User Experience in Sovereign vs. Transitory Applications

Bob Moll, Tuesday, May 2, 2006 @ 1:04 pm

The characteristics of what makes a quality user experience can vary dramatically when talking about a sovereign application vs. a transitory one.  Sovereign applications, like Microsoft Word, draw in and maintain our attention for a length of time. Transitory applications, like Google, serve us for a short term need and then we move on.

Walk Up and Use
A transitory application should have a walk up and use quality. Even the slightest extra need for time to figure something out can dissuade users. In addition, these applications benefit from a comfort factor. If the software seems comfortable, I’m more likely to not mind spending a few moments with it. Finally, good error recovery is essential. The software should instruct the user as to how to recover and provide an easy way to do so, or start over.

Extend My Abilities
Sovereign applications should enable us to extend our abilities to get something done which may be complex or require some time. Making the correct design trade offs and arriving at a quality experience depends on characterizing how the tool extends the user’s abilities. Does the tool allow for faster performance of a repetitive task? Does the tool enable completion of a task not possible without the tool? Does the tool aggregate tasks into one place? The key to creating an effective design (and measure of success) is determining the ways in which the tool extends the users abilities and which are most important.

user experience design

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