IP #1 - Personal Dev / Psych / Literature -
CHANGE YOUR SHOES / TRADE PLACES / ENVISION IGNORANCE
Accommodate for Ignorance by Pretending You've Never Used the App Before
('Break(destroy)/Lift(cease) the Curse of Knowledge')
CHANGE YOUR SHOES / TRADE PLACES / ENVISION IGNORANCE
Accommodate for Ignorance by Pretending You've Never Used the App Before
('Break(destroy)/Lift(cease) the Curse of Knowledge')
In the ultimate user experience that we like to call life, houses, like cars, are the bomb if or when you're able to afford one. But would you lock in that dreamy Spanish villa without booking a tour, or buy that sleek-looking Toyota, however dependable, without taking it for a brief spin?
No, you wouldn't - and the same goes, or at least should, for designing a UI/UX that lasts throughout the ages. That is, not only should you be testing your own creation (da?!) - you should simulate using it as of holding no prior knowledge of it, and, essentially, using it for the very first time.
Perhaps, the reason why not every UI/designer does is that unlike the house and car, you're the (supposed) beneficiary GETTING PAID for during app development as opposed to being the one PAYING for it. Makes sense, right?
Oh, what a fallacy.
Had you thought more deeply on the matter, chances are you would have realized that working towards a paid project for a client can be more costly than being the client themselves. How so?
Because time is money too, you big silly goose.
But instead of launching into a tedious diatribe about the behavioral economics term OPPORTUNITY COST that few remember for anything other than its uncanny ability to making those uttering the term instantly forget all about it, consider this:
Maybe, just maybe, being the most knowledgeable person in the world about the UI/UX design you personally concocted from start to finish, in fact, makes you the worst judge there is with regard to objectively assessing what is truly good and bad about it.
But don't take my word for it - especially bot when there are esteemed Harvard psychologists and best-selling authors such as Stephen Pinker echoing identical sentiments.
According to Pinker, the CURSE OF KNOWLEDGE - that is, the counterintuitive human tendency to perform worse on a task simply because one harbors knowledge about it - is a problem in many facets of life, not least including writing.
When a writer picks up a pen to compose a piece of literature - assuming they are one of the few using such a primitive tool these days - they are, consciously or not, anticipating what the reader is thinking or feeling about every word, sentence and paragraph.
The only problem - and yes it is a problem - is that many, if not most, writers fail to properly anticipate what the reader is thinking, and, consequently, fail to accommodate for them in their writing.
For instance, they may not realize that the reader is growing tired of flowery adjectives repeating the same thing over and over again when the reader got the message three pages ago, completely bypass long, chunky explanations of complex concepts where desperately needed, and so on.
In the context of UI/UX design, the equivalent of such traps might be exploiting the use of pop-up menus, leave them to their own devices when faced with navigating a cryptic UI that should have been more elaborate, and the like.
In the image featured, there is little to no indication of how the user can or should effectively access different types of content contained in the app.
Because of this, one might imagine, the user is quickly moved to boredom, confusion, or worse. How could this have been prevented?
Some seasoned UI/UX designers might advise aspiring ones to take a break for a few days or weeks (if possible) and come back to observe their creation with 'new eyes.'
Others might recommend 'focus grouping' the design by consulting family, friends, and - better yet - strangers about their genuine opinion on the design.
The worst possible way to handle the situation?
Sticking your head in the sand, pretending everything is honkey dory, and watching helplessly (but predictably) as the development staff and project manager tear your meticulous design to pieces, effectively illegitimating days of hard work that could have generated actual, non-disposable productivity.
I've done it. Your co-workers have done it. Heck, even your boss has probably done it in their formative/up-and-coming years.
If you haven't, give your all to keep it that way.