Creating productivity tools at the intersection of product strategy, mobile software development, and user-centered design

Monthly archives for April, 2012

Effortlessness (4 of 10)



Make the computer do the work

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Great software is a joy to use because it eliminates all extraneous actions that don’t require the user’s explicit attention and instead allows the user to focus on the task at hand.  To start, this simply means making everything fast.  In this case, the unnecessary “action” performed by the user is waiting for the computer to finish its calculation.  Increasing speed can be accomplished through a combination of many factors.   One way is making technical changes such as intelligent caching or multi-threading.  Another way is making efficiency changes such as clean code or clear information architecture.  And while these proposed improvements require non-trivial amounts of engineering effort,  I would consider them basic steps because the issue is easily identifiable.  Someone just needs to take the time to do something about it.

The next step is to get rid of actual actions the user has to take. In this sense, the software should be doing as much as it can to automate, prefill, guess, and parse. Examples of this include having changes auto-save or having text auto-complete. Furthermore, little details such as auto-positioning cursors or creating unobtrusive tool-tips go a long way in reducing the cognitive load induced upon a user when completing a task. Overall, the goal here is to minimize cognitive friction by making the computer guess what the user wants rather than making the person guess what the computer wants.

The third level of creating an effortless experience is going beyond minimizing clicks and onto removing a series of steps.  A excellent example of this is restoring a user’s previous state to the last time they logged in.  Another example is auto-syncing user content across devices.  In these situations, the computer isn’t just helping eliminate a stray click here or there, but rather helping the user perform an entire set of actions.

Taking a step back, one must be cognizant of the fact that the computer doesn’t always get it right. As a case study, one can look at the decision to pre-populate form fields when a user is going through a checkout process. In this scenario, the computer already has access to a pair of text strings from when the user filled out the billing address. However, the user might end up sending the order to a different shipping address. In these instances, it may be tempting to give the user more freedom by leaving the second entry form blank, but for most people this isn’t necessary.

In concordance with the principles of Simplicity and Sensible Defaults, just because the system can’t predict every use case doesn’t mean it shouldn’t make an effort to speed up the lives of the majority of users who will enter applicable input. Admittedly, it is a fine line between balancing computer assistance and user control, but more often than not, you want to make the computer do the work.

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Discoverability (3 of 10)



To Infinity, and Beyond.

If your app is to become a success, then the app must give old and new users alike free reign to explore the its full functionality.  Although the computer should perform the heavy lifting in calculations, there is still a level of user control that must be afforded to allow them to control their own experience.  This type of user control allows them to be adventurous since they are able to freely explore the app without the fear of making a critical error, leading the user to take full advantage of your app.  Those types of users are more likely to come back again (retention) and to become paying customers (conversion).

Thus, make the app discoverable by not punishing users for errant clicks, and instead giving them a clear and simple way to undo their previous actions.  The most common implementation of this is through an undo button, but depending on your audience, you can get a little creative.  Within many Apple products, going back means swiping backwards with three fingers (Safari).  In some innovative new apps, this means circling backwards in a counter-clockwise fashion (Paper for iPad).

Discoverability doesn’t stop with the undo function though.  Steps can be added to prevent the user from making a mistake in the first place.  Especially on mobile devices, where touches are cheaper than clicks, don’t be afraid to add an extra tap for confirmation.  For example, if the user has chosen to delete a file by tapping the trash can icon, you still could have a button pop-up that asks for confirmation.  Note that I said “button” and not “dialog box,” and note that I said “could have” and not “must have”.  While good design means preventing mistakes, good design also means not annoying the user.  There must be balance.

Finally, encourage users to discover functionality by providing cues about how to use UI elements. If an element is clickable, it should appear that way, or a user may never try using it.  Items used with high frequency should be easily recognizable as such.  Furthermore, it should have higher prominence and should usually be positioned where users are apt to click.  On a desktop device that is the top-left area of the screen (where your eyes naturally gravitates), and on a mobile device that is usually the bottom-right (where your thumb naturally reaches).

In all tasks, design with a thought to the logical progression of completing what the user came to do.  Go from general information (creating a notebook) to increasing specificity (changing the font for text). If people will generally discover the features on your app in a certain order, make it easy to do so.

