Digital design does matter in the physical world
Everything in both the digital and physical worlds has a design behind it. Well-crafted designs are oftentimes invisible, and many of us only notice how something is designed when there is a fault or flaw somewhere affecting us directly. However, we have a choice in many aspects of life, including how we learn. This is actually the purpose of DigiKnowing: to learn useful digital tools and skills in an organized, clear, and easy-to-follow way. In this and a series of publications, we’ll explore the beauty and usefulness of digital design from applications you can find anywhere and everywhere online.
There is in fact a more accurate term than simply ‘digital design’: that term is UX design. UX is a short and clever abbreviation for user experience. All is based on our experience: the user’s experience. Based on the experience we have, we will make certain choices. This is true for both our online and in-person experiences.
Let’s look at an actual digital example that has real impact in the physical world and its users: the obvious one to start with, Substack.
This is Substack’s main page on desktop:
Overall, Substack’s main page on desktop is very well-designed. The content is neatly organized and crystal clear: we, as users, know exactly what Substack is, what people can use it for, how their business works, how to get started or log back in, and how to find any other information we may need regarding our user relation to this company.
Substack makes a real-world impact by empowering multitudes of real people worldwide to become independent content creators: users own the content they write and have many freedoms of choice, including what to write, how to display their content, and whether to charge money or remain free. Substack’s platform provides the digital structure and logistics for authors to simply focus on crafting their content and reach more people at reasonable commission rates (10% + processing fees) per transaction. Plus, no user has to ever pay to write a publication and to display it publicly. So as an added bonus, Substack serves as free advertising for content creators.
We will absolutely explore many more examples of digital design having a real impact in the world we live in, both as users of an application and as human beings.
Take-aways
Users are people. Their experience matters to them, and it must therefore also matter to any service-provider, be it a company, institution, non-profit or anyone else. All decisions we make, in both the digital and physical worlds, are determined by our experience in any scenario.
Clarity makes a world of a difference. If something isn’t clear, it isn’t easy to follow, understand and ultimately take action. This is the case even if we add multiple buttons, or links, encouraging users to sign up, purchase, donate or take any other action. Simply summarized: we can’t act unless we know what’s going on.
Become a member today to choose what we write next! Currently, you can choose from these topics: UX design (digital design + how to conduct user research), how-to tutorials and reviews of various digital tools and services. As a member, you can choose the future topics we’ll cover through our easy-to-follow publications.
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