jaffamonkey

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Go on, press it – you know you want to.  Even though
you cant possibly know what happens – in fact what
could happen?   Human nature is curious – when we
are told not to do something, we experience an
overwhelming desire to do it.

The button is there, and it has explanation on it, but
it’s not logical.  Where can you exit to?  Thats the first question.  Does it close the browser, or just exit the site?  Thats where the real world and the virtual one differ – there is not exit on the internet, just another path.   The only “exit” is disconnection.

To keep people on your site, it has to be clear where your user is, and exactly what the available interactions do – be it a form, button or googlemap.   This has to be conveyed in an instant, as when we first visit a site we are simply clumsy.   That clumsiness is a result of visiting a painful number of websites, with varying degrees of satisfaction.  The more we use the web, the more impatient we will be.

A well designed site is forgiving and helpful – you want to keep your users there by choice, not trap them … well, not unless you dont want return visits, that is.

“You cannot not communicate. Every behaviour is a kind of communication. Because behaviour does not have a counterpart (there is no anti-behaviour), it is not possible not to communicate.”—Paul Watzlawick’s First Axiom of Communication

This is the first rule of UX. Everything a designer does affects the user experience. From the purposeful addition of a design element to the negligent omission of crucial messaging, every decision is molding the future of the people we design for.

As such, one of the primary goals of any good designer is communicating the intended message…the one that leads to a positive user experience. The copy-writing, the color of your text, the alignment of form labels, using all-caps or going lowercase on those navigation links—even the absence of a design pattern—are all part of this communication.

Knowing this, we can ask (and hopefully answer) the question, “Does this element support or contradict what I am trying to communicate to the user?” And by asking this you will find yourself refining and improving the little things; the things that often go unsaid or unnoticed, that ultimately make up the user’s experience.

52 Weeks of UX