I want to hold your hand
How The Beatles can help you design for better UX
Okay, I’m sure John and Paul weren’t thinking UX when they wrote the song, but it works well as a metaphor.
We’ve all done it at some point in our lives. It’s so simple. So easy. Yet, it’s something anyone can do to make someone’s life better.
At any stage in life, holding hands with someone has a powerful effect physically, mentally and emotionally. Let’s explore some scenarios of handholding.
Parent and new-born
This is the very first opportunity for someone new to the world to experience the magic of holding hands (unless you’re lucky enough to have another baby with you in your mum’s tummy).
I don’t have kids, so I can’t say with full confidence how it feels to hold your new-born child’s hand for the first time, but I think I’ve had a glimpse into what it must feel.
This is my first nephew and godson, Remy.
I can’t tell you what he felt (neither could he) when he first held my hand at the hospital, but I experienced unexpected emotions that I’ve never felt before. I was overcome with joy and love. This tiny human is so close to me by blood. I can only imagine that a parent feels this and much more but magnified by 523423553 units of love. If Remy could talk at the time, I’m sure he’d say that holding my hand made him feel safe and cared for.
Parent and child
There are many scenarios when a parent wants to hold a child’s hand. When approaching a crosswalk or navigating a crowded mall to name a couple. Again, I’m not a parent, but I did take a sixth-grade class on a field trip to the museum with no other chaperone help. I think I understand the feeling somewhat. A child might feel frightened and innately search for a hand or human contact, preferably that of a parent’s. Or perhaps a child knows the good feeling of holding their parent’s hand and wants to simply feel that again.
Child and child
At some point during childhood, we hold hands with anyone and everyone that isn’t scary. We don’t give a shit about what it might mean or what others might think. A child makes a new friend on the school playground and holds their hand. A parent tells a couple children to pose for a picture, and without saying a word, both children lock hands. There is science to this behavior, but I don’t have to properly cite it because this is Medium, and that’s dope.
Teenager and teenager
At some point (or the entire time) during our teenage years, we give too many fucks about everything. This applies to holding hands; we are very selective and concerned with what people think. Holding hands with someone is serious. It’s seen as okay for two girls who are BFFs to hold hands occasionally. It’s okay to hold your boyfriend or girlfriend’s hand. Holding hands is a big deal at this stage. It packs so much meaning and emotion. In this way, teenagers, unbeknownst to them, are the closest to understand the true power of holding hands. They just need to learn how to spread the love and not be so mean.
Adult and adult
Much like all things with adulthood, holding hands gets more complex contexts and added meanings. Holding a lover, partner, or spouse’s hand takes on a deeper, more mature meaning of love. Another emotion that elicits handholding is loss and grief. We hold the hand of a loved one that is ill in the hospital. When we can’t find the right words to comfort someone during a tough time, we reach for their hand.
“I thought this was an article about UX?”
By now, it’s probably clear where I’m going with all of this business of holding hands.
So what does this have to do with UX?
In every scenario explored above lies a powerful emotional connection that improved a person’s life in some way, to some degree. Holding someone’s hand made them feel safe, cared-for, loved, comforted. It made them feel trust, joy, and delight. You get the idea.
In many ways, as designers and UX practitioners, we need to design products that aim to hold our users’ hand. An interaction with a product should, as closely as possible, replicate the emotional connection of holding hands. After all, what feels more human than human-contact?
Another UX bit The Beatles got right in this song:
Oh please say to me
You’ll let me be your man
And please say to me
You’ll let me hold your hand
As designers, we can’t assume that our users will gladly offer or allow us to hold their hand. Thinking of users as the above-mentioned teenagers is useful. They know products can be a powerful resource to enhance one’s experience, but they are selective and careful. We need to make sure we understand the user’s life as best we can in order to know how we should hold their hand.
In a world where we’re as “connected” as we’ve ever been technologically, let us not substitute nor forget the power of holding hands.
Now, go find a stranger and hold their hand! It will improve their human experience; science and The Beatles guarantee it.
Just kidding; not a stranger. Make sure you get to know them a bit before holding their hand, remember?
To learn more about me or to see some of my work, check out my portfolio.
Cheers.
