A Culturally Informed User Experience Framework: Overcoming False Needs through Islamic Culture

Collecting and analyzing user needs is crucial in user experience design. If user needs are not well understood, the final product may not be used, leading to potential sales failure and loss of market share. However, despite the importance of considering users' needs, it should be noted that some needs, as suggested by theorists like Marcuse, can be false. Addressing these false needs can pose challenges for users. The primary issue is that it disrupts the user's decision-making process, making them feel obligated to engage with products or services that do not align with their genuine values. Consequently, this disturbance can adversely affect their overall sense of satisfaction. It's crucial to differentiate between genuine and false needs while designing to avoid catering to false needs. The cultural approach is effective in addressing this, as it involves people aligning themselves with their society and culture. In the Islamic culture, numerous strategies have been proposed to combat materialism and enhance 'inner satisfaction', which in Marcuse's view is one of the most effective means of countering the inclination to fulfill false needs. Among strategies suggested by Islam, sufficiency, Tawakkal, Tafwidh, Spiritual Self-Actualization, Grace, and Spiritual Value Integration are widely recognized as the most effective. The goal of this research is to enhance user satisfaction and ensure a more meaningful response to their needs while user-experiencing a digital product with the help of these concepts. The research uses interviews, questionnaires, and Atlas ti.۹ software to analyze components and extract common themes and keywords related to the user experience of digital products on an e-commerce retail website. The outcome of this analysis is presented as a design guide checklist, which provides valuable considerations to be taken into account during the experience design process.

کلیدواژه ها:

User needs ، User experience design ، False needs ، User satisfaction ، Islamic culture