Embracing the Invisible: Enhancing User Experience Through ‘No Interface’ Design
Imagine a world where your interaction with technology is so natural, you barely notice it’s there. This is the essence of ‘No Interface’ design — a realm where the best interface is, quite literally, no interface at all. Golden Krishna, a Senior UX Designer at Google, captivated us with this concept in his book, The Best Interface is No Interface. In The Verge, he highlighted the absurdity of a 13-step process just to unlock a car door via an app, exposing a glaring UX design misstep that neglected the user’s fundamental aim: simplicity and efficiency.
As UX designers, we’re trained to empathize with users, to delve deep into their journeys and the tasks they wish to accomplish, using these insights to shape our designs. What if, instead of always creating something new, we considered how to deliver value by meeting people where they already are?
‘No Interface’ design doesn’t just ask us to strip away the superfluous — it urges us to address genuine user needs without resorting to additional features, functions, or screens that may ultimately serve no purpose. Imagine a world where your interaction with technology is so natural, you barely notice it’s there.
The concept is grounded in practicality. In a world increasingly aware of screen time and growing accustomed to AI chatbots that assist and perform tasks within familiar platforms like social networks (Meta AI) and search engines (Bard and Copilot), we must ask:
when do users genuinely need — and are they willing to use — another app?
While discussions around ‘No UI’ often gravitate towards connected devices or voice-only interfaces, our team explored a different aspect: optimizing existing interfaces that users are already familiar with. This approach, while not strictly ‘Zero UI’, shares its core tenets. We aimed to seamlessly integrate user experiences into the fabric of daily life, negating the need for additional app downloads.
The following example demonstrates how our team applied No UI design principles to enhance the user experience for digital patient education for individuals with chronic kidney disease (CKD). By embracing No Interface principles, we enabled patients to receive tailored education, empowering them to make proactive decisions about their treatment options.
Engaging Users in Familiar Spaces
Most patient education programs today fall into the following categories: a program delivered in-clinic; an app with educational content (such as articles, videos, activities); live or recorded human-led education sessions; or educational websites. For individuals diagnosed with chronic conditions, such as CKD, the influx of new information and lifestyle adjustments can be daunting. To address this, we embarked on a journey towards ‘no interface’ design, opting to deliver engaging, personalized educational content through channels that are already woven into the fabric of patients’ daily lives: SMS and email.
Don Norman, visionary in the field of user experience design, once said:
The real problem with the interface is that it is an interface. Interfaces get in the way. I don’t want to focus my energies on an interface. I want to focus on the job…I don’t want to think of myself as using a computer, I want to think of myself as doing my job.
This sentiment underscored our goal to streamline the user’s task to absorb and utilize relevant information about their condition and lifestyle changes, without the distraction or being encumbered by unnecessary actions, and a complex system.
Design Decision:
We incorporated principles of ‘No UI’ in the way a participant enrolls in our program; receives program elements, and participates in the program as a whole.
To dig deeper into the terminology we use to define our product: Our product includes a program and program elements.
Our program is human-led, digital education for those with advanced CKD (stage 3–5). Education is crucial for patients with CKD not only to learn about what they can do to slow the progress of their disease, but it’s also essential for patients to be able to make timely treatment decisions with their doctor that take into account their lifestyle, values, preferences, and life goals.
Whereas, program elements are each piece of the personalized curriculum a participant receives. Our curriculum covers a vast range of topics, including core elements that cover Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) mandated education (essential for every patient) and interest elements (nutrition, caregiver involvement, and behavioral change support that vary in applicability across patients). Both core, and interest elements are personalized for patients as they’re delivered in a conversational manner.
The curriculum consists of interactive videos (combining content created using VideoAsk and movie-studio produced educational videos), and activities (surveys, reflection exercises, etc). While inherently screen-based, the delivery of these program elements eschews traditional logins or platform access, embodying “No UI” principles.
We implement a system where our ‘interface’ is a dialogue between a program participant, and their guide. Instead of someone receiving education via an app, or website, it’s delivered through a conversation with a human guide who dynamically shapes a program participant’s experience.
Participants access and receive the program through timely, relevant messages via their preferred mode of communication — SMS or email. The messages, dispatched from a personal guide, offer direct links to video, content, and interactive exercises, eliminating any superfluous steps.
Impact:
Reducing Friction
By leveraging SMS and email, we’ve significantly reduced user experience friction.The alternative — acclimating to a new app and its interface — would impose an unnecessary cognitive load. Our approach relies on intuitive methods of communication that are already second nature to our users, enhancing accessibility and diminishing frustration. This integration into daily habits means that engaging with our educational content becomes a seamless part of patients’ routine interactions with their devices.
