Designing for an Empathetic User Experience
Amanda McKee
As developers, designers, and technologists our role is to create user-focused online solutions while still meeting organizational goals. We must consider accessibility, responsive design, adherence to branding guidelines, and a number of other factors, as we build beautiful -- and functional -- online solutions.
However, what’s often neglected is the impact of emotion on an online experience.
When one is in an emotionally turbulent situation, whether this is a medical crisis or a stress-related issue, the user is typically not in his or her usual state of mind. That user is trying to find specific information -- often very quickly -- and the threshold for tolerance is much lower.
So what can we do to help users that are in crisis?
Language, colour, imagery, and the actual ‘call to action’ must all work together to create a calming and helpful online experience.
In this presentation, Amanda discusses best practices when designing for individuals in crisis.
Takeaways include:
Using language to convey empathy and trust;
How proper image selection can help your audience;
The impact of colour in crisis situations; and
How to effectively adhere to corporate branding guidelines when designing for users in crisis.
This session is intended for front-end developers, designers, UX specialists, content creators, and anyone interested in improving the online experience for people in crisis.
Amanda Mckee
Front-end Developer Lead, London
Amanda Mckee is an accomplished front-end web developer well versed in Drupal theming using HTML, CSS, SASS, Javascript and JQuery. Amanda has accumulated knowledge from her experiences as a freelancer and from working within creative agencies and large institutional environments. Most recently, she applies her skill set to her role as Front-End Developer at Digital Echidna. With a well-rounded creative eye, Amanda ensures that all of Digital Echidna’s solutions are not only functional, but also visually stunning, and designed with the end user’s experience in mind.
http://drupalnorth.org/en/session/designing-empathetic-user-experience
As developers, designers, and technologists our role is to create user-focused online solutions while still meeting organizational goals. We must consider accessibility, responsive design, adherence to branding guidelines, and a number of other factors, as we build beautiful -- and functional -- online solutions.
However, what’s often neglected is the impact of emotion on an online experience.
When one is in an emotionally turbulent situation, whether this is a medical crisis or a stress-related issue, the user is typically not in his or her usual state of mind. That user is trying to find specific information -- often very quickly -- and the threshold for tolerance is much lower.
So what can we do to help users that are in crisis?
Language, colour, imagery, and the actual ‘call to action’ must all work together to create a calming and helpful online experience.
In this presentation, Amanda discusses best practices when designing for individuals in crisis.
Takeaways include:
Using language to convey empathy and trust;
How proper image selection can help your audience;
The impact of colour in crisis situations; and
How to effectively adhere to corporate branding guidelines when designing for users in crisis.
This session is intended for front-end developers, designers, UX specialists, content creators, and anyone interested in improving the online experience for people in crisis.
Amanda Mckee
Front-end Developer Lead, London
Amanda Mckee is an accomplished front-end web developer well versed in Drupal theming using HTML, CSS, SASS, Javascript and JQuery. Amanda has accumulated knowledge from her experiences as a freelancer and from working within creative agencies and large institutional environments. Most recently, she applies her skill set to her role as Front-End Developer at Digital Echidna. With a well-rounded creative eye, Amanda ensures that all of Digital Echidna’s solutions are not only functional, but also visually stunning, and designed with the end user’s experience in mind.
http://drupalnorth.org/en/session/designing-empathetic-user-experience