By Penny Collisson (opens in new tab), Jessica (opens in new tab)Carr, Trish Miner, (opens in new tab) and Gwen Hardiman (opens in new tab)
Image credit: iStock
What does it mean for a product to be great? Great products are useful. They provide value in people’s lives. They’re also usable. They’re easy to use to get the job done. When we can also design a delightful experience, we build loyalty and engagement.
Why delightful is important
Why delightful experiences? Delightful experiences are important because they impact a customer’s complete experience – inclusive of how they act, think, and feel. And as our past work has shown (opens in new tab), feelings matter. Delightful experiences are amplifiers. They initiate a positive reaction. They can motivate customers to continue to choose a product because it makes their work just a little more enjoyable. They are good for users, and good for business.
Delight might seem like an unimportant component, but it is the icing on the cake of a remarkable customer experience. For me and my team, delivering delightful UX requires us to collectively reimagine every experience we build. Delightful UX isn’t just a bolt on, and it isn’t the job of a few. Everyone needs to consider how their experiences will transform.
We’ve been spending time with customers to understand what delightful experiences look and feel like to them. Delightful experiences come in many forms. The following are 5 patterns of delightful UX we’ve identified based on customer interviews.
The five patterns of delightful UX
Playful. Playful experiences make users smile, laugh or enjoy themselves in the context of their work. These experiences are sometimes described as not critical to the work at hand, but they provide an emotional boost for users.
Attractive. Colorful interfaces, graphic representations and friendly experiences are often found delightful. These experiences are pleasing or inspiring and connect users to the product. The way things look also serves to tell a story about the product– how it works, what it offers, or how easy it is.
Natural. Natural experiences are comfortable and intuitive. They are delightful with a nod toward feeling satisfied. Sometimes these experiences mimic an in-person experience, but then enhance it for the digital realm. In some cases, the experience is perceived spatially or tactilely.
Personal. Users value the ability to make a product their own. Personal color-coding, naming elements, adding icons or expressive emojis illustrates a user’s presence in their work. Personalization serves to empower and ground the routine of the user.
Empowering. Users are delighted when they can quickly accomplish something that they view is beyond their own abilities. Being able to produce high-quality, professional deliverables results in users feeling accomplished and feeling delighted with themselves and the work they create.
Tapping into these five patterns of customer delight helps evoke a positive emotional response to our product or feature – so positive, in fact, that we’ve heard customers laugh out loud when they talk about delightful experiences that make them smile. Having a positive experience leads to increased customer satisfaction, repeat usage, and the ability to achieve more with the product, all of which are key goals for our product teams. So, the next time you’re designing a product, put these principles to the test, and see and hear for yourself how designing for delight elicits transformative, positive customer response.
What do you think? How can you put the patterns of delightful UX to work in building better products for your customers? Have you used a similar approach? Tweet us your thoughts at @MicrosoftRI or follow us on Facebook (opens in new tab) and join the conversation.
Penny Collisson leads a team of passionate researchers working on AI and platform capabilities across Office.
Jessica Carr is a user experience professional with a love of research and strategy and an MS in Human Centered Design and Engineering.
Trish Miner is a Principal User Research Manager at Microsoft with a passion for creating desirable experiences through focusing on how people think, act and feel.
Gwen Hardiman is a Senior Design Researcher at Microsoft who led work on designing for trustworthy experiences.