Usability for Developers - the Back Button
I thought it should go without saying in 2012, but apparently some development teams haven’t gotten the memo as evidenced by the agonizing site I just struggled through.
The first and most important rule of usability for web applications is this: Make sure the browser back button works!!!!
Look - I know it’s difficult; trapping states, defining session variables. I understand that it’s about 500% faster to just code an error message and throw your own “back” button into the UI.
But seriously - cut that crap out. It’s lazy and unprofessional. It’s terrible usability. The back button is the most used feature in the browser. It should do what it’s designed to do (take you to to previous screen) 100% of the time. And for the record, “it works if you hit refresh” isn’t an acceptable answer.
So the next time your team tries to convince you to forget about the back button, don’t buy it. Push back. Organize a sit-in. Go on a hunger strike - whatever.
Help your developer friends understand that a broke-a** back button is the equivalent of a Ferrari with no reverse. Or a level 85 mage still saddled with a lesser magic wand.
</rant>
5 Reasons You’re Not Creative
Do you wish you had good ideas? “Do you long to think outside the box!” Here are some things that may be holding you back - with my proposed solutions.
Reason 1 - You’re worried about what others will think
You’re in a meeting and the leader says “OK - does anyone have any ideas?” Blank stares. Pregnant pause. Nervous fidgeting. Nobody wants to go first. They’re afraid their ideas will sound stupid.
The Solution
Blurt out every idea that comes into your mind - or better yet, write it down and then share. It’s better to rattle of 10 bad ideas than sit there blankly. Remember, you’re there to solve a problem - not protect your rep. After a while, it’ll be natural. And once you overcome the fear, some of your ideas may really be great. And remember - creative people often look silly to non-creative people. Whether it’s DiVinci or Galileo or Warhol or Hendricks - many people around them thought they were idiots. I challenge you to name those other people. Be OK with being the weird one who takes a swing.
Reason 2 - You’re not thinking broadly enough
You: “So, how can we fix this problem with the landing page?”
Designer: “Well, I was watching this special about sharks on the Discovery channel last week and…”
You: “What? Sharks? Come on - let’s stay focused on the task at hand!”
The Solution
Shut up and let your designer talk. True creativity comes from inspiration and cross-pollination of ideas. You’ll never think creatively if you don’t allow yourself to think broadly. Look for similar problems that you’d need to solve in another context. Relate it to football or a movie you like - whatever.
Reason 3 - You’re leading with constraints
You shut down any conversation about things that are “out of scope” and are thinking about things other than solving the problem: that’s not the way the system stores that data, Joe VP won’t like it like that, etc .
The Solution
Allow yourself to think through a solution from beginning to end. Don’t pour on constraints right out of the gate. Allow some space to explore. The time for determining how much of the solution you can accomplish will come - but focus on crafting a good experience first.
Reason 4 - You have the wrong motivation
You want to come in under budget. You want to please your supervisor. You want to seem smart. You want to make it easy for the developers. You want to get it over with.
The Solution
Most of those are valid goals. It’s OK to have them as secondary goals. But your primary goal should always be to solve the problem and make the user happy. Start there and balance the rest of your goals against that.
Reason 5 - You’re not good at it
You tried a couple times to share ideas, but they really weren’t all that good. And everyone knew it.
The Solution
Keep trying. Don’t give up. Remember, don’t expect every swing to be a home run. Sometimes you get a single. Or a double. Or a pop-up. Sometimes you get hit squarely in the grille with the pitch or snap a hammy trying to run to first.
But be honest…
Consider that maybe thinking outside the box just not your thing. That’s OK. The world needs people who are good at Excel too 
Just do what you’re good at and don’t crap on the ideas of others.
Derp rising
My fellow USAA designers will get this reference from Failblog. “Derp” has finally transcended the USAA universe and is quickly spreading to the interwebs…
Off the grid
Before we begin, let me express my love of intuitive, frictionless design as delivered via a visual grid. This approach promotes clear communication and usable sites. Now allow me to utter the blasphemy which is the catalyst for this post:
I’m sick and tired of every website looking the same! I’m sick of the way we’re using grids!
What’s next in web design? It seems so long since a major shift. We’re overdue. I dread opening up my NetVibes and looking through all the web design galleries - it’s just page after page of the same old “meh”.
Don’t get me wrong - in every design there’s an underlying structure. But today’s sites live so solidly in the grid, that the grid literally becomes the design. It’s like they’ve designed a grid and put some content in it that applies to some certain thing. They often feel cold and impersonal. It’s good, solid design but without soul or feeling. Much of the design I see (and create) reminds me of bad jazz - the kind played by technical masters who construct sophisticated, complex music that leaves you cold as a fish.
Even my own website has succumbed to the overly-visual grid paradigm. Maybe it’s time for a change. I want to create design that move heart as well as mind. I want something different. I want to create what’s next.
Copywriting is important.
Where did the design “dictators” go?
I took my first agency gig at a small firm in San Antonio at the tender age of 22. I had been working for a couple years in the creative department of a medical products corporation, and that was my only exposure to the design process. Here’s how I thought it worked:
- Marketing manager has idea
- Marketing manager shares idea with designer
- Designer comes up with 3 comps
- Comps are delivered to marketing
- Marketing manager places comps on table in conference room
- Anyone - I mean ANYONE - who enters the conference room (marketing people, receptionists, janitors) votes on their favorite and makes recommendations
- Marketing manager compiles comments, and delivers back to designer to perform this work.
This was my reality. Design was not directed by designers, but by literally anyone else.
