I've found myself challenging the value of 'good user experience'. When a website works well enough - when a few extra clicks or a few seconds of lag time don't seem to bother most people - why invest the time or money to make a site simply look pretty?
User experience (UX) refers to a person's overall feelings and perceptions when interacting with a product, system, or service. In other words, it's the journey a user takes through what you've built and offered them. Practically speaking, good UX shows up in simple, often invisible ways: intuitive navigation, clear language, fast-loading pages, mobile responsiveness, easy-to-read text, and minimal barriers between a user and what they’re looking for. It’s about removing friction and guiding people through an experience that just feels right even if they can’t explain why.
As quite the foodie, I often reflect on my experiences at different restaurants. At its most basic level, a restaurant sells food. However, as you may be aware, a lot more goes into a restaurant than simply feeding people. A restaurant is an establishment - a consistent, welcoming environment that people can return to. Restaurants vary in cuisine, size, cleanliness, service, and food quality. All of my best restaurant experiences served affordable and exceptional food - they were small, quiet, with thoughtful interior design, and somehow filled with love. On the other hand, I flee at the sight of either a fly-infested hole-in-the-wall or a lavish, soulless palace serving mediocre food on golden platters. Even restaurants with great dishes but poor service repel me. The places I return to are the ones that nourish me and lift my spirit - these places make me feel good.
In some ways, websites are much like public restaurants. While websites fulfill many tasks like offering information or services, selling products, or entertaining, their most fundamental purpose is to foster communication, to connect people. And just like with restaurants, people return to websites that make them feel good. A clunky, aged website feels like a ghost town and raises quiet questions: "Can I trust anyone here?" "Do these people know what they're doing?" Similarly, a beautiful, but non-functioning website only takes up space.
To employ 'good UX' is to aim for a pleasant user journey. 'Good UX' is more than just function or looks - it's about the feeling of clarity, hospitality, and trust. A good website says, "Hi there. This is who I am and what I can offer you. See you next time!" And the user, often without realizing it, responds, "That was pleasant. I'd come back." Just like a mindful restaurant that keeps the floors clean, the lighting warm, and the service friendly, a good website pays attention to detail - the navigation is intuitive, information is easy to find, text is legible and accessible, the site adapts to a small phone screen. These things might seem small, but they shape whether a user feels cared for or forgotten.
So why does 'good UX' matter? Through a form of beauty which interweaves simplicity, color, functionality, speed, and accessibility, good UX amplifies a website's ability to draw bridges, connect strangers, and perhaps create friendships across the world wide web. From a utilitarian perspective, 'good UX' helps websites better fulfill their fundamental purpose, and that is value. But this reflection raises an even deeper question, which I'll leave with you to ponder. Excluding any practical purpose, does beauty, for beauty's sake, matter? Should it? And why? I wonder if beauty does matter because it stirs something in us that usefulness never could. What do you think?