Some sources also call for the inclusion of a tutorial or a introduction video to give users a sense of how to use the app.  While useful, the ideal situation is that users don’t need someone to tell them how to navigate the app since the UI is designed in a way that makes the experience intuitive.  Introduction videos are only necessary in the event that not only is your app new to the market, but the concept is relatively unknown as well (Dropbox).  In these cases, it is perfectly reasonable to explain what your app does since many people might not have even realized they need your app.

The goal is to make your app discoverable by being forgiving of mistakes and preventing those mistakes in the first place.  Design properly and your users will be excited to explore your app to infinity and beyond.

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Dominance (2 of 10)



Only one thing can be the most important.

Every element within an interface clamors for the user’s attention, but which element is the most important varies depending on which stakeholder you ask.  Business Development might say it’s the banner ad running at the bottom that belongs to the partner they just signed on.  Marketing says it’s the call-to-action button used to convert visitors.  Engineering says the new drop-down menu they just added is the most important.  The Executive Team thinks all the features are great.  At the end of the day, there is only one stakeholder whose opinion matters: the user’s.

Proper UI design should focus on giving the user only the minimal and necessary information needed to complete their current task.  Even if some of the features are useful (and thus necessary), care must be taken to insure that the less used features take a backseat to those features used more often because if everything is marked as important, than nothing is important.

More often than not, the most important feature to the user is the content.  In a blog or news source, it’s the content that the company produces, such as ESPN providing a recap of last night’s basketball game.  In a content-creation application, it’s the content that the user produces, such as Evernote providing a platform for users to collect all their thoughts.  In a social application, it’s the content that peers produce, such as Twitter connecting you to your friend’s tweets about what happened in their day.   There are many other ways to slice up content, but the bottom line is that the user came to your app or site with a certain purpose, and it wasn’t to view the chrome or a collection links.

Creating a clear hierarchy of components can be done through adjusting size, shape, color, proximity, similarity, and other elements.  Usually, these groupings can be applied by going through the Gestalt Principles:

  • Figure/Ground – Elements are perceived as either figure (element of focus) or ground (background on which the figure sits).  The most dominant object is basically the figure.
  • Area – Make something more dominant by increasing the size. For text, make the font size larger.
  • Similarity – Make something more dominant by having it be dissimilar from everything else.  When everything is colored in black, but one line of text is in red, it really jumps out.
  • Unity – Make something more dominant by unlinking the visual connectedness it has from other elements.  When everything is on one line, have the dominant element one step above the line.
  • Continuation and Closure – Make something more dominant by being at the end of a logical progression of elements, even if they are not directly connected.  The user will complete the connection for you.
  • Proximity – Make something more dominant by having it spaced farther apart from everything else.

Overall, there is a tendency to perceive things holistically and to find mean in the way the parts relate to the whole.  Therefore, we understand meaning from a design not just from the individual elements, but also between the relationship between the elements.  So if the balance between the elements is broken, then the user isn’t just annoyed by isolated parts of the app, but have disapproval of the app as a whole.  At its worst, this cognitive dissonance causes the user to abandon the app completely, writing it off in their mind.  As a result, designing a harmonious balance is crucial to an app’s success, and that starts with remembering only one thing can be the most important.

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Simplicity (1 of 10)



When in Doubt, Take it Out

If you ask the average person what it means to have good design, she will probably talk about creating something that is clean and simple. And it is with good reason that “Simplicity” is often the first axiom that comes to mind. Keeping things simple reduces clutter and forces the designer to concentrate on the essential aspects. It also limits bloat and allows your application to run faster. This in turn produces a better user experience since the user is not overburdened with distracting noise or forced to needlessly wait around.

Additionally, simplicity plays a strategic role in product design because it makes the process easier by limiting the amount of work that needs to go into each release. This is important because trying to squeeze too much into each iteration can often lead to delays and sometimes can even prevent the release from going out at all. Keeping the design clear and focused means the team always makes progress, however small.
Another unforeseen benefit of simplicity is that it prevents the Paradox of Choice. When users are presented with a multitude of options, not only does that fail to bring more value, there is actually a net negative effect as the customer feels anxiety and uncertainty in deciding which option they want. Thus, making a thoughtful decision for the user and purposely leaving out certain choices improves the overall user experience.

Finally, there are the long-term benefits to keeping things simple. Case in point, it’s generally easier to add new features than remove previous ones, even if the old features were rarely used. Users are loss-averse, so taking something away can cause undue damage to the brand of the product.

