August 27, 2009
User Experience: The Legitimate Pseudoscience
presented by Clifton BarnhartAlthough the practice has been picking up speed among developers and creatives, user experience is still a relatively unknown phrase, and while the discipline covers several facets of the design process, it is largely overlooked concerning many products, systems and services. The subtleties that might add up to a wonderful interactive experience are often left to programmers or artists with little understanding behind the psychology of interaction.
At the same time, consultants and agencies have made billion-dollar industries out of practices such as feng shui, spiritual and paranormal readings, and alternative medicines, many of which have little or no actual scientific data supporting their claims. What do these pseudosciences have in common with user experience?
Clifton’s presentation will compare the practice of user experience with various forms of pseudoscience, discussing similarities as well as important differences between the two, and ultimately tackle the question: How can we convince the rest of the world that user experience design is worth the extra effort, time and money?
Clifton is a user advocate who spends his time finding things that chip away at the efficiency, consistency and safety of products and systems, and thinks about how they can be improved. He recently finished a series of writings called “28 Things Every User Experience Designer Should Know.” He is also quite obsessed with yo-yo and skilltoys.