Amazon, Apple, Google, eBay, Craigslist.

What you could say about them all is that their products (or their websites) is the brand, and in essence is part of the User Experience, because it’s pretty much how the user feels about the products and the company. It’s really an extension of the thought that User Experience is at the intersection of marketing, usability and business.

How much does User Experience mean for each of these examples? For all of them, it means everything.

Apple has made its mark by building products so cool and so easy to use that they have their own fanatical customer base.

Amazon is so good, you expect it to find books for you.

Google, it’s all about straight forward applications that feel right.

eBay’s improved usability and the garage sale feel of the pages (not in a derisive manner, of course) makes it the biggest marketplace in the world where everyone can sell, buy, and participate.

Craigslist’s free-for-all design that’s grey works in part because it has the feel of the non-profit with humble living spaces in Inner Sunset, San Francisco.

For each example, how their products work and how they feel is the User Experience and brand, and prove that superior design means superior results. It also shows in some cases (Apple, for example) that superior User Experiences mean people will pay for more them than other products (how many other MP3 players can you name?) in the same way people will pay for better cars like BMWs.

In fact, their User Experiences are so good, they are their own marketing vehicles. Is yours?