For the past decade the term user experience(UX) has been associated only to the design of digital products, more specifically: web design and mobile applications design, while in fact the term “user experience” itself means the design process of any product whether it’s physical or digital with the user in mind, to create relevant and comfortable experiences that satisfy the user needs.(Interaction Design Foundation 2019).
For instance UX design has been implemented widely in the retail business where architects and interior designers plan and create experiences and environments that encourage customers to return to the stores and have a comfortable and engaging time(Nicasio 2019). Not only that but in fact nowadays in grocery stores light has been used to accentuate certain products to manipulate the user experience and boost the sales of certain products (AIMG_Developer 2021)meaning UX has a relation to the total revenue of the stores and should not be underestimated.
Since the user experience is related to how the peoples feelings and perceptions of things, it is directly related to human psychology the thing that opened the doors for UX implementation in games design, because people actually play games to undergo a certain experience, a certain feeling or to go through a motivating challenge and gain a thrill . (Takatalo et al. 2010).
The combination of UX design in creating engaging places and games has lead to the creation of the next generation of User experience which is the “Metaverse”, The alternative reality that withholds infinite opportunities in various fields like business, education, retail, gaming and many more within its web,(Cavale 2022) all of which depend mainly on the designers ability to create fascinating user experiences the thing that I believe will make UX design one of the most required skills in the future.
References
AIMG_Developer. 2021. “Lighting Design – Grocery Stores.” GCE National. August 11, 2021. https://gce-national.com/industrial-lighting-blog/how-lighting-affects-your-grocery-stores-shoppers/.
Cavale, Raghu. 2022. “METAVERSE -next GENERATION USER EXPERIENCE TECHNOLOGY.” https://www.infosys.com/services/metaverse/documents/next-generation-user-experience-technology.pdf.
First, Reach. 2019. “How User Experience Can Impact Your Digital Marketing Strategy – Blog.” Reach First Inc. July 12, 2019. https://www.reachfirst.com/how-user-experience-can-impact-your-digital-marketing-strategy/.
Gupta, Ashutosh. 2022. “What Is a Metaverse?” Gartner. January 28, 2022. https://www.gartner.com/en/articles/what-is-a-metaverse.
Interaction Design Foundation. 2019. “What Is User Experience (UX) Design?” The Interaction Design Foundation. UX courses. 2019. https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/topics/ux-design.
Nicasio, Francesca. 2019. “The Best Retail Experiences That Keep Customers Returning (8 Experience Types).” Vend Retail Blog. April 21, 2019. https://www.vendhq.com/blog/retail-experience/.
Takatalo, Jari, Jukka Häkkinen, Jyrki Kaistinen, and Göte Nyman. 2010. “User Experience in Digital Games.” Simulation & Gaming 42 (5): 656–73. https://doi.org/10.1177/1046878110378353.