Accelerating value realization
The ‘no interface’ strategy also accelerates the value participants derive from our program. Enrollment is a simple two-step process:
- Participants click on a personalized link leading to a video questionnaire, where they meet their guide and share information that shapes their personalized educational path.
- They then immediately receive their first message with tailored content via their chosen communication medium, kickstarting their educational journey.
This approach allows users to quickly experience feedback on their provided information, fulfilling the program’s promise of delivering personalized and relevant content.
Overcoming Login Barriers
Opting for SMS and email circumvents common login obstacles such as password management. Recognizing the frustration that can arise from password creation, memory, and entry — especially for older adults or those with limited technology access — we use participants’ phone numbers or email addresses as unique identifiers. This method simplifies engagement, reduces the cognitive load, and broadens the reach of our program, reflecting our dedication to inclusivity and user-friendliness.
Overall, our decision to use SMS and email to deliver our educational program ensures that participants can readily incorporate learning into their daily lives.
Human-driven Patient Education in a Conversational Format
Traditional patient education often hinges on in-person or remote live classes, or it leans towards static materials like websites or worksheets. However, with a chronic condition, such as CKD, patients often face the dilemma of prioritizing information, seeking clarifications, and communicating what they’re learning to caregivers or family members who need to understand their needs.
Factors such as fear, denial, and the overwhelming amount of information are also common obstacles that prevent patients from being fully equipped with the knowledge they need to navigate their condition.
Design Decision:
Our strategy equips each participant with a personal guide, assisted by AI technology. For a patient, every aspect of the program is facilitated by their guide. Their guide tailors their educational content, and is their contact to receive the program on SMS and email.
A participant’s guide is not only a resource of learning, but through their interactions with participants exude empathy, offer reassurance, and build confidence. Through their messages, they help turn a learning experience that could be potentially anxiety-inducing into one that’s more approachable. The design manifests as a two-way conversation between the program participant and their guide, effectively demystifying complex material through a personalized learning program.
While it may seem like removing the UI would simplify the user experience, it’s actually made it more complex. Instead of relying on buttons and design patterns, we’re tapping into prehistorically wired connections in the brain related to behavioral science and human relationships. Facial cues, body language, voice, and genuine reactions from another individual are all part of a system that establishes emotionally-activating rapport.
Interestingly, it was found that when an AI avatar’s voice was improved to be indistinguishable from a human’s, people were quicker to identify and more aware that the avatar was not human. We are uneasy and non-receptive in the ‘uncanny valley’ where we receive cues that we perceive as less than human. The implication for design is that careful thought should be given to how guides can foster the right environment for learning and cultivate trust and understanding. Everything from the language used and images (including emojis) in messages to the disclosure of personal information (e.g. what is the guide most interested in? Where do they live?) can be used to develop strong personal bonds.
Impact:
The presence of a human guide
Utilizing a human AI-assisted guide, instead of using a chatbot, was instrumental in establishing trusting relationships with patients that led to the optimal emotional environment for learning.
Patients facing a new diagnosis of CKD often encounter emotional hurdles as they navigate the need to adapt to new modes of self-care and make treatment decisions that will shape their lives. Recognizing that emotions play a crucial role in the learning process, it becomes paramount to establish the right emotional atmosphere to facilitate effective learning. It is well-established that emotions drive attention and memory; individuals who feel confident and secure are more likely to actively process information, while anxiety hinders attention and retention. Robert Greene underscored this on the Huberman Lab podcast, saying:
When you’re emotionally engaged in a subject the brain learns twice, three times, four times as fast as when you’re not.
Human guides forge a personal rapport with patients, infusing empathy and comfort throughout the educational journey. They employ various strategies to keep patients engaged and motivated, such as generating emotionally resonant, unexpected moments. Given the complexity of CKD and the gravity of the subject matter, these moments are pivotal to successful learning experiences.
Examples of such strategies include sharing relatable anecdotes from other patients, incorporating humor, and personalizing communication through video messages. Human guides also provide tailored resources that extend beyond the standard curriculum. For instance, if a participant expresses that they like a particular cuisine, they may receive a kidney-friendly recipe, or they might receive guidance on how to have a meaningful discussion with a family member — all based on their unique preferences and needs.
Conversational, two-way dialogue
Two-way communication is central to delivering our educational program, and is the vehicle for guides to compile insights necessary to personalizing a patient’s program to their needs and interests. Importantly, this dialogue also gives patients authority over their learning path. It’s a patient who has a choice over what they want in their learning journey to focus on — sharing their interests, offering feedback, and voicing their content preferences.
Conversational interactions also enable ‘microlearning’: improving knowledge and retention of information by breaking it down into manageable chunks. By delivering our program directly through a participant’s SMS or email, we are able to seamlessly integrate learning into their everyday routines. Small, bite-sized chunks of information reduce the cognitive load of engaging with program curriculum, or communicating with their guide.
