Creating a Timeless User Experience
Tuesday, October 27th, 2009
If we could tear into the fabric of time and look a decade into the future, what kind of experience might we find? It’s easy to imagine the technology would be much more advanced. Something out of a film like Minority Report with holographic touchscreens, or so advanced of an A.I. (artificial intelligence) that the application anticipates solutions without the user having to do much else.
In reality the kinds of products, websites, and applications that survive and continue to be effective are those that that focus on the user experience. The digital world evolves continually, but we need to manage this by making sure we don’t leave the people who use our applications and websites in the dust. In this article we will explore creating a timeless user experience.
Want vs. Need
I can’t count how many times a client has asked for something in the craziest timeline, smallest budget and at the best quality humanly possible. Clients today want it bigger, (or for a device… smaller), faster, innovative, sexy. They look at the competition and say "I want that." Everyone wants to tap into social media. They want an iPhone application, or to do something in Augmented Reality because they just read an article about it. At no point do throwing any of these items into the mix add up to better experiences.
Even something as simple as a redesign of a website "for a refresh" does not get you a good experience. Building experiences with buzzwords and features are a drug, and if Web and UX professionals don’t have a client intervention soon, more useless websites and products are going to crowd out what few good experiences there are. All projects should begin with this question: Do you know what the problem is, and does this (product, website, application) solve that problem for the people that will use it?
Attention! It’s a Limited Resource
Keeping our attention is harder due to the sheer amount of information, products, and applications being put in front of us daily. Choice is taken for granted, where quality is something that is rare to find. Remember when just having an iPhone app was enough to get attention? Now the Apple Store touts thousands of applications.
The applications for the iPhone that are now finding success are those that have focused on the experience and the people using them. It proves that first out of the gates without considering the user experience could mean first to fail or fade away into obscurity.
As time moves on the technology becomes enough for users and saturated with competitive products. The experience becomes the differentiator and continues to add value. Image source: The life cycle of a technology by Nielsen Norman Group
So, what qualities make a great experience? I think a carousel ride can show us.
The Carousel Experience
A recent trip to the local mall with my son sparked my idea on "timeless user experience". He was very excited to put his dollar in and get a token for the ride and he really enjoyed it. I started thinking about carousels and how long they have been around. The experience that kids then had, are the same as kids today. This old piece of technology, in comparison to other options for entertainment available today, is very limited in functionality and features. Yet it still delivers a great experience.
Carousels (term for "horse ballet") have been around in the form we know them since the mid-16th century. Image source: Carousel on Wikipedia
How we can we apply this "Carousel Experience" to creating a product or web application? For one, it is an experience that places the enjoyment and desire for that experience first. The technology or delivery of the experience is not as important as the experience in itself. There is no question how it works (familiar). Finally it is focused and meets the user’s (in this case, children’s) needs. It doesn’t make candy or have embedded touchscreens. It simply does the same thing it’s done for hundreds of years.
Anatomy of a Timeless Experience
Experiences that are timeless stand apart from the rest. Most companies can create a solid Web application or product and make them usuable. There are few that can move past that. You can breakdown the qualities of a timeless experience into three main areas:
Desirable
Simply making something usable is not enough. Something that does it a little better always comes along. Necessity is also somewhat based on context (I could argue anything beyond food, water, and shelter is an extra). An experience that creates the desire to use it because it’s fun, simple, or creates an emotional connection is priceless. If the basic product or service experience is not desirable you can’t add much to can change that.
Familiar
Striking a balance between the "familiar vs. fresh" as Jakob Nielsen puts it is important. As a Web or UX professional working closely your products, websites, or applications causes you to focus on the most detailed elements, which is not how the user approaches it. The typical person interfaces with your website or product much much less and is looking to accomplish a task. They search for those familiar features to get it done and get on with their daily life.
Focused
Creating a goal-driven statement of what a product or application does results in better product experiences. It meets expectations because it is focused on solving the problem it was created to address. There is power in doing one thing and it doing it very well. So many products and services try to do everything. Compare the Twitter experience to Facebook and it’s easy to see the difference. Twitter is clear on what it does, Facebook is cluttered and can’t seem to make up its mind on what it wants to be.
