Philip, you were recently appointed to the Best-of-Swiss-Apps jury in the category UX. How did that come about?

Earlier this year, I had the opportunity to participate in a live talk by Leading Swiss Agencies on the topic of user engagement, as the CEO of our creative studio «Staay». Our children’s game «Gian & Giachen: Kristallsuche mit Madlaina» was the focal point of the discussion. The moderator was Christof Zogg, who also happens to be the chairman of the Best of Swiss Apps jury. He asked me if I could see myself becoming a part of the jury one day. Of course, I immediately said yes and was thrilled to join this year.

And how was your first experience as a jury member?

It was super exciting but also intense. I'm on the jury for the User Experience category, and the first task was to pre-evaluate nine very different apps. It was fascinating to assess apps from such a specific perspective, something I don’t usually do. On jury day, we discussed each app in detail, reviewed the individual evaluations from the jury members, and after some intense discussions, we created a shortlist. From this, we selected the best apps that would receive awards this year. The whole process took an entire day. There were nine jury members in our category, and I only knew two of them beforehand. It was really interesting to see their diverse perspectives on certain aspects, and I learned a lot from them.

UX is a broad term. What does it specifically mean to you?

For me, a good user experience means that a product feels intuitive and natural right from the start, so users don’t encounter any obstacles or detours. If a product functions seamlessly, users gain the confidence that they’re always doing the right thing. With a good user experience, it feels like the product anticipates your next move. If a product feels familiar the first time you use it, as if you've known it for years, then the UX team has done an excellent job.

And what specific aspects did you focus on as a juror during your evaluation?
Ultimately, it’s about the overall picture. If an app not only impresses with UX elements like colour schemes, layout, clarity, and the size of content and control elements but also includes innovative features, is up to date in terms of design, and is fun to use, then it wins me over as a juror. Even though it was my first time, I feel like we saw some very strong, mature apps, as well as a few new ones with innovative features. It was a strong year.

Final question: Is there a product or brand you would love to have the opportunity to improve the UX for?

A year ago, I switched from PC to Mac for work, convinced that the UX would be as great on a notebook as it is on my iPhone or iPad. Unfortunately, I was quite disappointed. It seems that Apple is seriously neglecting macOS, with many things poorly executed and lacking attention to detail. There are several standard features from the Windows world that should have been integrated long ago but are still missing. If macOS were an app, it definitely wouldn’t make my shortlist. So, I’d love to be involved in improving the product.