Planning and the Illusion of Solving
One of the most difficult aspects of planning is staying focused on articulating the plan. Trying to solve a problem you identify while planning is always appealing and, in my experience, never really works out. A significant problem can’t be solved with past experience or historical data and requires a hypothesis that should be tested and validated.
A good plan needs to identify problems, contain the ways you intend to discover the solutions, and show which problems are dependent on other solutions. Even with just a few moving parts, this can quickly become unwieldy. Why add guessing to the mix?
A Quick Solution… It’s a Trap!
With experience comes the urge to use it. When problems pop up while planning, the knee-jerk reaction is to look to your past, find a reasonably similar scenario, and choose to use a similar or better solution. Once that solution has worked it’s way into the conversation, people will rely on it for all future solutions.
The margin of error for solutions based on past experiences should be small. Unfortunately, when you start working on a plan that relies on several layers of perceived solutions the margins of error can multiply and a lot of skill and good intentions will still blow up in your face. What’s worse, is that it can be really, really hard to know what piece of the puzzle caused the failure.
Even when you’re working with the smartest people in the world, alarms should be going off when people are solving problems on-the-fly and incorporating them into the plan.
Momentum is Better than Speed
Taking the time to challenge assumptions, test theories, and validate assumptions can be time consuming. Fortunately, once you’ve identified a problem and verified the solution, there’s less to consider for each following problem. Even a slow team that challenges itself and validates their assumptions will eventually be more productive than a fast team who skips that part.
Creating Intuitive Interfaces
A hallmark of good design is when the people using your application feel like you’re reading their mind. As strange and unpredictable as people are, this isn’t hard to do. All you need to keep setting expectations and then delivering on those expectations.
Over time, hopefully within a few interfaces, you have to primed people to think that a certain type of thing will be in a certain place. As they’re browsing and working and managing all the distractions of their day, they will eventually need to do that thing again. Instinctually they will look towards the place they have come to expect that thing.
Is it there?
If it’s not, prepare for a lot of frustration and confusion. If it is, prepare for a lot of suprise and delight.
It’s that simple. No magic. No Unicorns. Just consistent and disciplined interfaces.
Setting Interface Expectations
Inside larger and more complex applications, a wide variety of interfaces will show up. It can become really, really hard to set consistent patters and always put the same things in the same places. In the spirit of progress over perfection, a “gaze” may be a more appropriate the a super-rigid set of interface rules.
Imagine being fully focused on a task inside an application. Once you’ve completed that task, realized another task that’s a higher priority, or just plain screwed up, where does your gaze wander to? There’s a good chance you’ll reacte and move towards what you consider the safest place.
- Adding something might feel like it belongs somewhere on the upper left side of the screen.
- Searching for something might feel like it belongs on the upper right side of the screen.
- Digging in deeper might feel like it belongs on the left side of the screen.
- Editing/deleting something might feel like it belongs on the right side of the screen.
The more you can consolidate these assumptions, set expectations, and deliver with consistency, the more people will find you accommodating and intutitive. They may even think you’re reading their minds!
The Power of Good Design
Accountants to landscapers have a basic understanding of the power of marketing. They need to build an audience! They need more people to want their stuff!
Is design understood that specifically? Is it something that we want because we’re certain it will affect the bottom line in a significant way? Or is it something we need because we’ve seen our competition use it successfully and hope to do the same?
To pass that threshold of needing (and resenting) to wanting (and loving) design, you need to understand three core parts of design: making things useful, making things usable, and making things desirable.
Making Things Useful
Putting together a collection of features and functionality to help people accomplish a goal is just as much a part of design as choosing a color scheme. It’s far enough away from seeing a beautiful interface that it doesn’t feel like design. Just remember, no matter where you are in the project, design is happening.
It may be appealing to leave the designers out of this phase for budget or time constraints, but don’t let that happen. Some features are complex enough to influence the feeling of the application. If you’re going for a lightning fast and highly enjoyable application, a complex feature will interfere with that plan.
A good designer can spot these inconsistencies in complexity and help you build a more consistent set of features and functionality. This is a very important part of setting the right tone and building a good foundation for the project.
Making Things Usable
If we can’t get the value that has been promised quickly and efficiently we will probably get cranky. We are all prepared to work for the value we need, but if confusion is getting in our way it can become very hard to to see this product or service as an ally. Using something can be difficult without damaging perception, but when it gets confusing there has been a huge failure in design.
Getting down into the nitty-gritty details of properly labeling form elements, buttons, icons, headings, micro-copy, error-copy, alert messages, and links is what it takes to make people feel comfortable and confident in their actions. It can take a lot of time, but it’s worth it. Once you’re out of your audience’s way, they will become more effective and give you all the credit.
When you intuitively know how to get somewhere and then instantly know what to do when you get there, a sense of confidence emerges. After you feel as if you’ve have mastered the art of using a website or application it will be nearly impossible for the competition to break through and convince you to switch.
Making Things Desirable
Building something useful is worth celebrating. Making something useful become easy to use is also a huge accomplishment. Unfortunately, there are many companies, teams, and even individuals that can take a project this far. You need to make it feel personal and meaningful to keep your audience engaged.
Desire isn’t just a nice look. Visual appeal will get some temporary attention that will quickly drift into the next distraction. A personality that continuously challenges, excites, and delights the audience is required to make them want to use your product or service. Although most of the design is done at this point, inspiring desire can be the most difficult part.
A great designer can help translate a personality into a look and feel that will reinforce the perceptions you want to build in your audience. This perception will help your content make more sense and give it an extra level of credibility. It can also resonate with people on an even deeper level if it feels similar to how they feel about themselves.
The Multiplier Effect
Something useful is valuable. When it’s easy to use it’s 10 times more valuable. When it’s fun to use it’s another 10 times more valuable. This is the power of good design.
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