Bringing clarity to the concept of user experience

PREFACE The term 'user experience' (UX) is widely used but understood in many different ways. The multidisciplinary nature of UX has led to several definitions of and perspectives on UX, each approaching the concept from a different viewpoint. Existing definitions for user experience range from a psychological to a business perspective and from quality centric to value centric. There is no one definition that suits all perspectives. A collection of UX definitions is available at www.allaboutux.org/ux-definitions. The term user experience is often used as a synonym for usability, user interface, interaction experience, interaction design, customer experience, web site appeal, emotion, 'wow effect', general experience, or as an umbrella term incorporating all or many of these concepts. A clear description of UX would help to:  Teach the basics of user experience  Communicate the meaning of the term to people unfamiliar with it  Clarify different perspectives on UX amongst UX researchers and practitioners  Advance UX as a research field  Ground practical UX work in commercial, industrial and government organizations This UX White Paper describes what in discussions with UX professionals were seen as the core concepts of UX and clarifies the different perspectives on UX. The paper is prepared as a joint effort by a group of leading UX researchers and practitioners, and is freely available at www.allaboutux.org/uxwhitepaper. Disclaimer: The UX White Paper is a result from discussions among the invited experts of the Demarcating User Experience seminar, so it is based on the contributors' expertise and judgment. While we acknowledge the influence of existing UX literature on our thinking, we are, unfortunately, unable to provide a comprehensive list of literature references in this white paper.