Two Timeless Tales
Sometimes a few brilliant products are able to squeeze out and prove that a timeless UX works best. The Flip and Mint.com are examples of successful experience-driven products.
Flip: Limited features. Unlimited experiences.
The Background: In comparison to other big name video cameras from companies like Sony, the feature set for the Flip seems to fall flat. To name just a few features: A tiny screen (1.5 inches), no tapes or discs, no menus or settings. Even the zoom is nearly worthless.
The Experience: The Flip beats the competition where it counts: It simply shoots videos. There are no mistakes to be made, the interface is a record on or off button. It’s compact and easy to take everywhere. Plug it in and download to your computer (USB). There’s even software ready to go for easy editing or sharing on YouTube.
How it’s timeless: Doing more sometimes means less to people using your product if it doesn’t meet their needs. By creating a very focused set of features that it does very well, and making it a very easy and fun experience the Flip has taken 20% of the market share. I like to think that a timeless UX took 20% of the market share.
Mint: More money. Less problems.
The Background: Mint came into the financial software market as an unknown startup, which is a very large hurdle when you are asking people to trust you with the security of not just their financial information, but every bank and credit card password. More established players like Intuit and most banks and credit card companies have been creating financial software and online experiences for years.
The Experience: Mint has been able to find success by redefining money management. Through a few clicks, Mint brings together all accounts into one place giving people a encompassing view of their finances. There’s a slick interface to manage budgets, and important updates are delivered to email or devices.
How it’s timeless: Taking an innovative approach and simplifying the experience of managing money and making it enjoyable has paid off for Mint, literally. As Peter Merholz from Adaptive Path put it: "Mint.com has 35 employees. Sold for $170MM. That’s $5MM per. That’s the value of UX."
Keep Fighting the Good (Experience) Fight
Web and UX professionals battle everyday for the qualities that make up the timeless experience. Unfortunately concerns like: being first to market, shareholder expectations (profits), trying to one up the competition, and many other factors result in complex, and run-of-the-mill experiences.
Websites and applications with a timeless experience are just that, timeless. They will continue to win the hearts and minds of the people who use them.
How do you create timeless user experiences? What are some important things to keep in mind when designing an effective user experience? Join the discussion in the comments.
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About the Author
Francisco Inchauste is a web and interaction designer whose work you can find over at his online presence – Finch. By day, he works as a UX specialist for Universal Mind. He’s written for various design weblogs such as Smashing Magazine. Connect with him on Twitter.
How To Get Past The Blank Page By Creating Urgency
Sunday, October 25th, 2009In this post Roman from How this Website Makes Money shares some suggestions on how to create urgency to get past bloggers block.
Sunday morning. You have everything ready. Hot coffee on your right side, a crisp bagel on your left, computer on and ready.
You have the whole day to write. All week the post has been forming in your head and now all you have to do is write it down. Word processor opens, fingers posed over keyboard. Go.
A few minutes pass and nothing happens. The page remains blank. The post that was so clear in your head becomes fuzzy. What is the point of it again? How was it going to start?
Ten minutes have passed and the word processor is gone – you are now doing your online banking. Then you check the news, read an email from grandmother, and finally you scan your favourite blog for tips on how to write good posts.
Half the day gone and you have not started to write.
The blank page is a major stumbling block for most writers. Including me. And the worst part is I know that if I just start writing and fill the page with words then my writing will begin roll. It is just a matter of getting past the blank page and writing the first few paragraphs.
Over the last couple years I have come up with some techniques to get past the blank page. The techniques work on the principle of creating urgency. Not an illusionary sense of urgency – real urgency. I create a situation in which I need to get words on the page or else something bad happens.
Here are a few suggests that you can use to create urgency and force yourself past the blank page.
Hold It In Just A Little Bit Longer
The worst thing that can happen when you are writing and on a roll is to be interrupted by bodily needs. Your rhythm and train of thought can be lost by the ritual – walk, do, flush, wash, sit. To avoid this you usually go to the bathroom before you start writing. But if you want to conquer the blank page this is a mistake.
