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How are digital products sensed and perceived? Let's take a closer look.
New Terms:
- Sensation: the immediate, relatively unprocessed result of stimulation of sensory receptors, such as touch, smell, taste, hearing, and vision
- Perception: how sensory information is organized, interpreted, and consciously experienced
- Proprioception: an awareness of the position and movement of the body
source: interaction-design.org
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Let's take a closer look at how
products are sensed and perceived.
0:00
When designing digital products, the first
sense that comes to mind is likely vision.
0:05
While vision certainly shapes
the user experience for
0:11
sighted folks, there are other
sensations at play as well.
0:13
Sensation refers to the immediate,
0:18
relatively unprocessed result of
stimulation of sensory receptors.
0:20
Information is taken in via touch,
smell, taste, hearing, and vision.
0:25
Touch is a common sensation
with digital products.
0:32
Haptic feedback is the use of
touch to communicate with users.
0:35
Think of a time when you set
an alarm on your phone to vibrate.
0:40
That vibration is haptic feedback.
0:44
It's also common in gaming and
virtual reality as it expands a 2D
0:46
experience on a device into a more fully
embodied experience in the real world.
0:52
Hearing is another sensation that
is affected by digital products.
0:59
When your phone gets a call,
it plays a ringtone, and
1:04
many apps offer the option of playing
a sound when a notification is received.
1:07
As for smell and taste,
1:13
those senses aren't involved in
the digital product experience, yet.
1:15
Maybe that's for the best.
1:19
If the Internet started pumping out
weird smells as I browse the web,
1:22
I don't think I'd be a fan.
1:26
But outside of digital product design,
smell and taste can certainly be applied
1:28
to other forms of interactive design, such
as experience design and service design.
1:33
These disciplines craft experiences
in the physical world, and
1:39
go beyond devices like computers and
mobile phones.
1:43
Next up, let's take a look at perception.
1:47
Perception is how sensory information
is organized, interpreted, and
1:51
consciously experienced.
1:55
It's a person's unique mix of past
experiences, learnings, and expectations.
1:58
Since it's continuously being reshaped and
2:03
molded, it can be changed and
influenced over time.
2:07
An example of this is pattern recognition.
2:11
Our brains are constantly
filtering out information and
2:15
stimuli of various importance.
2:18
Thus, the designer's pursuit of shifting
the user's attention towards what matters.
2:20
User researchers employ studies
that use eye tracking software
2:27
that analyzes a user's eyes as
they move across the screen.
2:31
These studies have shown that people
have developed banner blindness.
2:35
Our brains have been exposed to so
much banner advertising
2:40
that anything that resembles the common
shape and placement of banners is ignored.
2:44
So take care to avoid presenting
important information like a banner ad,
2:49
because that's likely to get overlooked.
2:53
Perception also extends
to the physical body.
2:56
Proprioception is an awareness of
the position and movement of the body.
2:59
Mobile devices and gaming systems
are equipped with accelerometers and
3:05
spatial sensors.
3:09
These detect motion and gestures, and
3:11
these interactions can be a valuable
input to shape the user experience.
3:14
Fitness apps such as Fitbit use
the accelerometer to detect movement and
3:19
count user's steps.
3:23
That's it for sensation and perception.
3:25
Hopefully, these lessons have given
you a more nuanced view of how
3:29
people interact with technology.
3:32
Now that we have these interaction
design fundamentals down,
3:35
join me as I design
interactions in the next stage.
3:38
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