I had a rude awakening at that first agency. It was owned and managed by three successful designers. Clients did not direct design here. Oh - they would try (as they always will). But with wide eyes, I’d watch my new bosses employ an array of skillful counter measures to protect the integrity of their designs. I was taught there that our clients’ role was to tell us their goals - the problems they were trying to solve and their definition of success. But designs belonged to the designer.
For those of us working at the agency, there was no question who was in charge. Once, I was working on an annual report design. As was my previous experience, I printed some early concepts and put them out at a morning staff meeting for others to comment on. The comps were quickly removed and I found myself sitting in my boss’ office being completely dressed down. I can’t share the exact words here, but let’s just say it was clearly explained to me who was designing this piece - and it wasn’t our receptionist or account executive.
Let me be frank. The inner workings of that design firm were not what most would consider “collaborative”. Those principles were opinionated, passionate and far more concerned with creating great design than fostering relationships. Frankly, they were jerks. And under their iron fists, we efficiently created solid work for clients like Dell, AMD, Harte-Hanks, Kaepa, and Frost Bank.
Fast forward to 2010. I’m working at a corporation again. Collaboration reigns supreme - especially where design is involved. Committees drive creative work and executives with little to no design acumen often hold the purse strings. Analytics and A/B testing replace passion and vision - relegating the emotional aspects of design a cell in an Excel spreadsheet. For the most part, design is safe and homogeneous - and designers have very little say about it.
Part of me longs for those days of design dictatorship - passionate artisans who are unyielding in pursuit of great communication. When a designer’s vision was allow to inhabit their designs. When non-designers were consulted and considered, but not driving the process. That’s not to say I don’t like it there - or that I think it’s impossible to do good work. But in general, it seems like we spend more time and money for more mediocre results.
I refuse to believe that collaboration and design voice are mutually exclusive. But I need a better metaphor. I can’t really tell my employer that we need “a few good dictators”. So how about maestros? We need people with great talent and vision who can get everyone playing from the same sheet - who keep things flowing together - but with the authority to be a little uncompromising. What if executives, project managers and IT staff were instructed to collaborate on defining the problem and outlining requirements, but to leave design to the designer?
You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one… or maybe I am
Ready to take my CUA exam
Today, I finished the last course with Human Factors International. I can now take my test to become a CUA - certified usability analyst.
Microsoft announced today that it’s killing the Kin only weeks after release. It really is amazing to me how inept they’ve been at putting together a mobile strategy. I guess that answers my previous question about why they weren’t marketing it with any conviction.
iPhone 4 - How Apple gets it right
Steve Jobs announces the iPhone 4
I’ve been stuck in bed for the last two days, so I’ve had some time on my hands. Today, I watched Steve Jobs announce the iPhone 4 at the WWDC. Notwithstanding an odd request for everyone to turn off their WI-FI hotspots and laptops, I was struck by how Apple has this down to a science. Google and Microsoft could really learn a thing or two from what I saw today:
- Exude confidence - Jobs said of this announcement “You won’t be disappointed”.
- Keep it simple, short and sweet - I don’t think any bullet point in any of the slides ran more than two lines
- Pictures are worth a thousand words - demos are worth a million. And if they don’t work, just blame whoever else is in the room with you
- Be positive - when Steve said “AT&T has been very generous”, I almost believed him for a second
- Let it all hang out - “This really will change the world…” “It took a long time for us to realize our dreams, but it’s finally here…”
- Sell emotionally - troops video chatting with their crawling babies, deaf people using a phone… that’s just powerful stuff. How much more RAM does the Droid have? Awww…. who cares!
But the most important thing: deliver a coordinated, unified message on all fronts! During the announcement, I was surfing the Apple website looking for iPad accessories. The SECOND Jobs finished, the site was updated with all the iPhone 4 content. I mean literally - the second he finished. This is amazing to me considering I searched for the Google Droid phone in Google the day it released and didn’t find anything.
It didn’t go perfectly, but today was an example of why they’re successful. Solid products with simple interfaces build to ambitiously solve problems that other companies wouldn’t dare tackle. Yes I’m sure the video chat will be a little choppy at first. I imagine that the multitasking will be a little buggy. But the fact is that Apple has the guts to take a swing - and so continue to move the industry forward.
Starbucks is destroying their brand
I just read this story over at CNN
Howard Schultz, CEO of Starbucks was lamenting their meager 10% market share and talking about how to “attack the competitors”. They don’t compete well against Maxwell House or McDonalds.
Note to Mr Schultz: Why do you think anyone WANTS you to compete with those brands? Back in the day, Starbucks was trendy, pretentious and elitist - in short, AWESOME! You’d go into a hip storefront location, order an overpriced cup of burned, bitter coffee with some ultra-high end name from a girl with 4 tattoos and a liberal arts degree.
The product wasn’t really the coffee. It was the murals, the hippie vibe, the Joni Mitchell CD playing there. You had the Apple thing going for you - style and a fanatical fan base that would pay $4 for a small cup of coffee (or a grande or mogabambo or whatever you call it).
Now it seems you’re just a coffee manufacturer. Let’s get into homes. Let’s compete against McDonalds. I’ve been hearing about the “$1 cup of coffee” for a while now. That would be a mistake. Your brand isn’t designed to be the cheapest - it’s designed to be the best experience. In your race to the bottom, you’re going to lose the essence of what makes your brand desirable!
My advice - close about half of your stores (it’s unsustainable and makes your experience too common). Remix your store design and appoint a team of cool people to choose more awesomer music to pipe in. Encourage store owners to do more community-based events like concerts, poetry, book clubs, etc. Then raise prices to $5 per cup and find ways to discourage un-cool people from ever darkening the door.
You’re welome