The Impact of Object Mapping in User Experience

Imagine you’re about to embark on the exciting journey of designing a brand-new app. You have a blank canvas, a big dream, and the challenge of perfecting every detail. The first question you might ask is: Where do I begin? While aesthetics and interface are important, there’s a crucial aspect of the design process that often gets overlooked: the objects.

Why Start with Objects in Product Design?

When users open an app, they already have a mental picture of how they expect to accomplish their tasks. If your app aligns with this mental model, using it becomes intuitive. However, if it doesn’t, users may find it so challenging that they abandon it. As product designers, our goal is to design the app in a way that naturally fits how people want to use it. By bridging the gap between a product’s functionality and users’ expectations, we enhance the user experience. The key is understanding the “objects” users interact with inside the app. By mapping these objects, you can:

• Help your team define new products or features.
• Identify issues in the current product, simplify complex ideas, and facilitate decision-making with stakeholders and developers.

This approach is known as Object-Oriented User Experience (OOUX).

What is an Object Map?

Object mapping is a fundamental concept in Object-Oriented User Experience (OOUX), a design method that focuses on understanding the main objects and their connections to create user-friendly interfaces. An “object map” is a visual tool that highlights the key objects within a system or product, detailing their attributes, relationships, and potential user interactions. It’s like a map showing the main “objects” users will encounter and how they are linked within the system.

To create an object map, you’ll need to understand these components:

• • Objects
  • Attributes
  • Relationships
  • Actions

These elements form the foundation of an object map.

Objects

In product design, an object is something with specific attributes and values. Objects are the building blocks of the system, representing what users will interact with or manage. For example, in a movie ticket booking app, objects might include:

• User
• Movie
• Cinema
• Screen
• Seat
• Showtime
• Ticket

Once we’ve listed all the objects, we can identify what’s crucial for the app. “Ticket” will be the main object users can interact with (create, edit, etc.).

Attributes

Each object has attributes that define its properties and state. These attributes are vital as they distinguish one object from another. In our movie ticket app, attributes might include:

These attributes are essential for the app’s functionality, helping users make informed choices, like picking a movie based on its genre or choosing a seat based on availability.

Relationships

Some attributes overlap with objects, which is where relationships come in. Relationships form when one object, like a ticket, contains another object (showtime, user, and seat in our example). Understanding these relationships makes conversations with stakeholders clearer and decisions about user experience easier.

There are two types of relationships:

1. One-to-One Relationships
   • This occurs when a single instance of an object is linked to a single instance of another object.
   • For example, each ticket in a system might be tied to one specific seat, ensuring exclusivity and avoiding double bookings.
2. One-to-Many Relationships

1. • Here, a single instance of an object is connected to multiple instances of another object.
   • For example, a showtime can be linked to many tickets, allowing management of all tickets sold for a showtime, aiding seating arrangements and capacity management.

Understanding these relationships is key to designing an efficient and user-friendly system. By defining how objects interact, we ensure data integrity and a seamless user experience. For instance, when a user books a ticket, the system should automatically update the seat’s availability, reflecting this change across all related objects.

Actions

Finally, consider the actions users can perform on an object. Most objects will have actions like create, delete, and edit, though others might need actions like export, print, duplicate, or share. Some objects (like movies) aren’t controlled by the user and won’t have any actions.
For example, a flowchart shows the logical steps for buying a movie ticket based on object relationships in our object map. In the map, purchasing a ticket involves creating a ticket object that includes the User ID and required information like Showtime and Seat.

• The simplest flow requires the user to select only the showtime and seat.
• To enhance the experience, the object map shows Showtime includes both Movie and Cinema (which contains the Screen). Users can first choose the movie and cinema, then select a showtime from a filtered list.

This flow ensures users choose the necessary options—movie, cinema, showtime, and seat—before completing their purchase, maintaining consistency with the object map’s data structure.

Conclusions

When you’re developing a new product, introducing a feature, or refining an existing one, having a detailed map of your product is invaluable. This map serves as a strategic guide, highlighting necessary changes, especially where users interact with the product.
Imagine navigating without a map; it would be tough to find your way. Similarly, this product map acts as a navigational tool, showing which components need attention and adjustment. It points out areas impacting user experience, ensuring every tweak enhances the product’s functionality and appeal.
With this map, the next steps—designing workflows, crafting mock-ups, and building prototypes—become much easier. It streamlines the process, allowing teams to focus on creating high-quality designs and solutions. This clarity ensures each step is purposeful and aligns with project goals.
Furthermore, a comprehensive map enhances collaboration by enabling everyone to view the overall strategy and comprehend their individual roles within the broader framework. This shared vision ensures consistency and quality throughout the development process, ultimately delivering a product that not only meets but surpasses user expectations.