checkout process easy. And, of course, Apple computers simply work. I've had no problems so far. Apple is providing a great computer, but it's also providing a great computer experience that few, if any, of its competitors match.

What Is Experience?

You have now read about a few extremely different examples of experience. What exactly is experience, and how does it relate in any way, shape, or form to the web? Let's start that discussion off by introducing you to the experience economy.

If you want a thorough introduction to the experience economy, you should read The Experience Economy: Work Is Theatre & Every Business a Stage, by B. Joseph Pine II and James H. Gilmore. In a nutshell, Pine says, "It's crucial to understand that experiences are a distinct economic offering, as distinct from services as services are from goods. Experiences result when a company uses tangible goods as props and intangible services as the stage for engaging each customer in an inherently personal way."

Pine and Gilmore's claim is that our economy is changing. People have enough money...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: INFORMATION TODAY INC
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2008
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 0910965838
• ISBN 13: 9780910965835
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Anzahl der Seiten: 182
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
• Verantwortliche Person: Nicht verfügbar