So enough about why simplicity is important – how do you do it? The first and most obvious step is to minimize “administrative debris” (as Edward Tufte refers to it). Take out all the chrome, all the extra layers, and all the nice-to-haves, until you are only left with the core essence of what your product offers. If you are absolutely brutal in trimming the fat here, that is often all that needs to be done.

But there are some other techniques as well. A great one to use is Progressive Reveal, where you show more elements only when the first couple of items have been filled out. Another is to create just-in-time features that only come up as the user needs them, such as pop-overs or modal dialogues. Another idea is to hide features using dropdown menus or hidden menus.

However, simplicity doesn’t just refer to features. It means better communication and ease of use. Remember the speak the user’s language and use words and concept from their world. Clear out any jargon or complex wording so the user doesn’t need to struggle. Eliminate extra steps where they are not needed. Ultimately, just keep things simple!
With the never-ending cascade of departamental demands and customer requests, it is all too easy to add features that aren’t wholly relevant to the main focus of your app. But you must always ask yourself if a proposed feature directly supports the user’s goal, and when it doubt, take it out.

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A New Tool



We know that the world is going to get more complex, data is going to be more abundant, and people’s lives are going to be inundated with more information than they know what to do with. As a result, people will need task management tools to organize their ever-complicated lives. Companies will need project management tools to organize their ever-complicated workflow. But do people need a tool to organize their brain?

Are thoughts and ideas seeing the same proliferation as general content? Are people simply going to sit back and have more content to consume? Or are people going to be producing more content?

Well, we know that more content will be produced – entertainment, news feeds, alerts and notifications, etc. But who will be producing it? Or more accurately, how many people will be required to do it? What tools will they use?

If it only takes a couple of people to produce all the content, then Notable will wither because what we need then is large project management tools. If it takes a lot of people, but each individual requires only passive effort (like analytics software gathering data in the background), then Notable will also die. If each person generates more content individually, and is able to use existing tools, then the Notable will go nowhere. But, if each individual generates more ideas and can’t use the current technology at hand to handle all those ideas, then Notable will thrive.

Thus, in a sense, a bet on Notable is a bet on the progress of the human race. If we as a people become a nation of mindless producers and consumers of content, there is no need for a new tool. But if as a people continue to innovate and grow, then there is no doubt that new technology will be needed to collect, organize, and disseminate the ideas that will push us into that future.

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Time Management



http://xkcd.com/874/

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Ways to Clear Your Mind



Clearing your mind and entering a state of flow is absolutely crucial to increasing productivity. Many of these methods can be used in conjunction or skipped completely. The key is to find the right combination that works for you. Until then, here’s a checklist:

  • Take a deep breath and just calm down.
  • Remember the important things in life.
  • Your current tragedy is probably no big deal
  • Know why you’re doing the thing you’re doing.
  • Don’t let the little things get to you.
  • You get to make your own decisions, you are allowed to get out of this mess.
  • Go drink some water.
  • Take a break, walk around.
  • Get some rest, take a nap.
  • Think about something else for awhile.  Don’t procrastinate, just switch gears.
  • Think happy thoughts.
  • There are plenty of reasons why it might be hard to move forward, but no fundamental reason why you can’t start trying

I hope this helps someone!

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Future Friendly



We are now in an age of unprecedented growth when the quantity and diversity of connected devices is exploding. Due to the proliferation of networked mobile platforms, nothing exists in isolation, and devices of every shape and size are all connected. The new standards of sharing and consuming content will lead to a shift in existing communication systems, as existing workflows and infrastructure break under the onslaught of new devices. In this ever-changing landscape, a company’s core services should be based on fundamental business strategies rather than simply following the year’s hot new platform (build iPhone apps) or trend (going local or social).

In most cases, there is no mobile-specific use-case because users are visiting your website on their mobile device for the same reasons they visit your website on their desktop. Yes, mobile devices have smaller screens, and yes, they have limited processing power, but that doesn’t change what users expect out of their mobile experience. Users may access your site in different contexts and locations, but they often have the same intent.  We should all aim for universal access as the default and only diverge when absolutely necessary.

The first step in embracing this future is letting go of the format in which your content is displayed and instead focus on just generating great content. We must move away from graphical user-interfaces and go towards natural user-interfaces where the navigation is the content.  Don’t worry about how pretty the service looks, and instead focus on just making it awesome by designing from the content out, rather than the canvas in.  Ultimately, people don’t mind a simple user experience, but they do mind a broken one.

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Quote of the Month



History will be kind to me for I intend to write it.

– Winston Churchill

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