Design conversations — not interfaces
When we hear web-design we see pixels and wireframes and buttons and pretty fonts.
But all those elements exist because of the one main reason: to talk to you.
Colours, fonts, spacings, copy, forms, buttons, interactions, images, animations and sounds add up to a complete set of communication tools.
That means we are having conversations with interfaces all the time. Some of them are asking us questions like: “what’s your password?” or “are you sure you want to delete this?” and some interfaces just quietly wait for our order.
So if this is true we could translate those elements into words and get meaningful conversations?
Let’s see.
I took screenshots of the booking process on Airbnb and reverse-engineered their elements to see what they are telling us on each step.
airbnb:
Hi,
You can book unique experiences and homes in 191+ countries. Just tell me where and when do you want to go.
And don’t forget to let me know how many guests will be traveling with you.
me:
Hey,
We wish to visit Gran Canaria in about 2 weeks. There’s 5 of us.
airbnb:
Cool. There’s 205 rentals that meet your criteria!
Just a few more questions so we can find a perfect house for you.
Do you have a budget? Average price for Gran Canaria is arround 55$/night. Also, we can offer you the entire home, private room, or shared room.
me:
We are willing to pay around $300/night, just make sure it’s worth it! And since there are 5 of us please show me only houses.
airbnb:
Ok here’s what I found;
There’s a cool bBungalow with 4 beds for 6 people. Really close to the beach. It’s $208/night and two people left a review. Let me know if you wish to read those.
And there’s a Villa, 3 beds, a bit more $$ but bigger rooms and your own pool. That one is $263 and has 1 review.
me:
Gimme the Villa!
airbnb:
Booked!
This conversation went smoothly, right?
That’s because someone designed the questions
and prepared good, clear, relevant and consistent answers.
This is also a great tool for designing the first user flows for your new app/website/anything. Start by writing down your product as a conversation.
You might find out that users are facing 12 questions at the same time while getting no “thank you” after answering them. This would be awkward in a real-life situation..
And It’s no different on the web.