To create urgency drink two large glasses of water. Wait a half hour or until you feel a slight tinge in the bladder. Sit down at your computer and promise yourself that you will not go to the bathroom until you have written at least one page.
At first you will stare at the blank page, but as soon as the tinge turns into a pinch you will start writing. And as more time passes you will write faster and faster. This method creates a direct relationship between time and urgency – the more time that passes the greater the urgency.
With this method you won’t be doing your best writing, but that is not the point. The point is to get past the blank page. A bloated bladder will force you to write. After you return relieved you can peacefully recheck your work and continue writing.
The Evil Eye At The Mom and Pops Coffee Shop
It has been said that J.K Rowling wrote parts of Harry Potter at Starbucks. Not hard to believe – at Starbucks you see lots of people with their laptops. Starbucks provides a nice cozy place to write away from the distractions of home. The atmosphere is pleasant and the employees think nothing if you spend half a day there sipping a Short no sugar, no cream, coffee of the day.
But that is also the problem with Starbucks – no urgency. Nobody cares if you sit there all afternoon staring at a blank screen.
You need to go to a small mom and pops coffee shop, preferably while the owner is working behind the counter. Order a coffee and sit down at one of the three tables in the shop. Open your laptop and promise yourself to write one page before you leave.
Bringing out your laptop you will receive your first sour look from the owner. The owner does not like you. For her the faster a customer drinks their coffee and leaves the better – people who occupy a table for hours sipping a single coffee are bad for business.
After half an hour you will begin to feel the evil eye – this is good. Hopefully all the other tables are occupied and people are forced to hover around with no place to site. At this point the owner will detest you. At any time she might come to your table and ask you to leave – a confrontation you desperately want to avoid.
In this situation is it impossible to obliviously sit motionless in front of your laptop. This is urgency creation at its finest. You will be writing like mad to get the hell out of there.
First Thing In The Morning
When somebody says they will do something ‘the first thing in morning’ they are lying. Morning begins when you open your eyes. The first thing you do is get out of bed, go to the bathroom, have a shower, coffee and get dressed. It is after all these things are done that you begin to do the ‘first thing in the morning’ tasks.
If you want to get past the blank page then do not lie about ‘first thing in the morning’. Do your writing first thing in the morning. Open your eyes and go directly to the computer. Regardless if you are in the nude or sporting a nightcap, go directly to the computer.
You are not in your best form – your brain is still sleeping. But with little crust chunks in your eyes and the taste of plaque on your teeth you will be typing away so that you can do all the second thing in the morning stuff.
Smoking Can Cause Writing
If you have an addiction you are in luck. Addictions make it easy to create urgency. Smoking is a great example.
Lets say you are sitting at home watching TV. The urge comes – you want a cigarette. You could simply light one up and fill your blood with nicotine, but why throw away this great writing opportunity. Instead of lighting the cigarette, sit down at the computer and place the cigarette in front of you. Promise yourself that you will not light it until you have written a page.
People who are otherwise rational and respectable will stand in the freezing cold behind a dumpster for a cigarette. Addictions are powerful, you need to harness that power to get past the blank page. Your body will be begging you to light that cigarette. Tell your body – yes you can have it as soon as I finish writing a page. Every cell in your body will be helping you write that page. Like an old teletype machine, words will start to appear on the screen.
Don’t smoke? No problem, I am sure you have some other addiction. Use its power to create the urgency you need to fight the blank page.
Create Your Own Urgency
These are just some techniques you can use to create urgency. Besides situations you can create yourself there are also those that come unexpectedly. You need to learn to spot them and take advantage.
A good example is the method I used to start writing this post. A few weeks ago I woke up with the flu, sore throat, fever, and runny nose – I felt like crap. All I wanted was to have hot tea and lay wrapped up in my bed covers mumbling incoherently.
Although I was far from being mentally healthy, I did not miss this rare opportunity to create urgency and triumph over a blank page. I wrapped a blanket around myself and sat down at the computer. “I promise to write at least one page before I lay down, put a bag of ice on my head, and drink my tea.”
Post from: Blog Tips at ProBlogger.
How To Get Past The Blank Page By Creating Urgency