Badass: Making Users Awesome by Kathy Sierra

Kathy Sierra’s ‘Badass: Making Users Awesome’ sets out to help us create experiences that will transform technology users into ‘Super Users’. With over 96,000 copies in print, it has become one of the groundbreaking works on technical design and user experience.

Badass begins with an examination of why user experience matters. Sierra notes that one major issue is that humans are terrible at predicting how they will really interact with technology. Enthusiasm and excitement may quickly wear off after beginning a new device, making it difficult to reach a full understanding of how to use it. In order to avoid this, Sierra demonstrates how developers and designers can create a rich and engaging user experience. By engaging the user with experiences that go beyond the standard use-case scenarios, we can create passionate and devoted users who will explore new features and share their knowledge with others.

Sierra makes a strong case for not just embracing the users who rise to the level of ‘Super User’, but also making sure that their needs are considered in the beginning of the development process. She demonstrates how developers and designers can create experiences that are enjoyable and satisfying to all users, from novice to expert. These experiences should include informative and useful tutorials, and should also be tailored to better match the user’s context and downstream objectives.

Sierra then moves into a detailed overview of how to create a ‘Badass Experience’. She supplies a guide for creating experiences that will get users engaged and responding positively, such as providing feedback loops, visual feedback, and reward loops. She shows how creating experiences that are personal and supportive can help users break through barriers and discover how their technology can work for them.

The chapters that follow focus on how to tweak and modify a user’s experience as they progress with their device. This includes using data to analyze user behavior, giving users the time and resources to explore on their own, and providing guidance and support when users feel lost. In addition, Sierra discusses how to successfully acquire user feedback and apply it to the design.

Overall, Badass is a comprehensive view of how to create a user experience which will help users truly become ‘Super Users’. It is packed with examples and actionable advice which can be utilized by developers and designers to create powerful user experiences. It is a must-read for anyone wanting to go beyond the basics of traditional user experience and create something truly remarkable for their users.