Usability vs. User Experience: What’s the Difference?

Recently, Jenica Rogers wrote about usability, and how the concept has become quite the buzzword in libraries these days. Jenica wrote that she thought librarians weren’t certain about what usability meant, but that we seem to be paying more attention to it than ever.

To illustrate her understanding of usability, Jenica shared some experiences she had while shopping online and while travelling through the Hancock Airport in Syracuse, NY. Her examples told a story, but I don’t think they quite told the story of usability. I left this comment:

What is interesting to me is that I don’t consider the things you described “usability” per se. I consider them to be more about user experience, which is how developers use persuasion, reward, and design to craft an environment that is a pleasure to use.

What I mean is that an airport is still an airport whether it has free wireless or not. It is still a transportation hub for air travel. What enriches the *experience* for travellers are things like free wireless, abundant (and clean) washrooms, and coffee stations every 40 feet (or so it seems in Vancouver).

Similarly, that companies offer different payment options isn’t really about usability. People can still make online payments with credit cards (if they have them), but by adding a variety of options, we’ve made it more accessible for more people, which encourages you to shop with that vendor.

I started thinking about this a bit more, and came up with this slide deck that — I hope — illustrates the difference between usability and user experience, albeit in a none-too-serious manner.