The importance of humanising design!
“Hey Alexa! Please play my favourite playlist”
How often have we all heard this phrase? Pretty often, right? Smart assistants like Alexa, Siri and Google have taken over our homes & lives in the 21st century, and for good reason. Right from playing our favourite music to answering questions to being philosophical, smart assistants have come a long way since their inception. My 4-year-old niece thinks of Alexa as a family member, so it’s only fair to acknowledge the tremendous impact and role they will play in our life in the near future.
Time and again, great companies (read Google, Apple, Amazon etc) are increasingly emphasising on humanising their product. In today’s world, where access to top technologies from all over has become extremely easy for everyone, technology can no longer be the only differentiator for top companies. It’s time for products to evolve from providing just utility to users, to being an extension of the user themselves.
Users love using a product that elicits positive emotional response consistently. As social beings, we thrive when we can foster relationships with other people, but not so much with inanimate objects (a digital product, for instance). However, it’s not uncommon to see users forming a bond with objects, as soon as these objects start exhibiting personalities.
Anyone remember “Bagwati” from the cult movie Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara? To be honest, I did see ‘Bagwati’ as a person for a while during the movie.
The need of the hour?
In our day-to-day interaction, a lot of us tend to assign human attributes to technology. We may react socially to technology as if it were a human or make guesses about its intentions, such as “the computer is plotting against me.” Smart environments, being highly ubiquitous and continuously evolving, incorporate characteristics and a new interaction paradigm that might actively trigger such humanising characteristics. Therefore, new approaches in design are required to accommodate the holistic user interaction with smart environments, in ways which appreciate the human tendency to react to ‘human’ technology i.e. anthropomorphism*
For the uninitiated, anthropomorphism is a term to define animals or non-human characters imbued with human characteristics. Anthropomorphism is slightly different from personification, which is describing an object using human characteristics. Anthropomorphism is actually having the animal or object behave as if it is human.
Fun fact : The movie Cars, a CGI-animated film series and Disney media franchise released in 2006, was set in a world populated by anthropomorphic vehicles, created by the brilliant John Lasseter.
Human psychology in Design
Most of the UI / UX design rules emanate from human psychology. In fact, earlier UI / UX designers were trained in psychology. Psychology provides an understanding of how users think, which can be leveraged to design interfaces and experiences. 3–5 seconds is what the human mind takes to form an opinion.
“An experience for users that makes them feel like there’s a person, not a machine, at the other end of the connection” writes Aaron Walter in his book ‘Designing for Experiences’.
Great conversations happen when you know each other, when you are emotionally connected, and the language is common. The same human principles apply to designing websites or apps. The crux is to understand the user’s needs and then help him/her fulfil it.
The importance of emotion
As designers, we have always obsessed over our customer needs to be able to craft beautiful experiences. However, with a plethora of products and services available to us, it is a ruthless competition. In such a scenario, a product that merely gets the job done is not enough; it’s extremely imperative that we aren’t just empathetic to the user’s needs, but also towards their emotions and aspirations. Unless a product is desirable enough, it would be extremely hard for it to last.
A product can be desirable when it elicits enough positive emotional response so as to create a strong recall value.
Desirability = Usability + Utility + Strong Emotional Response
Emotional design can transform functional products into memorable and enduring experiences. This typically manifests through 4 facets:
- Emotion-Memory Link — Emotionally charged events persist in our memories beyond the product’s base functional value. We remember things that make us feel a certain way.
- Aesthetic-Usability Effect — Aesthetically pleasing experiences empower usability and increase the user’s willingness to learn and adapt.
- Persuasive Emotion (Gut Feeling) — If you are a reader of human psychology, you would know that there are two modes of thinking mind -Automatic and Reflective . Emotions are a form of automatic reactions, which act as a catalyst in our decision making capabilities. Accounting for emotions in your user’s interaction with your product at different stages will make them relate more to your product.
- Ownership Effect — Users place more value in experiences where they feel a sense of personalised ownership, as if the experience/product is an extension of themselves.
How do we augment ‘emotional impact’?
To create delightful experiences, designers must cultivate appropriate and positive emotions for each level (visceral, behavioural, and reflective). Here are some tips for cultivating that positivity:
- Personalisation and Customisation — Personalize the user experience so your users feel a sense of ownership. Allow users to tailor the experience as an extension and manifestation of themselves.
- Expressive Imagery — Use images, illustrations, and animations that your users can relate to. These visuals can demonstrate emotion and help your users empathise.
- Positive Surprise — Evoke positive emotional reactions by surprising your users with delight.
- Relatable Voice — Use a tone and voice that speaks to your users in a more human way. Express emotion, empathy, and encouragement through conversational UI.
- Humour — Laughing and glee are very strong positive emotions that alleviate fear and uncertainty, while evoking a sense of joy.
- Storytelling — Helps people understand the journey of the experience, frame their interactions, and recall their experiences even after using the product.
- Micro interactions — Subtle affordances and indicators make interfaces feel more alive and fun, which encourages interaction.
