Summary: What do an impactful speaker and a great tech product have in common? They both make sense.
The role of the developer (I use the term loosely to refer to people designing, or involved in developing the product) is to create a product that will make sense to the user, even when the developer is not around.
That’s a challenging task.
There are more than 7 billion people in the world, and you Mr/Ms developer has the role of building a product that a large portion of these 7 billion people can somehow understand? Kudos to you.
Fortunately, there are some techniques that have been found to be effective in achieving this.
Build it the way everyone else builds it
In the 10 user interface heuristics, Jakob Nielson puts it this way “Users spend most of their time on other sites. This means that users prefer your site to work the same way as all the other sites they already know.”
Where do things like innovation fit into this scenario?
Good question. I believe that there is still space for innovation. Apple products are significantly different from other popular products like Android and Windows interface, yet they are repetitively named one of the greatest designers of all time.
So, how do they do it, they simplify the product and make use of people’s mental models to improve the product. I would also assume that they do a lot of user testing. Some of the problems they solve in their products are ridiculously unconventional, yet so useful. Like, how did they think of making a device that greets the user every morning? Apple is a special case.
Build it according to human mental models
Let’s shift gears to Psychology for a bit.
A mental model is a framework used by each human to explain how things work and how to do them. So, as an example, When a device is off, my first instinct is always to switch it on first before doing another action such as entering a phone number. This I have come to know through experience using devices. Other than experience, we also get these conceptual models through training as well as from other people.
Building products based on human mental models allows you to build products that are in line with what users expect.
In this post, I explain how users even will go as far as dismissing products that are not coherent with their mental models.
Make it extremely simple to use
I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve said: “Ah, that’s so cool,” while using a product manufactured by Apple. They pay close attention to detail, and really are really good at creating a product that’s better for the user.
An example of this can be seen in how, if your phone is locked and you receive a phone call, you’re instructed to “swipe to answer,” but, while you have the conventional “accept” and “decline” if your phone is unlocked (See example here).
Two things you can do to make simple products are:
1. Create it the way humans do it
Have you ever noticed how you’re able to type your Google query into the designated search button in the middle of the screen, and are also able to type your search query in the place where you would enter a URL link?
The Google search was not intentionally designed that way, but they noticed that users kept thinking they were able to enter their search queries into the URL box at the top of the screen.
So they decided to design it the way humans did it.
2. Use real life representations
This can often be seen in icons such as the bin icon that’s used to show that you’re throwing something away (i.e deleting it). This technique is called Skeuomorphism. It’s also used in processes such as the purchase process used by e-commerce stores. For example, you put everything into your cart and then pay for it. This is similar to what you’d do if you were in a physical store.
Psychology has proven how humans don’t rationally think through each and every process they do, we also don’t read through each and everything before we accept it either. Therefore, making use of familiar items and processes has the ability to enhance the user’s ability to understand a process better.
