It’s all about context
By: Aaron Cecchini-Butler
Tags: Product Design, UX, Startup, User Experience, Design

The other day my partner and I were talking about the best concerts we’ve been to. We have been to a number of concerts together, including pop concerts like Beyoncé and Coldplay, to EDM shows like Um.., to country bands like Dalton and the Sheriffs, all the way to obscure new music concerts at universities.

My partner and I both have musical backgrounds with her working as a music teacher currently — and us both having gone to school for our bachelor’s and Master’s in music.

All that being said, when we began the discussion I assumed I could guess her list and it would be similar to mine. I mean, if we learned anything from years of music school, the best musical experience can’t actually be that subjective.

Yet, her favorite concert experience was from the band “Saves the Day” in high school.

I asked a couple of times if she was sure? Did she mean “that was the best concert experience I had until _____?” But no, that was her best experience.

After some investigating, I realized that the music was only a small part of the puzzle. It was one of her first times feeling like a “grown-up” with freedom to do what she wanted (without the many challenges and responsibilities of actual adulthood). It was a band her and her best friends adored for years. She knew all of the words to all of the songs.

For her, and for most of us, our best concert experience is more about the context than about the music.

Context

The idea of the context, or the environment, being a crucial part of a person’s experience is well-known. Your favorite restaurant might happen to also be overlooking the ocean. Your favorite clothing store might happen to have pictures of rock climbers all over the walls. All of these environments have been crafted by marketing teams and designers for many years.

UX vs. Context

The term UX (User Experience) has evolved into a term that umbrellas many skillsets and subjects. UX Designers are often mistaken for graphic designers, with some job postings attempting to hide their lack of understanding with slashes. (UX/UI/Product Designer Needed!)

As this term has evolved to mean so many things, the core concepts can get lost. The idea of context can be overcome by research deliverables and wireframes.

When designing experiences for people, whether it is an app or a concert, it is extremely important to consider the context — and to consider how that context will affect multiple types of people. My favorite concert experience was Coldplay (a polarizing opinion, I know), and my partner was there for it. Yet the context that made the concert no.1 for me didn’t have the same effect on her.

Pay Screen

I’ve been working for a couple of months designing a pay screen for an app. The premise of this pay screen is that the user can hold their phone up to a scanner in-store and pay with a stored payment method. (Similar to Starbucks)

Context is very crucial within this design. Here are some questions our design team asked themselves when ideating.

John Cameron @ Unsplash

Where will the user be when interacting with this feature?

Most likely in line at the store. Depending on the length of the line, they will have a variable amount of time to figure out how to use the function.

What will they be trying to do?

They will be trying to use the app to pay — they will also probably be looking ahead to see where the scanner is, and observing if anyone else is using the feature first.

What are some hiccups that could occur and what effect will those hiccups have on the user?

The user might not have a credit card on file — which could mean they have to add one quickly. The user might not have enough in their available balance (if they preloaded funds or have a gift card) — in which case they need to know what will happen if they go over their available balance.

The answers to these questions, and others, led us to make a design that was clean and simple with minimal bells and whistles.