As designers, we’re used to viewing UX through various lenses — users on mobile devices, users with physical and cognitive impairments, users with limited technological use — but are we missing an important lens? Just as designing for accessibility makes the experience better for all users, designing for newcomers can improve experiences for all users, because in a way we’re all newcomers to something.
In this talk, you’ll learn about the staggering number of “newcomers” that come to the United States for the first time and the struggles they face going through the motions of life. Be it shopping, commuting, banking, traveling, going to hospitals or even amusement parks. Imagine the hundreds of interactions, decisions, and transactions they face each day and ask yourself, “Are designs and systems meeting their unique needs? Do people who’ve lived in the US their entire lives also struggle with similar things?” As designers, we rely heavily on users’ mental models formed by their own perceptions and past experiences. But what if an experience is entirely new to them?
In this video, participants will:
- Understand what it means to be a “newcomer”
- Understand how cultural nuances, lack of knowledge or prior experience, vernacular difference etc. can affect interactions with products, spaces or services.
- Identify instances where this lens becomes even more important.
- Learn how designers can interject this thinking into their work
Presenter
Priyama Barua
Experience Strategy Director
Mad*Pow
