CHI 2005 | Development Consortium

April 2-7 | Portland, Oregon, USA‘User Experience’ Design
A new form of design practice takes shape
Ian McClelland
User Experience Architect
Philips Applied Technologies
Building SFJ 4.70, PO Box 80002
5600 JB Eindhoven, The Netherlands
Email: Ian.McClelland@philips.com
ABSTRACTemploy computational technologies. The use of such
systems is becoming embedded in the way we live our lives
in so many diverse ways.

This paper outlines my professional background andinterests in the ‘user-experience’ field. I summarise mycurrent relevant responsibilities related to my employment
as a specialist in ‘user experience’ design and my SIGCHI
activities. I also summarise some observations on theemergence of ‘user experience’ as a focus for the
professional practice of interactive system design andobservations on some directions for the future.

Interest in ‘user experience’ is also being driven by theaggressive way in which businesses worldwide are seeking
commercially viable applications including, among many
examples, IT at work, WWW, mobile telecommunications,audio-video entertainment, digital imaging, etc. And manycorporations are also looking for new ‘competitive edges’,
and for new ways to satisfy consumers and customers.
Whilst the origins of these drivers are the wealthy westernand eastern advanced industrialized societies, we also see
the rapid emergence of other major markets, most notably
India and China.

Author Keywords

Position paper
ACM Classification Keywords

User Experience, User Interface design, Interaction design,
Usage centred design.

PROBLEM?

INTRODUCTION

Why is ‘user experience’ such a ‘problem’?

‘User experience’, in the context of the professional
practice of interactive system design, encompasses thenotion that many aspects determine the type of experiencethat comes from using a device, product, system or service(all of which I will refer to as the ‘design’). It also
encompasses the notion that many aspects can be designed
to generate positive results for the users of a design. This
notion is rooted in, and extends, a long tradition of usage
focused design in the areas of Ergonomics/Human Factors,
Usability Engineering, Human Computer Interaction,
Interaction Design. ‘User experience’ design is anunderstandable extension of these traditions and brings amore holistic perspective to how people need to beconsidered in relation to the ways we use technologies. In
recent years a more diverse array of human behaviouralspecialists such as anthropologists, ethnographers,sociologists, have also begun to play a significant part indeveloping the field.

The way we traditionally design as professionals and associeties is challenged by the combination of 1) the diverse
ways we are making use of computational technologies, and2) the importance of adapting the technologies to the way
we behave as individuals and as social beings in our various
contexts. These developments are stimulating new
perspectives on design and research that are emerging frommany overlapping interests in the fields of marketing,technology research and development, design practice, thehuman sciences, and the social sciences.
These trends are creating significant challenges for thevarious professional societies that currently represent
significant parts of the communities interested in ‘user
experience’. Whilst the traditional fields of interest remain
relevant, interest in ‘user experience’ is throwing up newfoci of attention that are not readily covered by existing
professional societies. The emergence of ‘user experience’has parallels with the emergence of HCI as a specific fieldin the 1970s’ and 80s’.

Interest in the field is being fuelled by the rapid andunprecedented growth in the use of interactive systems thatThe emergence of ‘user experience’ challenges the current
professional societies to examine the relevance and scope of
their ‘domain of concerns and interests’. The developmentof recent conferences on the subject as well as thisDevelopment Consortium bear witness to the view that theCopyright is held by the author/owner(s).
CHI 2005, April 2–7, 2005, Portland, Oregon, USA.
ACM 1-59593-002-7/05/0004.

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CHI 2005 | Development Consortium

April 2-7 | Portland, Oregon, USA

current professional societies do not offer the type ofrepresentation desired by many professionals. Therefore it
is timely that the topic of ‘user experience’ and how it isprofessionally represented needs to be addressed.

In the shorter term I anticipate many opportunities for intersociety cooperation will emerge from the discussion, and,not least, opportunities to develop a mutually beneficial
programme of conferences.

SOLUTION?

PROFESSIONAL BACKGROUND, EXPERIENCE AND
INTERESTS

We need to take a medium to long term view of the issue.
‘User experience’ is not a ‘passing phase’.

Some 30 years ago I began my career in Ergonomics (=Human Factors), first working in applied research and thenshifting focus to the application of usability engineering
principles to the design of consumer products and systems.
I worked with designers of various persuasions including
Software, Engineering, Industrial, Product, Interior, andGraphics. Since 1986 I have worked for Philips Electronics,
initially as manager of the Human Factors Group in Philips
Design where, together with various colleagues, wepioneered the development of interaction design andusability engineering in Philips. Currently I work in ourCorporate Applied Technologies Laboratory, developing aUsage Centred approach to our advanced softwaredevelopment projects. Philips is one of several examples ofcorporations that are taking up ‘user experience’ (or similarthemes) as a critical commercial issue for the coming years.

The Development Consortium can make a valuable
contribution to helping us understand the nature and scopeof ‘user experience’ research and design. In short help us
define the ‘market’. The main issues to consider include:- what is the scope of the ‘field’ and the nature of the need?
- who constitute the ‘user experience’ research and designcommunity?
- what type of professional backgrounds are most closely
associated with ‘user experience’ research and design, andwhat are they generally employed to do?
- what are the differentiating characteristics of thecommunity compared with comparable professional
communities?

I am also an active ACM SIGCHI volunteer. Currently I am
the SIGCHI Adjunct Chair for ‘Specialised Conferences’(all the SIGCHI conferences other than CHI) and a memberof the SIGCHI EC. Most of these conferences involve
cooperation with related societies in one form or another. Ihave also been active in various SIGCHI conferences
including the following. I was Co-chair of Design Briefings
for CHI 1997. I co-chaired DIS 97. I was also a member ofthe DIS 2000 organising committee, which involved
contributing to the development of the ‘design case study’format. The format aimed at developing a way of
documenting practitioner work. As a result I also
contributed to the ‘design case study’ format used for DUX
2003. I have been, and remain, a strong advocate ofdeveloping effective practitioner involvement in SIGCHI.

- what type of events; conferences, professional meetings,
workshops do ‘user experience people’ want to participatein?
One workshop will not provide all the answers. Many ofthe answers will only become apparent as the field evolvesand ‘finds its’ feet’. But the Development Consortium canmake a valuable contribution by generating a sharedunderstanding of the field as we see it today. This will
enable the various professional societies to evaluate theirown positions and to address the extent to which theyshould (or should not) cater for ‘user experience’ interests
currently and in the future. Correspondingly the output of
the workshop should also help clarify whether there is aneed for an additional professional society, and what form
such a society might take.

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