The World around us
To be honest, eliciting positive emotion by imbuing human qualities within a product is not new. In fact, if we look around us, it’s not uncommon to find subtle human touches across a variety of products and domains that makes the products enjoyable.
Below are a few very popular examples of “humanification” across various domains, which we can all relate to :
In Movies
If you have seen Big Hero 6 or Wall E, you would agree that it’s very easy to fall for the prime protagonists. The very fact that they were attributed with human qualities, made them so loveable and widely accepted on the screen.
In Brands
In the wake of technology taking away jobs once performed by people, the humanification of brands and products has become even more important. The recent trend in start-ups adopting human names — Oscar, Alfred, Warby Parker — and the use of mascots as logos, are just a couple of attempts to humanise industries that might otherwise feel alienating to people.
In Ads
If you are an automobile enthusiast like me, you probably know of MG Hector’s tagline “It’s a Human Thing”. The marketing was an intelligent campaign as a part of their venture into the Indian market. Roping in Benedict Cumberbatch (Yes yes, the one from Sherlock and Dr. Strange fame!) in their ads enabled them to establish a spontaneous connection with their customers.
So how does the shift happen?
This paradigm shift can seamlessly happen when we, as product owners, start looking at our users as more than just users. As we continue to evolve, so will the technology around us. We should craft user experiences in a way that the product starts becoming an extension of the user’s life, rather than just a tool to get things done.
Unless the products effectively communicate with us just as a person would, it would be hard for people to accept these as more than just a piece of tech. The very fact that we like conversing with Siri is due to the technology being so human. Imagine saying “Hey AI, what’s the weather like today?”. Doesn’t sound too convincing, right?
“Hey AI, what’s the weather like today?” Doesn’t sound convincing. Or does it?
Apple, the original human
As a matter of fact Apple, the brand that we all have come to love and adore, has been one of the frontrunners in this aspect. One of the greatest feats of Steve Jobs, that set him apart from other veterans, was the realisation that computers could be friendly. The original Macintosh could be considered a gold standard in terms of subtle emotional touches. Its clean, simple case was taller and narrower than most, and its screen was placed high in the frame to avoid what Jobs referred to as “The Cro-Magnon forehead.” If its well-proportioned face was designed to mirror a beaming child, then its disk drive, perfectly placed to the bottom right of the screen, was its smirking mouth. The base of the Macintosh even recedes to reveal a sturdy neck for its slightly reclined head. Not only was the Macintosh extremely capable of computing, it suddenly had a personality. It was shy, intelligent, funny and an instant hit.
What does the future hold?
With the advent of technology, we are seeing a boom in intelligent connected devices. The day is not far when devices will become smarter and more context aware. Imagine a scenario when Netflix understands your mood better, and starts suggesting you content which will elevate or complement your mood. Being cognisant of our moods and emotions, these products will foster better user activity, which in turn creates better data points within the devices for reference — creating an ever evolving loop of efficiency. This can very well be the onset of something, which could be termed as a “relationship”
The signs of this are already happening. Affective computing is a growing field that seeks to imbue electronic devices with emotional intelligence to allow them to respond to our feelings. Emotional information is interpreted via sensors that analyze a person’s physical state, taking special note of bodily changes that are associated with different emotions.
In case this piques your interest, the TED talk by Rosalind Pike, Founder & Director, Affective Computing, MIT would be a great place to start learning about affective computing.
How do we juxtapose Design with Humanity?
Customology’s co-founder, Mark James, has a single important piece of advice for brands — always ‘think like a customer’. It’s imperative that this type of thinking is instilled in every aspect of the customer experience (CX) design. Brands need an ‘outside-in’ lens/perspective. We have to remember the end users are humans; not consumers, not an audience — but real human beings, with real emotions. Designers should be considering customer interactions every step of the way (tsk tsk..CJM are you listening?) every touchpoint and the emotional impacts their digital solution will have on their customers.
“You’ve got to start with the customer experience and work backwards to the technology.” Steve Jobs.
Gain the customer’s trust
Not all customers are completely ready for a digital-only world. Some may need time to understand the benefits and risks, gaining their own confidence through the values they experience from technology. What’s important is that the customer trusts the brand. As much as being ethical about how we handle customer’s data, investing in gaining the customer’s trust is an equally important aspect of the entire customer experience.Just like data should be harvested for providing better customer experience and not manipulative for the brand’s gain, products should be less intimidating and more approachable.
Summary
Now that the truth has been spoken, there is no denying that we are all on a digital revolution journey — in some way, shape or form. While brands are investing heavily and putting pressure on themselves to be innovative in their digital solutions, it’s important that they don’t lose the human element along the way, as it is a core ingredient of customer loyalty. Customers are human (as if we don’t know yet )– and the majority of the time, we would like to know that behind all of the shiny technology, there is another human to help us when something goes wrong.
A humanised product is relatable, forgivable, and conversational. In the era of the internet, your reputation or notoriety can spread like wildfire. What we also need to remember is that the power of the internet is with the audience too; being as humane as possible and giving your consumer an intangible face to relate with is sure to take your products to great heights. Guaranteed!
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