SIX DEGREES OF FREEDOM: DEFINING USER-EXPERIENCE SPACES
Figure: The Six User-Experience Spaces
Ask
three people in our profession to define 'user experience' and you will
get at least four answers. Why is the concept so hard to pin down? If
we could agree on the dimensions that underlie user experiences we
could do a better job of planning, analysing, designing, implementing,
evaluating, and documenting them. Turning the abstraction of 'user
experience' into something more specific would help us ask the right
questions and communicate better with key stakeholders by making 'user
experience' more understandable to them.
I've been
exploring a concept called 'user experience spaces' as a way to
understand user experiences. I've defined six spaces: I-ware, You-ware,
Know-ware, Be-ware, Fun-ware and Buy-ware. Each is characterised by a
particular set of needs around communication and interaction. The six
spaces are not perfectly distinct but naturally overlap. For any
particular product or application Web sites, games, vehicles, wrist-top
devices, smart clothing each contributes to the overall user
experience.
I-ware: Is about my personal identity
things that are knowable about me. Examples include my personal ID, my
passwords, my contact data, how much money is in my bank accounts, my
credit-rating and my personal preferences. A user's experience around
I-ware may center on such questions as:
1. Is the information you have about me accurate? Do you understand who I am?
2.
Do I trust you to make fair use of my personal information? Will you
protect my privacy and security? Can I correct errors?
3. Am I willing to give you more information if you ask?
You-ware: Connects me to others and ad-hoc
or persistent communities. Examples range from the family, friends,
colleagues and vendors in my contact list to potential dating partners,
people in chat rooms and those with whom I exchange various types of
messages. The user's experience may involve such questions as:
1.
Who are the people with whom I am interacting? Are you describing them
accurately to me? Are you describing me accurately to them (this
touches on the I-ware space). Do I feel safe interacting with them?
2. How are you protecting and promoting my relationships?
3.
Are you treating my 'others' with the proper respect? If, for example,
I send an electronic greeting card to someone would you misuse the
email I gave you?
Know-ware: Connects me with
knowledge and data. Examples might include Google, AskJeeves, corporate
or personal databases, and collections of documents in any media. The
user's experience may focus on such questions as:
1. Am I getting the information I need? Can I find related information easily? Can I compare items when I need to?
2. Is it couched in terms I can understand?
3. Can I use the information in the way I want?
Be-ware:
Relates to the elements of experiences involved with improving myself
physically, emotionally, cognitively, psychologically, or spiritually.
Examples might include interactions around my health, nutrition,
feelings, behaviours, and skills. The user's experience may pivot on
such questions as:
1. Do you know who I am or could be?
2. Am I on the path to becoming the person I want to be?
3. Am I being offered the right choices and receiving guidance in making them?
Fun-ware:
Brings me in contact with the elements of the experience that create
pleasure. Examples might include playing games on-line, downloading MP3
music, and selecting ringtones for my cell phone. The user's experience
may involve such questions as:
1. Am I enjoying the experience? Am I frustrated?
2. Is the experience novel? Is it appropriate? Is it useful to me?
Buy-ware:
Connects me with various forms of commerce. Examples include purchasing
on-line and auctions. The user's experience may concentrate on such
questions as:
1. Am I getting the best deal?
2. Can I trust your promises?
3. Have I made the right decision?
Because
our goal is to optimise the user experience, we need to find ways to
describe it. I've found these six user experience spaces a useful tool.
For more information, contact:
Aaron Marcus
E:
W: www.AMandA.com
About this article
This article was published as follows: Marcus, Aaron [2004]. "Six Degrees of User Spaces," User Experience, 2:6, June 2004, pp. 16, www.upassoc.org/upa_publications/user_experience/. Republished with permission.
About Aaron Marcus
Aaron Marcus, President, Aaron Marcus and Associates (AM+A), Berkeley, California, is Principal Designer/Analyst of user interfaces and information visualisation. He is a member of the Editorial Board of User Experience, in which this article appeared, and he is on the editorial board of Visible Language and Information Design Journal. He is on the Board of Directors of the International Institute of Information Design, Vienna, Austria. He lectures worldwide at conferences and has authored more than 150 articles and 4 books.