There’s a great thread on usability testing on the CHI-WEB list. In the middle of it Jared Spool inserts this funny jab:
[I don’t want to get into a discussion of whether this is the difference between customer experience and usability. I personally think the current “customer experience” movement is a crock of shit. I think it’s all a FUD (fear, uncertainty, and doubt) campaign to get executives to shift their consulting dollars — FUD only works as a short-term strategy. Eventually, people see right through it. I have a thing against treating people as if they’re idiots. But that’s my opinion.]
Even though the company I work for does evangelize trying to improve the “user experience,” I had to laugh along with Jared because I always love the contrarian opinion. Besides, I consider “user experience” just a euphemism for “making the world a better place” – which is the undercurrent for everything I’m trying to do anyway.