{"id":12429,"date":"2022-03-10T14:30:35","date_gmt":"2022-03-10T13:30:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/?p=12429"},"modified":"2022-03-11T13:07:31","modified_gmt":"2022-03-11T12:07:31","slug":"non-digital-ux-design","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/careerfoundry.inbearbeitung.de\/en\/blog\/ux-design\/non-digital-ux-design\/","title":{"rendered":"UX Design for Non-Digital Products: The Complete Guide"},"content":{"rendered":"

User experience is a term with many implications.<\/span><\/p>\n

Nowadays, when people hear \u201cUX designer\u201d, they often think of a web and application designer, a visual designer, or someone working for a big tech company somewhere. UX is not often thought of outside the digital realm and it has a strong association with things like website curation, mobile apps, and interface design.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

So, is UX design only applicable to digital products? Can the scope of a UX designer’s skills be extended to the physical realm? If so, what are some examples of UX outside of the tech industry, and what does the future look like for non-digital UX design?<\/span><\/p>\n

Let\u2019s take a closer look. If you’d like to skip ahead to a certain section, simply use the clickable menu:<\/span><\/p>\n

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  1. Is UX design exclusively digital?<\/a><\/li>\n
  2. UX and non-digital products: LEGO case study<\/a><\/li>\n
  3. UX in non-tech industries<\/a><\/li>\n
  4. UX in the non-digital world and beyond<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    1. Is UX design exclusively digital?<\/span><\/h2>\n

    Definitely not. While its roots are planted in the digital world, the notion of UX being an exclusively digital convention is misleading and limits what types of products this great design method branches into.<\/span><\/p>\n

    At this point, UX designers are generally designing for cyber experiences. However, as UX grows and evolves, its <\/span>practices are proving easily applied to many multimodal experiences as well, such as physical, voice, and gesture.<\/b><\/p>\n

    Furthermore, the holistic approach UX takes to product design can extend far beyond solely tech and into industries like healthcare, social justice, environmentalism, business, and entertainment.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Even when UX designers typically design a digital product, the user\u2019s experience outside of the online one is taken into account. For instance, user research typically seeks to understand a user\u2019s demographic background, day-to-day life, and past experiences.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Using this info, a designer may make a <\/span>user journey map<\/span><\/a> that often starts before the user has even interacted with the digital product and ends well after they\u2019ve stopped using it. It\u2019s this <\/span>ability to empathize with both a user\u2019s online and offline experience that helps UX transcend the digital realm.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    Now, let\u2019s dig a bit deeper into how UX can be applied to non-digital products and industries and what exactly that looks like.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    2. UX and non-digital products: LEGO case study\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n

    To elaborate further on how UX intertwines physical and non-physical experiences, let\u2019s see how a UX designer might help to develop a new <\/span>internet of things<\/span><\/a> (IoT) product.<\/span><\/p>\n

    To make this example fun and concrete, we\u2019ll look at <\/span>LEGO\u2019s Super Mario sets<\/b><\/a>, a highly interactive physical product whose pieces pair to a LEGO Super Mario app.<\/span><\/p>\n

    \"Image<\/p>\n

    Before a UX designer would join the team developing a product like LEGO Super Mario, usually some research has been done by a marketing team that has determined the desirability and viability of making such a product.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Therefore, <\/span>the first step a UX designer might take would be to<\/b> map out the customer\u2019s journey<\/b> with their LEGO set, from browsing the web for it to using it continuously in their home.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    UX designers will have to look at <\/span>who the Super Mario customers and users are<\/b> and what both their <\/span>online and offline experiences<\/b> have been with LEGO and similar companies. They\u2019ll <\/span>clarify any business goals<\/b> LEGO has for this product, what <\/span>resources<\/b> are available, and the <\/span>deadlines<\/b> they must meet. Then, it\u2019s time to get into the user touchpoints.<\/span><\/p>\n

    We\u2019ll break this Mario-loving customer\u2019s journey down into five<\/span>\u00a0phases. Notice that for each phase, we\u2019ve listed whether the experience will be a <\/span>digital (D)<\/b> or <\/span>non-digital (ND)<\/b> one.<\/span><\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Shopping and ordering (D)<\/strong><\/li>\n
    2. Receiving and unboxing (ND)<\/strong><\/li>\n
    3. Registration and setup (D)<\/strong><\/li>\n
    4. Connecting to network (ND)<\/strong><\/li>\n
    5. Ongoing usage (D\/ND)<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      1. Shopping and ordering (D)<\/span><\/h3>\n

      At this point, a UX designer will consider the user that will interact with LEGO\u2019s website in order to purchase the Super Mario set. It may be the same person who will interact with the physical product or a parent, guardian or another family member of the LEGO user.<\/span><\/p>\n

      UX design methods will be employed to design, test, and evaluate whether the Super Mario set is easy to find, its product page is quick to view and understand, and the purchasing experience feels enjoyable and secure.<\/span><\/p>\n

      All major paths to purchase are assessed for maximum conversion rates and customer satisfaction.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

      2. Receiving and unboxing (ND)<\/span><\/h3>\n

      Here\u2019s where UX designers get to help design the <\/span>out-of-box experience<\/b> users will have when first receiving the physical product. An analysis is done on LEGO\u2019s top competitors for their packaging and unboxing trends in order to gain an understanding of what users may expect and how to elevate their experience even further. <\/span><\/p>\n

      Then they\u2019ll get to work on creating a packaging masterpiece. <\/span>If you’d like to get a sense of what that’s like, this LEGO Super Mario Starter Set unboxing video will help:<\/p>\n