"Elements of The User Experience" by Jesse James Garrett

Chapter 2

In chapter two of his book, Garrett breaks down the elements that a web designer must consider when thinking about the user experience of his or her website.  The five elements are explained as ascending planes: strategy, scope, structure, skeleton, and surface.  


Initially, the terminology in this chapter was a little bit confusing because many of the words are very similar.  In addition, the concepts were very conceptual which made it even harder to understand.  The most basic way that I came to understand it, was that your website should be constructed in the same way you would construct a business. 

Your strategy is your business idea.  What do you want to accomplish?  What do you want to get out out of your company, and what do you want your customers to get?

The scope would be how your company is going to succeed.  What features, products, or services will you offer?

The structure would be the blueprints for your company.  What departments will you have and how will they interact? 

The skeleton would be the actual infrastructure of those blueprints.  The physical manifestation of the inner workings of your company.

Lastly, the surface would be how your company is presented to the public. 

If you think about a website this way, it is much each to understand how all these parts come together.  You have to work from the bottom up, but each level interacts with the one above and below it.  A website constructed for the best user experience has all five elements working harmoniously together. 

Garrett further analyzed this model by dividing it down the middle according to the purpose of the site.  The two sides argue that the sites operates either functional or to provide information.  Of course, they are both right.  There are multiple aspects within each element of user experience that relate to either the content or the functionality of the site, which is where the model begins to get complicated. 

Discussion Questions:

1.  Do you think there are any other elements to the user experience?

2.  Do you think that content is still more important than functionality, or has the development of the web swung the balance?