Six milestones in user experience (UX) history

With the rise of the new wave of mobile internet in recent years "user experience (Ux/ue)" has also been pushed to the history of the most well-known stage, the domestic Internet companies independent user Experience Department of the emergence and popularization is a typical example, at the same time in our Geek park guests in the speech "user experience" The term is also almost the most frequently occurring word. UX Magazine recently reviewed and summed up six milestone breakthroughs in the development of the Internet over the past 20 years in the context of "user experience".

What is the user experience (Ux/ue)?

The user experience is actually a test product satisfaction and the use of the word, is based on Western product design theory developed over, the whole English for user experience, foreign habits referred to as UX, the domestic custom is called UE. The user experience is actually a relatively broad concept, it is not only related to the interface UI, more attention to user behavior and psychological feelings.

1. AOL, USA Online

Although AOL has been miserable in recent years, it used to be one of the largest Internet service providers in the United States and even the world in the last Internet era, and an absolute giant internet company has become synonymous with the Internet. At its peak (2000), the number of users reached 30 million, and in 1998 to absorb rival CompuServe, and a year later took over ICQ, Netscape and Moviefone, the millennium is a 181 billion dollar acquisition of the media empire Time Warner (T IME Warner), well, even though it ended up being the biggest defeat in the history of American mergers and acquisitions, the strength of AOL was still seen today.

With the bursting of the first round of the dotcom bubble, America's online brilliance is no longer, but its online service system's many interactive digital services have also brought a lot of breakthroughs to the subsequent internet, such as the first graphical user interface (GUI) to simplify the user's access to the Internet, which uses a silly click Technology (Point & Click) makes it easy for users to access the AOL service. In addition, a group communication environment was established before the "social network" became popular. At present, its biggest credit is to the Internet from engineers, scientists and other high-end professional crowd, but also since the Internet officially from the laboratory into the general public family.

2. Internet search

No doubt, if there is no search engine, the Internet will not develop to the point of today, it eliminates the island of information, the true meaning of the Internet to achieve the full connectivity of all resources, from Google users a simple search box really opened the Internet search era has been nearly 15 years, Until today, search is still the most important way for Internet users to get information:

1. In the United States, 92% of Internet users get information through search engines

2.93% of the traffic on the Internet is from the search engine

3. In the United States, search contributes 1.2% of the income to GDP.

Search in the interface is generally composed by the search box and search buttons, the search box to enter the keyword and then click on the search engine will show you want the results, this simple interaction makes the search is the majority of Web sites and applications standard components.

3. Amazon

Amazon is one of the first companies to start E-commerce online, and since 1995, Amazon has become a recognized world leader in the field of E-commerce business. Amazon's success is largely a direct result of a powerful user shopping experience.

Amazon, for example, is the first large E-commerce site to use tab navigation, or Amazon's popular tab navigation, where users can quickly find and buy products. To know in the Web interaction design There is a "3 clicks" principle, users can not find the desired information after 3 clicks or complete a function, they will choose to give up, and Tab navigation to a considerable extent to retain a lot of customers.

In addition Amazon in E-commerce site interaction on the biggest innovation is its "one-click" (One-click) function, that is, as long as you set the distribution address and payment method, click on any merchandise page "one button next single" button, will directly generate an order, without you to fill in the address and payment method. This feature greatly simplifies the user to order a single procedure, Amazon for this purpose patented, then any use of one Click will need to pay royalties, even the famous Apple. Amazon also has a lot of innovation in user referrals, personalized gifts and other shopper experiences, all of which have an important place in the interactive history.

4. Napster

More than 10 years ago, slept Sean Parker's Napster, in addition to the total subversion of the music industry, like AOL, the spread of point-to-point (peer-to-peer) to the entire Internet, in 1999-2001 years when Napster was forced to close a new era of software called BitTorrent quietly opened, In this regard, Napster's legacy to the Internet is not the already closed Napster network, but the ability to allow individuals to be fully free.

In addition, Napster inspired and facilitated the advent and development of ITunes, Rhapsody, Netflix, and other software and Web sites, the earliest prototypes of apps for these applications, and the reality of the music Search, download, and sharing that now seems logical.

5. User Generated content

If you know the word "WEB 2.0", it's probably not unfamiliar to "UGC" (user-generated content-that is, users will display their original content over the Internet platform or offer it to other users). In the 2005, as Web2.0 services, such as blogs, RSS, wikis, SNS, Peer-to-peer and the emergence of various pictures, video sites, the general Internet users become the main content producers, UGC also turned into the most mainstream of internet services, until now still this way. UGC was so popular in the 2006 that the Time magazine rated "All users and creators of content on the Internet" as 2006 figures.

The cover of Time magazine "2006 People"

Looking back, without UGC's current foreign Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube, Wikipedia, and everyone in the country, Twitter, petals, Youku, interactive encyclopedia will all be "wilderness of desolation". Although UGC is not a specific business, the user's new way of using the Internet makes it more important for users to experience the Web site and services.

6. IPhone

Before we introduced the IPhone 5 years of change, in addition to mobile phones, telecommunications, music and other industries subversion, its popularity of touch screen and app application development regulations are to a large extent change the Internet and mobile internet companies to understand the user experience.

In fact, as the beginning of this article, it is because of the iphone and then the success of the iphone's Android to make the new wave of mobile internet rise, the "user experience" has been so unprecedented attention.

Note: The article from the webmaster's home content partner Geek Park, reprinted please indicate the source.