User Experience

User experience describes the overall experience and satisfaction a user has when using a product or system. One of our main aims is to design e-Commerce systems that provide users with high-level user satisfaction. This is based on using advanced information architecture methodologies, and on ensuring that systems adhere to explicit usability criteria. We invest resources to ensure that user expectations are met by developing highly consistent systems. One of the design rules we often emphasise is the "Principle of least astonishment" as coined by Donald A. Norman.

However, user experience goes beyond user interface design. The overall experience must also take into account back-office factors, business processes and infrastructure considerations. For example, this could be achieved by the integration of contracts, orders, stocks and payments to ensure that items are shipped quickly and that the website only sells available items.