Quantifying the User Experience

Chapter 1

Introduction and How to Use This Book

Introduction

The last thing many designers and researchers in the field of user experience think of is statistics. In fact, we know many practitioners who find the field appealing because it largely avoids those impersonal numbers. The thinking goes that if usability and design are qualitative activities, it’s safe to skip the formulas and numbers.

Although design and several usability activities are certainly qualitative, the impact of good and bad designs can be easily quantified in conversions, completion rates, completion times, perceived satisfaction, recommendations, and sales. Increasingly, usability practitioners and user researchers are expected to quantify the benefits of their efforts. ...