User experience

The relationships between verbal language and visual language have characterized the theoretical study of images during the 20th century. Images are the units of representation of visual language just as words are of written language. In digital culture, the visual consumption of citizens has skyrocketed to previously unimaginable levels. Advertising and design, artistic creation, political and social communication, have found in visual language a very powerful tool for communicating knowledge and emotions directly, or for visually supporting a specific idea. Thus, in a world where the media have high levels of power, the control of the image and its technical manipulation has become a central element in the dissemination of knowledge at all levels. Images are not neutral, and beyond displaying the artistic and aesthetic intentions of creatives, they assume political, commercial or social functions. The analysis of the use of visual language in the current context leads us to realize -quickly- the fusion that takes place between drawing, photography, video, text and symbol, etc. in multimedia production, where the orderly mixing of languages and resources is of vital importance, with the intention of communicating and interacting with the user. We call multimedia the combination of various communication media with an interactive vocation in a single visual space; whether this is a screen or any digital device. The increase in the capacity of computer processors and the reduction in their cost have propelled a revolution in the implementation of digital media that, in themselves, require multimedia language to be fully exploited and guarantee a practical, rich and effective user experience. Multimedia creation -therefore- will require the study and treatment of the different communication languages: visual, textual, sound, etc. to achieve the desired final product. Thus, the design of a multimedia environment will necessarily involve a conceptualization and design phase, a programming phase for the operation and structure of the environment, and a third phase of layout of the final appearance. The design of multimedia products is basically oriented toward the web environment and the creation of interactive applications (software). Multimedia design is a very effective tool for transmitting a message based mainly on graphic design, which is the discipline responsible for ordering information in an aesthetic and legible way for the user, and displaying it in an attractive way. Through design we combine texts, images, colors, animations, videos, spaces, audio and interaction in a computer application. While it is true that there are some basic design principles that are perfectly valid in the digital environment: proportion, rhythm, unity, emphasis, variety, etc., it is no less true that multimedia –the sum of different languages in the same environment and in an organic way– require a particular approach when facing a project. Decisions about the design of a multimedia environment will be conditioned, at all times, by the technical possibilities of the platforms where we develop the application, and the programming languages necessary to make it work. The early stages of multimedia design took place in an unstable environment in which there were no reference standards. The lack of experience in the sector caused genuine absurdities in the form of unintelligible websites or ones impossible to understand for the normal user. The appearance of very powerful visual technologies, and the little time devoted to reflecting on their introduction into the web environment, caused Flash -for example- to become an obstacle to accessing information in the form of endless presentations or navigation environments that were very difficult to use. Little by little, however, designers realized the need to introduce user experience analysis to design much more intuitive and easy-to-use environments. In this context usability is born, which is the branch of design that deals with analyzing and designing the user experience in the use of an interactive multimedia environment. Today there is a wide range of companies, professionals and researchers working in the field of user experience (UX) improvement, which has made it one of the most active and dynamic branches of the sector. There is a language of usability: a set of rules and codes that ensure that the user experience takes place in a comfortable, functional and interactive framework. Experience is something subjective, which cannot be defined from design; even so, if we guarantee a solid, direct and simple design, we will enhance the positive user experience.