The following posts have been tagged week 19

• ☞ Week 19 ☜

  Forgiveness

  

  “To err is human; to forgive, divine” - Alexander Pope

  Traditionally, as designers, we would interpret this to mean our users will always make mistakes and when we “forgive” them (help them get back on their way) we are exhibiting the divine. However, I would argue that we, the designers and developers, need to ask forgiveness from our users. 

  Humans are inherently prone to make mistakes. We do it all the time. Misreading some copy and clicking on the wrong link. Searching for something that doesn’t exist. Entering in a URL that we mistyped. Attempting to engage with an interface in a way it was not designed for. All of these examples (and thousands more) happen all the time with our products. 

  It is this moment in which we have a unique opportunity to engage our users in a genuinely human manner.  We have just interrupted their workflow and they may or may not be able to accomplish the task that the software is supposed to help them perform. So often, when an error occurs users will often blame themselves and, unfortunately, because we give little to no help, they continue feeling like they have made the mistake. 

  However, good copy can have a dramatic effect on people’s perception of a product. It can change their attitude in the moment. Is it understandable? Is it genuine? Does it propose alternatives so that the user feels empowered? These are the questions to ask when reviewing the copy across your product, especially the error messaging. 

  It is clear that we should build in affordances that help the user not make the mistake in the first place. We should create alternate ways out of the situation. We should do everything we can to create a human response to this very human problem.

  We failed, not the user. After all, they are using our product. We are responsible for the experience and by admitting there was a problem and attempting to fix it as quickly as possible, we will engender the goodwill and hopefully, the return business of the user. 

  This doesn’t have to be complex or even all that clever. Instead focus on establishing a clear, consistent language for communication within your product. Make it human. Make it something you would want to read if you were in their place. But most importantly, accept the blame… don’t pay it forward to the user.

  May 15, 2010 by jbrewer

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  week 19

  jbrewer
• ☞ Week 19 ☜

  Is the term “UX” being marginalized?

  

  The term “UX” is becoming like duct tape. People are sticking it everywhere. Take, for example, the UX-related jobs titles people are using these days, essentially a concatenation of UX on the front of an existing thing: UX designer (a term I’ve used), UX architect, UX consultant, UX researcher. The other day I even saw UX web developer. (I have no idea what this means). 

  But really this is nothing new. People adopt terms as they become successful in the marketplace because that’s what people are talking about. It helps them fit into the ever-changing competitive world of work. So it’s not surprising to see designers change their title from Designer to IA to UX professional and back again…the world of design is constantly being redefined and re-calibrated. In fact, if people don’t evolve their professional focus over time you might wonder if they are keeping up with the current state of the art. 

  But UX seems different. Everyone seems to be using it. With so many people using the term “UX” does it risk being marginalized? If everyone is using the term UX does it lose it’s meaning, becoming too broad to be special? That is, if UX is being used by anybody remotely close to design, then it undermines the original goal of the term to focus more attention on the people we design for. If using the term UX becomes more of a way to fit in than a way to describe what you do, then we’ve lost. 

  While I keep hearing these arguments, I don’t think there is any need to worry. 

  The term UX is more accurate than most. UX describes its mission in its own words: to improve the user experience. That’s why I hear executives, marketers, designers, and developers alike use the term closely enough that they might actually be talking about the same thing. People understand the term UX better than other terms we’ve used in the past. Besides, “Design” is as loaded as any word, bringing its own baggage with it. Designers are often seen at odds with the rest of the business, wearing black-rimmed glasses and making things look pretty. In the short term I think UX can be safely used to bypass that trap and help put focus on the people we’re designing for, not the designers themselves. 

  The term isn’t what’s important. In the long-run, the term is not what is important, the work is. The only thing that matters for professionals in this space is that you are improving the experience of your users day in and day out. It doesn’t matter what you call it…call it IA or UX or Design or whatever. Those terms are merely navigation cues for discussion, contextual indicators people use to orient themselves initially. After that initial orientation, the terms don’t matter, the work does. 

  So don’t worry about UX being marginalized. It’s just a term. It will be the people who make false promises and don’t do actual UX work who will become marginalized. 

  May 15, 2010 by bokardo

  Tags:

  week 19

  bokardo