Seamless or seamful design
How microboundaries and design frictions can be valuable
Majority of the work in interaction and user experience design strives to make our technological experiences as effortless as possible. Most of the time, this is an attempt to increase engagement and the time spent actively using a product or service. As a result, good interaction design is often equated to ease of use. But, surely there are times when a little friction can be good, right? Perhaps it might stop us from buying things we don’t need. Or, spend less time clicking our way across the internet (especially, when we don’t intend to).
Thoughtful Use of Seams
There’s a great paper titled “Design Frictions for Mindful Interactions: The Case for MicroBoundaries” from University College London’s Interaction Centre that looks at this idea of friction. It highlights the following three key ideas:
- Microboundaries: The paper defines this as “small obstacles prior to an interaction that prevents us from rushing from one context to another”. These moments of friction cause the user to reflect on their actions. In doing so, there is a shift from mindless, automatic interaction (System 1) to more mindful, considerate interaction (System 2).
- Value-alignment: By slowing us down (even for a fraction of a second), microboundaries give us the opportunity to reflect and allow us to better align our actions with us values and intentions.
- Meaningful engagement: By prompting us to take a more thoughtful approach to how we engage with a product or service, the paper argues that we are able to “transition to mental states where (we) experience deeper levels of involvement” or “flow”.
Examples of Microboundaries, Or Lack Thereof
Facebook News Feed
Scrolling through news feeds have never been easier. With decent wifi connectivity, you don’t even have to wait for posts to load. With no friction, Facebook allows you to scroll endlessly through your news feed with infinite scroll.
How many times have you caught yourself aimlessly scrolling through this screen? I wonder how long it takes for someone to realize they’re not really paying attention. Without any microboundaries, there’s nothing her to nudge us to become aware of our actions.
Amazon 1-Click
Amazon’s 1-Click button removes the hassle of going through checkout, selecting your address and card, and mostly importantly, verifying your purchase. Sure, it shaves 5 seconds off your purchase time, but those 5 seconds could’ve prompted you to realize that you didn’t really need that extra Alexa for the bathroom.
Netflix AutoPlay
You’ve just finished an episode of Parks and Recreation on Netflix. There are a few errands you want to run, but you pick up your phone to reply to a text before getting to the errands. When you’re done, you look up. The next episode is playing. You continue watching… what errands?
Remember Me / Auto-login
Auto-login vs having to type out your username and password every time you use an application… it’s a no-brainer right? It’s a pain to re-type this information over and over again, especially if it’s a platform you use multiple times a day. However, it is amazing how much the simple act of logging in can deter you from using an application. If you had to login every single time you used Facebook, I bet that you would use it a lot less frequently.
Reflection & Questions
Obviously, we don’t want everything we do to be filled with moments of friction–that could simply lead to more frustration and stress. The question here is how carefully introduced moments of friction remove the unwanted distractions?
Looking at some of the examples above, it becomes clear that our behavior is designed to align with the values of company’s that create the products. What might they look like if they were designed to align with our own values instead? Can they be designed to align with both customer and company values?
I’m sure each of us would respond differently to microboundaries; some might work better for certain people but not others. What is the appropriate level of customization required to make microboundaries useful for users?
Bibliography
[1] Design Frictions for Mindful Interactions: The Case for Microboundaries by Cox et al.