Dialogue is a powerful method for creating engaging and surprising experiences. In a back-and-forth conversation, we can deploy tools like customized videos, and encouraging messages — ultimately, creating a feedback loop where the information a participant shares is used to build messages that are interesting, relevant, and timely.
Our ‘no interface’ philosophy goes beyond design; it’s our pledge to humanize digital interactions. Each engagement is crafted to mimic a genuine conversation with a trusted friend.
Anticipatory Design for Proactive User Assistance
The concept of a ‘no-interface’ approach extends beyond simply minimizing visual interfaces — it’s about crafting experiences that emerge intuitively. At the heart of this approach lies anticipatory design, a method that proactively assists users based on their real-time behavior.
Aaron Shapiro first defined this concept, which focuses on using behavioral data to predict users’ needs before they request assistance. It expands on traditional app metrics, delving into each user’s journey’s subtleties to deliver support that is both personalized and timely. As Miklos Philips puts it, “It’s output, without much need for input. It’s about leveraging past choices to predict future decisions.”
In the context of chronic kidney disease, several studies demonstrate that patients often feel unprepared to make treatment decisions and may not be well-informed about their options. Consequently, there is a crucial need to proactively address patients’ knowledge gaps and empower them to make informed decisions with confidence.
Design decision:
Our objective was to anticipate user needs by examining various behavioral indicators. For example, if users had an upcoming appointment with their nephrologist, we aimed to ensure they were prepared to discuss relevant topics. We evaluated their preferred timing for completing lessons and monitored their responsiveness to messages — examining whether they had inquiries or reasons for abandoning a lesson. We also proactively engaged patients with content, support and activities based on their real-time behavior within the program.
Impact:
The results were compelling: 89% of program participants who started the program either completed it, or were actively engaged with their education during its pilot.
We achieved this by moving beyond merely tracking user engagement with our content. Instead, we focused on the user journey and gained insights as participants progressed through our educational program. The data we used to customize and personalize an individual’s program was inherent within the program itself. We examined factors such as hesitancy, anxiety, and knowledge of how lifestyle and values might affect treatment decisions. These check-ins and questions were embedded in the engaging videos and activities throughout the program. Understanding how someone progresses through the curriculum enables us to offer support and address issues before they fully emerge.
For example, consider a user who initially chooses home dialysis as their treatment but rates their confidence in this decision as a 1 on a scale of 1 to 10. This low score implies the patient lacks confidence in their treatment choice and may benefit from interventions different from those who are confident in their decision. Recognizing these nuances as users advance through the curriculum allows us to tailor interventions more effectively. If we detected uncertainty around a concept, we could preemptively offer clarification before confusion solidified.
In the realm of ‘no-interface’ design, each detail reflects a deep understanding of the user’s journey, weaving a narrative of empowerment, proactive support, and anticipatory guidance. It’s a narrative that redefines the user experience as a dynamic, responsive partnership between technology and its users.
Takeaways
Exploring beyond the realm of apps and engaging users in their daily lives forms the very essence of impact-driven design. It reminds me of designer Joe Sparano’s eloquent assertion that “Good Design is Obvious, Great Design is Transparent.” It’s akin to an automatic door, eliminating the need to manually open it, thereby addressing the design flaws noted by visionary Don Norman in his critique of Norman Doors.
By shifting our focus from screens to people, we’ve managed to create a fluid experience where support, preparation, and information are readily available to patients within their daily routines. This approach is particularly useful for patients suffering from chronic conditions such as CKD, who often struggle with making prompt health decisions due to limited appointment times. Here, we can truly influence health outcomes in a significant way.
Our approach has transformed content delivery from a transactional process to a dialogue that mirrors human conversation. By eliminating passwords and logins, we not only streamline the user experience but also build a bridge that connects various demographics to indispensable knowledge effortlessly. Anticipatory design, unhindered by traditional metrics, propels our initiative beyond mere responsiveness, allowing it to predict and cater to user needs before they manifest.
The use of an invisible interface reduces the cognitive load that visible interfaces often impose, enabling us to better assist users in problem-solving and task completion. As we navigate this path, our aim isn’t merely to design for visibility, but to craft experiences that resonate, surprise, and delight. We envision a future where design is experienced before it’s observed, and where invisibility is the bedrock of superior user experiences. These tools empower us to devise solutions centered around users’ needs, objectives, and behaviors, epitomizing the essence of human-centered design.
That’s all! You can follow what I’m up to on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessicadorazio/. Has thinking ‘beyond the screen’ impacted your design decisions? I’d love to hear about it in the comments below 👇.
