User Experience

Wikepedia defines User Experience (UX) as"refering to a person's emotions and attitudes about using a particular product, system or service. It includes the practical, experiential, affective, meaningful and valuable aspects of human–computer interaction and product ownership. Additionally, it includes a person’s perceptions of system aspects such as utility, ease of use and efficiency. User experience may be considered subjective in nature to the degree that it is about individual perception and thought with respect to the system. User experience is dynamic as it is constantly modified over time due to changing usage circumstances and changes to individual systems as well as the wider usage context in which they can be found. In the end, user experience is about how the user interacts with and experiences the product."

Whoa!

How about this as a useable definition of UX?

User Experience is a stress-free experience matching product/service information with the reader's expectations and needs.

Search engines, e.g. Google, use User Metrics as one of the factors in determining SERP rankings. The User Metrics include TIme on Site, Dwell Time, Bounce Rate, and Page Views per Visitor. An optimized SEO site may lose out in ranking to a lesser optimized site that provides a better user experience.

Factors that influence user metrics include:

• Information provided matches search intent
• Quality of content
• Detail and thoroughness of the content
• Site speed
• Visual appearance (such as typeset, style, layout, design, colors)

Focusing on reader needs and expectations helps with developing content.

Next: Content Development