Designing with Omotenashi
A path has been set to the re-imagining of what it means for humans to walk the digital landscape; to interact with a world once far removed, subsequently parallel to and now increasingly intertwined with what we know as reality.
Contemporary living shines light on the interesting dynamics at play in our complex relationship with technology; how it often complements and augments daily life to the extent that interacting with computers becomes synonymous with human-to-human interaction; this has led to the emergence of research fields including HCI (Human Computer Interaction), that are dedicated to the study and understanding of this relationship.
Ironically, computers whilst having been manifest from human ingenuity, reveal themselves nevertheless, to be rather complicated aliens whose manner of operation is often counter-intuitive to what we expect; their development over time it seems, drives them further and further away from our shared mental model of the world around us.
Not kept in check, this apparent disparity could eventually culminate in a complete divide of understanding between man and machine; somewhat reminiscent of a similar turn of events that is often played out in the vivid dreams of science fiction; Sketching the artificial intelligence of machines and our inability to understand them as bad news for the human race.
Thankfully, any imminence of an apocalypse brought on by the ever increasing capabilities of machines could for now, be mitigated by an equal increase in the level of sophistication of human-computer interfaces; perhaps well thought out UI’s have the potential to allow a better level of control over our expectations being met when interacting with computers of any kind.
A central role played by design thinking in human-machine relations has proven crucial in sowing closed whatever seams may part ways between user expectations and what they actually experience when visually interacting with the digital fabric of data.
An appetite for information
When observing our current affinity towards the usage of technology in our day to day affairs, it becomes apparent that UI (user interface) design has so far done a good job of bridging the communication gap between these data-crunching aliens and us, their hairy bi-pedal users.
Development over time it seems, has followed a path carved out in efforts to reduce the abstraction of the data universe into the more familiar elements of form, space and time. Elements that appear collectively as the Graphical User Interface (GUI).
GUIs have throughout the history of computers, featured in many different forms dictated by the technology limits of the time, however, with a new-found focus on user centric design, UX design and the study of HCI, intelligent systems and design considerations that are shaped more by user needs rather than technology capabilities have begun to take centre stage. This has enabled users to manipulate data at the fundamental level by interacting with shapes, colours and lines on a screen; the current milestone of UI design.
Fast forward to now and computers have gone mobile; we suddenly find our hands idle, wanting and without if a device isn’t sitting comfortably in them; we have grown so adept at using mobile technology in our daily lives that it has become a necessity. Parallel to this growth has been the extent of our appetite and length of our reach for information that we publish, consume and exchange on a regular basis. The volume at which this is taking place has brewed some varying levels of anxiety sprouting perhaps, from the sheer expenditure of our time that is often touted to be at the expense of ‘real life’ interactions; An ode to the dilemma of choice between our digital and ‘real’ selves.
It has therefore, never been more pertinent to design systems and interfaces that can keep up with, if not complement our increasingly busy, information permeated lives.
Time: a precious commodity
Users have grown short on time and attention, the result of data and stimuli prodding them from all directions. Various media take the lion’s share and other factors increment on this, which has made the limited time that users have in their pockets, a rather expensive commodity in the information market.
Inevitably tasks that render us torn with too many decisions to make, coupled with redundancies in the steps we must climb up in order to access what we want, result in a threshold that is perceived as too high to overcome. This is known in HCI circles as cognitive load. The more “cognitive barriers” there are to climb over, the heavier the cognitive load on the user.
A high cognitive load can result in the user abandoning the information channel they’re on, be it a website or app, and looking elsewhere for a lower cognitive barrier. Therefore, designing interfaces with an understanding of the relationship between these two psychological factors that greatly influence UX can allow us to get a foot ahead of the competition in a bid for user attention.
But how does one craft a wholly intuitive experience when designing a UI?
Amongst other things, when observing the behavioural pattern of users that are met with so called cognitive barriers, their tendency to seek out products or services that are easier to use could be understood as an instinctive or even emotional response to what is an otherwise mechanical process, by ‘easier’ we can assume the meaning to be less cognitive barriers to achieving the user’s intended goal along with creating a visceral path to reaching it.
Omotenashi and anticipatory design
All this talk of emotion and intuition begs the question; shouldn’t we then be designing with a genuine humanistic approach to user needs? In the same way we would prepare our homes in response to the hosting of important guests? With that notion in mind, it becomes apparent that designing an experience with the same consideration that goes into handling human-to-human customer service relations i.e. convenience, ease of access and pre-emptive catering for a user’s needs, we can elicit a positive emotional response from users of our products and services.
This acute awareness, anticipation and thus sublime catering to, of customer needs is known in Japanese as Omotenashi お持て成し.
Japanese design employs socio-cultural values in the crafting of their products and services to achieve brand loyalty and returning users both on and offline. Most interestingly, looking at how this translates on the web can offer some insights into the culture around Omotenashi in Japan; how social and psychological considerations that go into an amazing customer service can be applied to designing a sophisticated user experience.
Regarding our users as important guests goes a long way in ensuring solid brand trust and returning users, which is what everyone wants anyway, but more importantly wearing the empathic hat when designing anything, because it is after all, people that use these things we make.
Read more about Laura Busche’s anticipatory design and cognitive considerations in UX design:
http://www.smashingmagazine.com/2015/09/anticipatory-design/
https://uxmag.com/articles/cognition-the-intrinsic-user-experience
