When we think about UX design, our minds often gravitate toward the features and functionalities that we can implement to make users’ interactions with a system smoother, more enjoyable, and ultimately, more satisfying. However, it is crucial that we not overlook a vital element that significantly influences the user experiences of the digital systems on which modern society relies: the architectures of IT (Information Technology) systems.
The design and implementation of IT systems play a pivotal role in shaping how users engage with them. This has traditionally been the domain of IT professionals who are known as solution architects, so for many UX designers, this can feel like somewhat uncharted territory. Furthermore, because these systems operate behind the scenes, their complexities often seem like a black box—too technical or abstract to have any tangible effect on the user experience.
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In reality, the decisions that companies make regarding software architectures profoundly affect the overall experience for users of large-scale systems—complex applications that they’ve crafted to accommodate numerous concurrent users and manage vast amounts of data. Common examples of such systems include ecommerce platforms, social-media networks, streaming services, and banking applications.
These architectural choices also intersect with the needs of another critical group: business stakeholders. To fully appreciate the impacts of software architecture on the user experience, we must explore each of these concepts in depth. We must first understand the value of each dimension of the user experience that an effective software architecture delivers.
The Value of an IT System’s Quality Attributes in Terms of the User Experience
When architects design a new IT system, some key elements that they strive to achieve are known as the system’s quality attributes, which include the following:
Quality Attribute 1: Performance—High performance is vital for user satisfaction. The result of efficient resource utilization is minimal latency and faster response times, which enhances the overall user experience. Key value for users—They experience greater efficiency in performing their tasks.
Quality Attribute 2: Scalability—A well-architected system supports scalability, enabling systems to handle an increasing number of users without performance degradation. This is essential for applications that anticipate future growth in their user base or data volume. Key value for users—The system delivers a seamless experience—even with fluctuations in demand—leading to higher retention rates and satisfaction levels.
Quality Attribute 3: Availability—High availability ensures that the system is operational and accessible whenever users need it. Achieving this requires minimizing downtime through such strategies as load balancing and failover mechanisms. Key value for users—Consistent availability is essential in maintaining user engagement and satisfaction, especially for services on which users rely continuously.
Quality Attribute 4: Fault Tolerance—A robust architecture enhances system reliability by supporting fault tolerance—that is, the ability of the system to continue operating properly in the event of a failure of some of its components. Key value for users—They are less likely to encounter downtime or service interruptions. Thus, the system’s reliability fosters trust in and loyalty to the application and brand.
Quality Attribute 5: Flexibility and Adaptability—A modular architecture enables easier updates and additions of features without disrupting existing functionalities. Key value for users—This adaptability ensures that an application can evolve according to user feedback and changing market needs, ultimately improving user satisfaction. Other stakeholders that benefit from a system’s flexibility and adaptability are the engineers and developers who maintain and update the system.
Business-Value Drivers
These quality attributes suggest that a well-architected system yields positive outcomes in terms of the user experience—for both the customer and the users that the customer employs. In turn, this value translates into several business outcomes, including the following:
cost efficiency—Scalable architectures enable businesses to optimize resource allocation according to demand, reducing the operational costs of the overprovisioning or underutilization of resources. This financial efficiency can directly impact profitability.
faster time to market—A well-structured architecture allows quicker deployment of new features and products, which can significantly reduce time to market. This agility is crucial in competitive industries where being first can lead to a higher market share.
increased revenue opportunities—By facilitating a better user experience through performance and reliability, businesses can enhance customer retention and attract new users, resulting in increased revenues. A scalable system can also support new business models or services that generate additional income streams.
strategic alignment—Effective software architectures align technology delivery with business strategy, ensuring that technical development supports the overarching business goals. This alignment fosters improved brand perception and higher shareholder returns that result from enhanced operational efficiency.
How Architectural Decisions Impact the User Experience
A variety of architectural patterns not only can support the quality attributes that I mentioned earlier but also enhance the user experience of large-scale systems.
Example 1: The API Gateway Pattern
One notable example is the API Gateway pattern. An API gateway acts as an intermediary between a client application such as a user’s device and the backend system. This architectural pattern streamlines communication, enabling improved performance and security. Figure 1 shows the deployment of an API gateway within the context of a video-streaming service.
Figure 1—An API gateway
Without this abstraction layer, the user’s application would have to send requests directly to each individual service within the video-streaming system—for example, the video service, comments and reviews service, user-profile service, and others. Each of these services is responsible for different tasks that users might want to perform. A direct approach to sending requests could lead to increased complexity and slower performance, ultimately detracting from the overall user experience.
By adding an API gateway as a single entry point to the backend system, software architects can improve the user experience in the following ways:
reduced latency and fewer requests—By aggregating multiple backend calls into a single request, an API gateway can minimize round trips, reducing overhead and improving the application’s responsiveness.
improved performance—Features such as caching, load balancing, and traffic management ensure faster and more consistent service delivery.
better security—By centralizing authentication and authorization processes, an API gateway creates a unified entry point and validation of the user’s credentials before allowing access to backend services.
simplified client interactions—An API gateway unifies access to multiple services, simplifying client-side development and enabling seamless communication.
However, these enhancements may come at a cost. For instance, latency might occur because requests must first pass through the gateway before accessing the backend services. The additional processing time could impact overall performance, especially if the API gateway handles tasks such as authentication or the transformation of requests.
Also, the API gateway could become a single point of failure for the entire system. Thus, if the gateway experiences downtime or performance issues, this could disrupt access to all the APIs, even if the individual services are operational. Mitigation strategies are available, but you must still factor in such issues.
Finally, from the perspective of business stakeholders, an API Gateway introduces complexities and could potentially increase infrastructure costs and maintenance overhead. Therefore, architectural decisions must strike a strategic balance between what could at times be concurrent user needs.
Example 2: The Message Broker Pattern
Another example of getting the system architecture right that is crucial to the user experience is the usage of an architectural building block that is called the message broker.
This component provides the benefit of supporting asynchronous messaging, which allows applications to continue functioning even if some components are temporarily unavailable. Thanks to the message broker, users can interact with the system without experiencing delays or interruptions.
Let’s explore how this message-broker component functions within the context of an online store running a flash sale. As Figure 2 illustrates, an online store could face a sudden surge of requests from users who are attempting to place orders with the fulfillment center.
Figure 2—A surge of requests from users
Handling this influx could be challenging for the store because the fulfillment of each order involves multiple time-consuming operations, potentially leaving users uncertain about the status of their order. Implementing a message broker that utilizes a queue data structure to manage all messages prevents the sender from having to await confirmation from the receiver. In this scenario, users receive an acknowledgment immediately after placing their order, enhancing the overall experience.
Conclusion
The software architecture of large-scale systems plays a critical role in shaping both the user experience and business outcomes. Recognizing the implications of serving these mutual stakeholders is essential for organizations because doing so helps them provide exceptional value to users and enhances customer satisfaction, ultimately leading to increased profits and cost savings.
To achieve these positive outcomes, business strategists, UX designers, and software architects must collaborate effectively to define priority objectives and find a harmonious balance between potentially conflicting user needs. However, as a rule of thumb, enhancing the user experience serves as a key success metric for business systems because it drives higher transaction volumes and boosts revenues.
As a strategic designer and UX specialist at IBM, Silvia helps enterprises pursue human-centered innovation by leveraging new technologis and creating compelling user experiences. Silvia facilitates research, synthesizes product insights, and designs minimum-viable products (MVPs) that capture the potential of our technologies in addressing both user and business needs. Silvia is a passionate, independent UX researcher who focuses on the topics of digital humanism, change management, and service design. Read More
