How to make your users happy :)

This is a post based on my presentation at Swipe Summit 2016 “Tips for designing outstanding mobile customer experiences”, or as I would say “How to make your users happy”.

1. Grab a pencil.

Whatever stage in the process you’re at, idea formation, a redesign, or adding a new feature etc. go back to the drawing board. Start with a pencil not a spreadsheet. Step away from the computer to give yourself time to let the problem you’re trying to solve sink in. It seems that once we leave primary school we feel like we’re not qualified to use a pencil any more. Sketching ideas out should never be a masterpiece, simple shapes, lines and text will do. If it is a masterpiece this defeats the very purpose of the process. The ideas and solutions are there, they just need to be given permission to make an appearance. What’s possible now? What if there were no limits? These are important questions. Yes work with the boundaries of the brief but also consider what could make it better without the limitations of technology, budget, time etc

2. Simplify.

Making things simple is much harder than making things complicated. You’re doing the thinking before the products hits the shelf so the user doesn’t have to. Remember, lots of choice is not a good decision on mobile, we need to aim to avoid the cognitive overload and aim to remove any possible friction.

The first place we often see this is in the first ever use of an app. It’s log in / sign up. it’s a door slam. It’s damaging to a brand experience to force me into physical and mental effort at the very first interaction with your app. It takes away from the primary focus of your product. We often we mistake things we can do, for things we should do. This obsession we have with wanting peoples email addresses and creating accounts needs to stop. We need to allow people to become donors of their information, not a prisoner of it. I’m a much more valuable lead if I have decided myself that I want to contact you or sign up to your service after I’ve been given the opportunity to use your app. Rather than being forced to provide any email address just to take a look around your app.

Not all products are simple. If something is complicated break it down into small steps. What is the preferred action? Don’t give me too many options. Mobile users want to accomplish tasks with minimal interactions with an app. Discard everything else. Discard anything that is not crucial to completing the task. We have a history of breaking things down, and we’ve passed that into apps that have a direct relationship with these habits such as maps/direction and recipes. However we do find it hard to break down new processes into simple steps. We also bring bad habits into digital design, such as poorly designed instructions. Your brand is at risk of shutting people out by pure frustration if something is more complicated than they have expected or if it’s not explained in a clear fashion.

3. Fit in, Stand out.

What does this mean? Be platform savvy.

The digital landscape changes so often that if you want the world to use your product, you have to create a product that the world and its different types of users knows how to use. Different platforms, iOS/Android have different conventions and they should be respected. Know what makes each OS special, it’s features, it’s frustration, it’s users. It’s important to use interactions that are in a users every day interactive language on their chosen platform. REMEMBER what’s familiar puts people at ease. Especially if it’s a product where I have to part with money.

You don’t always want to go out of your way to be different, but if you want users to perceive you as a leader, every once in a while you’ll need to take that leap. This can mean leaving a feature out or spending a little more time/effort/money to make something not the default, to make it really special. This can mean not catering for every type of user, and focusing one one type of user and one task. App with a narrow focus are often the most successful.

4. Make it gorgeous.

People have high standards, they pay a lot of money for smart devices so we as designers/developers/product managers (whatever your role) and beyond shouldn’t allow anything that takes away from the quality of these devices and what users expect.

Focus on :

• Comfortable & Clean Typography — this gives your text based content the best chance of being consumed with ease.
• Clear Content Hierarchy: Not everything on the screen is as important as the other. This should be obvious.
• Clear Call to action: What is the preferred action? What do I do next? This should be obvious without being overbearing.
• Pixel perfection: A pixelated graphic or photo, misaligned text just won’t cut it. It’s distracting and damages a users perception of quality.

5. Errors & interruptions need attention too.

Lets face it — errors happen, networks go down, wifi wobbles, servers are sometimes inaccessible.

What’s important to remember here is that poor quality communications damage the user experience. And it’s often the thing that’s left till last in the design and development stages. It’s important to display something meaningful when an error occurs. Sometimes it’s user error so you can describe to the user how to fix it, and other times the user needs to know they haven’t done anything wrong, and not to panic.

Push notifications are interruptions. They are annoying. Don’t presume a user will give permission for push just because you’ve popped an alert up. Notifications are abused so often that people don’t want them anymore. Ask for them at the right time, explain why the app needs them & only if they add value to your users experience.

6. Stop reminding me.

Reminders suck. Adding reminders is often just a lazy attempt to engage users.

We need to stop trying to automise peoples lives. The only thing reminders do is remind us that we are time poor. If I as a person am not in the right frame of mind to use your app, a reminder is not going to change that. But if your app works well, and I know that I can achieve my goal or task using it, then I will know when is the right time to use it. It’s up to you to make products that we spend minimal amount of time using to achieve our goals so that when the time is right it’s your app that will be used in the right circumstances.

Remember there are dedicated reminder apps already installed on most devices, your app probably doesn’t need it’s own reminder function.

7. Engagement is a dirty word.

Advances in technology should mean we’re spending less time “engaged” in technology, not more.

Aim to make a product (if task based) that engages users for short periods of time. Enagagent can be misleading. Time spent using your product doesn’t always reflect the time a user wants to spend using your app. Let me complete my task and get back to my life. To me as a user that makes me like your brand more. Paying my electricity bill isn’t the task I’ve been looking forward to doing all day. But if you make it painless, I as a user appreciate that. Make your products, valuable, useful, and delightful.

8. Surprise & Delight me.

If you provide a thoughtful experience users will thank you for it. Aim to fulfil a need, and allow the user to enjoy the experience. This is what keeps users coming back and reinforces a good brand experience. Life is crowded and over complicated. Do not make your product add to this.

9. Design for more than touch.

Design for feelings and responses. Build a bridge between the physical, the digital and the emotional and try to make it seamless. Take the stress away from situations that are already stressful. Design for moments. Big & small. Feel is not the same as touch. When we talk about look & feel, the “feel” part is often overlooked. When a user feels a connection with a product or brand it increases adoption rates and brand loyalty. Saying “Hello, Orla” is not personal. Aim to have the user think or say “Oh that was easy”. Maybe it has no noticeable impact. Maybe it didn’t change my life, but I’m satisfied. This can be enough. If it makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside then all the better.

10. A digital product needs a health plan and a beautician.

We’ve all heard the phrases like “good design lasts forever”. This is true for certain mediums, but doesn’t always apply to digital. The landscape changes so often, that it’s rarely a one-time thing to build/design an app or a digital product. Not only do operating systems effect design, users expectations are set for digital products to keep up with the latest trends. To fit in with other recently released or updated products. People aren’t just happy with how it works. It should feel right too. This is kind of scary for small companies. But it doesn’t have to be. How to keep up? Continuously. Someone needs to be responsible for getting ready major releases . Small updates overtime makes the transition easier for users and more cost effective for businesses.

Remember when Facebook used to do their big updates? News feeds far and wide would be filled up with statements like “oh I hate the new timeline. Now: they update about every 2 weeks or so. The point being that we don’t see as many complaints popping up because making small changes over time is much easier to swallow. Small businesses don’t have to release updates as often as Facebook, but they should be aware that with OS updates there’s possibility of adding friction in places they may not expect it. Digital design is a living breathing product it just needs to be cared for.