What does User Experience have to do with discoverability?

What we mean by User Experience (UX)

The World of User Experience! Super cool creations are... super cool, of course. But not if the user, who created the creation for, does not fully agree with it. Right? User Experience (or UX for short) has to do with the analysis of “user behavior”. It is applied “only” to an existing digital medium. UX is therefore mainly concerned with the statistical analysis of the results of visitors' actions.

What we mean by findability

Findability is the world of search engine optimization. The question here is: “How do we get 'the search engine' to like us.” What adjustments are needed to better profile ourselves and stand out? And of course, the question of questions: “What do I have to do to get to position 1?”

The nuance

So the nuance lies between who the end user is. Strictly speaking, raw 'discoverability' is therefore not so much about analyzing end user data; but rather about analyzing statistical values that the search engine shows us. This while, again, strictly speaking, in the world of UX - it's about the analysis of end user data and their behavior “on the site”.

What is the agreement?

For many, only a difference in definition and not even a noticeable difference for others. Nowadays (in 2019), UX and findability men are increasingly on each other's feet. They are getting in each other's way and are increasingly using each other's statistics. The lullos sometimes even provide conclusions or advice about something that is out of “scope”. The similarity lies in how search engines increasingly regard these two worlds as one and the same.

Will Findability become UX or vice versa?

Findability was a technical story where the end user was served by chance. This was partly because the great magician (Google) couldn't really do magic yet. He had to make do with technology. In the past (it really happened), you even had to specify what your website was about via the meta keywords tag. Soon enough, this was abused and our Hans thought he should do things differently.

A magical magic sprint was pulled

A sprint was used to better estimate websites, because some websites had up to hundreds of keywords hidden in their meta keywords tag! They magically searched for “behavior” on the websites. Google Analytics became increasingly popular and popular. Nerds in the UX world were thrilled with these magic tricks.

Discoverability disappears, UX appears

Findability - and we mean technical analysis - slowly faded into the background. This was replaced by Google's on-site analysis. Can people make good use of the page? Do they sit on the pages for long? How many pages are loaded per session? Is the bounce rate low? Is something being purchased or otherwise interacting with the website? All valuable information that has also become increasingly prominent. Now that even bounce rates play a role in assessing the value or relevance of your website in relation to an entered search term - you can't get away from it either.

UX is now really more dominant

The UX nerds are more dominant and prove them wrong: what's the point if the technology behind the website is all right, but the site is a mismatch with today's qualitative standards? What if the site is dirty and the navigation bar pops occasionally? Is that the epitome of a website of value? Or do we prefer a website that is stable, where you can read a number of fun articles every day?

On the question What does User Experience have to do with discoverability? so the answer is: everything. It has everything to do with whether you are found or not. Whether your text is easy to read. Whether you're accessible on all devices and whether your website is suitable for people with color blindness. User Experience has won the battle and, if not now or in the future, will prevail in the algorithm of the great magicians such as Google. Mark our words: move away from “semantics only”. Only technology. Text and images only. UX is the new findability!