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A user experience is simply the process that someone goes through when they are interacting with your site. This journey starts at their earliest contact point, either when they arrive at your site, or even from a Pay Per Click campaign. It doesn't end until you have stopped all forms of communication with them, this even includes re-marketing advertising and emails campaigns.

The primary reason to architect the user experience is that you want your users to be able to easily locate, consume and utilise whatever content or functionality you are providing for them. Any barriers to this and they will leave.

The first and most obvious rule when architecting user experiences is actually thinking like a user. Forget all the strategy documents and high concept designs you have gone through and actually look at the site from the point of view of someone who has never visited any of your content before and knows nothing about you.

Is it obvious what you do? Or who you are? Spell out your message simply and clearly. This goes for the copy on the page and the navigation and functionality. Make things easy for people and they will thank you, confuse them and they will leave.

Don't approach your website from the point of view of someone who works for your company and knows your brand and products back to front. If you rely on intrinsic knowledge you already possess then you are set to fail. Remember your users know nothing about you or your products. This doesn't mean you should treat them like idiots, just don't rely on knowledge you are unconsciously taking for granted.