Daily Cup of Geek

When discussing technology, content, etc., with people, I consistently come back to one key point:

It’s all about the user.

Because without the user, what’s the point? You might have the ultimate killer app. It might chop onions, vacuum, and change the baby (oh, and it’s free!) but if the UI is impossible and unfriendly — or even just unattractive — how will you convince users to actually use it?

Even worse are mandatory applications in the workplace. You don’t even have a choice in using it, but it’s complicated, ugly, and not remotely intuitive. Disgruntled employees shouldn’t be your biggest concern in that situation — lost productivity (and thus, lost $) is the real monster lurking there. So while making it pretty might cost some extra money, you’ll more than make it back in the long run.

My boss has said it best, I think:

I want one click. If I have to do it in 5 clicks now, it should be one click.

OK, so sometimes you can’t have one click, but if you need more than 2 or 3 clicks to get to something, you might want to stop yourself and see how you can make it easier and more intuitive to access that feature. Your app shouldn’t be a puzzle/strategy game — your users aren’t there because they got bored with the new Metal Gear: Solid game. They need to get something done, and want to get it done quickly.

Remember, it’s all about the user. Of course, if your app looks cool/pretty, but is useless… well, I can’t help you there.

This entry was posted by Bronwyn Lewis, on Friday, June 13th, 2008 at 8:11 am and is filed under user interface. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.