In previous posts, I’ve spoken extensively about the importance of following design principles and doing things the way everyone else does them to decrease the cognitive load on users. But today I want to look at things from a different angle: are there any circumstances under which we don’t need to adhere to design principles?
When to use UX industry conventions
While doing usability testing I saw this come to life. A user was tasked with investigating a product they were not previously familiar with.
As soon as they landed on the website, they informed me that they were going to look for the About us page as they believed that this page would give clarity on what the product delivers.
The user spent more than a minute looking for the About us page, before informing me that it is not on the page. Eventually, they whispered “maybe it’s this button,” as they clicked on a button written “Our story”.
This experience reminded me of one of the 10 usability heuristics as shared on Nielsen Norman’s website:
#4Consistency and standards: Users should not have to wonder whether different words, situations, or actions mean the same thing. Follow platform and industry conventions.
It was interesting to note how a change in wording from “About us” to “Our story” could hinder a user’s experience. This is something to take note of because not only does it prevent the user from finding what they are looking for, but in some cases may result in the rushing user leaving the website without finding what they were looking for.
Users interact with many other websites where they have come to learn of conventions and patterns. When they eventually land on your page, they will use that past experience to build an understanding of your website.
Is there ever a time when you shouldn’t follow existing rules?
If what you’re building is significantly different from what has been done previously, or if it’s altogether new, then you will need to design a new interface to avoid causing confusion for your users.
In the 20th century, the United States introduced the coin Susan B. Anthony and France introduced a ten-franc. The introduction of these coins led to a lot of confusion and rebellion as its users struggled to distinguish the new money from the existing one.
Think of it this way, how often do you read the text on your notes to identify its value? When I use the South African note, for example, I use the colour of the note to help me quickly identify the amount of money. It would be confusing if another note were to be introduced that resembles one of the existing note colours.
The leaders of the United States and France soon suspended the use of these notes and coins.
Don Norman explains that the users of the coins struggled to use the money because of their history. They had a preconceived understanding of the size and shape of money, and these newly introduced coins were designed to be similar to the existing ones that users were not able to distinguish one from the other.
But, what is the implication on interface design?
Whenever you’re designing a new experience that may be confused with one of the existing ones, or that is significantly different from the existing one, it’s important to make the design distinct enough for users to not get confused by its predecessor
For example, the introduction of GUI opened up an opportunity for a distinct way for users to interact with the computer’s interface – icons.
