How Owning a Cat Can Make Us Better UX Designers

Anyone who’s been savagely scratched, had valuable things needlessly knocked over, or had an assortment of (sometimes alive) tokens of gratitude left at their feet, knows that being a cat owner is no easy business. That being said, forming a bond with a cat can teach you a lot of things–unconditional love and companionship for one–but it can also translate into valuable skills necessary to navigate the world of User Experience Design. Here are 3 things owning a cat can teach you about UX design:

(Cat)ching Cues

Don Norman, who coined the now-omnipresent term “user experience”, once said “Good design is also an act of communication between the designer and the user”. Seems easy enough, considering every living organism on this planet communicates in one form or another. For example, we tell our cats when we’re happy or sad through our scent. The problem is, unlike cats, we don’t have 200 million odor sensors to know what our feline friends are feeling (AKA a comeownication barrier). We rely on cues like their slow blinking to know they love and trust us (even if they may not show it 90% of the time). Similarly, we can’t rely on our users to explicitly tell us what problems they’re facing and how to best solve them. By simply asking, chances are we’d end up with cosmetic solutions that don’t address key needs. As UX designers, we must read between the lines to identify problems and design high-impact solutions to address them.

For my first project at Wayfair as a product design co-op, I redesigned the fabric samples ordering experience for upholstery shoppers. To understand whether the redesign was matching customer expectations, I planned to ask the following usability test question:

Click on the ‘free samples’ link.

Is this what you expected to see? Why or why not?

After sharing the user test script with my manager for feedback, I was advised to instead try:

Without clicking on it, what would you expect to see if you clicked on the ‘free samples’ link?

With this change, the question became less of a tool to lead the answer in favor of the design, and more of a way to gauge whether expectations were being matched, without asking explicitly.

Cats tend to be especially unpredictable, so if you’re able to foresee an attack moments after being rubbed against affectionately–Congratulations! You’d make a great UX Designer.

Respawcting Boundaries

While some cats are more outgoing and always ready to mingle, others like to have their purrsonal space. Most cat owners know that the key to a healthy cat-human relationship is to understand and respect their boundaries, which leads to mutual feelings of trust, security, and comfort.

People pretty much function the same way. As UX designers, empathizing with our users is the indispensable ingredient to designing a successful product. However, when empathy is used to manipulate people into experiences that aren’t in their best interest and only serve the business, it becomes an unethical invasion of boundaries, creating distrust between the user and the organization.

During my co-op at Wayfair, I took part in the DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) collective where I learned about dark patterns. The term ‘dark patterns’, coined in 2010 by Harry Brignull, is used to describe deceiving interactions intended to coerce users into completing actions they don’t want to do, or in some cases, don’t know they’re doing.

Here are 3 examples of dark patterns that are common in the world of e-commerce:

1. Sneak into basket: Surprise items that pop up in your cart before checkout
2. Confirmshaming: When the option to decline an offer is worded in a way that incites guilt (Ex. No thanks, I don’t want to save money)
3. Forced continuity: When the trial period ends but the company doesn’t give you a warning, making it difficult to cancel the subscription

In an age where consumers are not only assessing brands by their products and price, but also their company values and what they stand for, building an experience that fosters trust and reliability is not just important for users, but for the business as well.

Comparably, any cat owner who has (albeit unintentionally) invaded a cat’s boundaries can attest to the fact that it almost never ends well.

Consistency and Uniform-kitty

Cats are creatures of habit. A consistent routine and steady environment keeps their anxiety levels low. When their routine is broken they can be left stressed and disoriented. This behavior is *especially* evident in cats who know when meal time is.

By default, humans too are drawn to consistency. With consistency across designs, people can focus on the task at hand, rather than learning how to do it differently each time. That being said, consistency might sometimes be a barrier to positive change and innovation.

During my co-op, I worked on the Best in Class: Furniture team, to ensure our web and app experiences serve as the best place to buy all furniture on the catalog. This involved being mindful of the fact that shopping for a mattress is a very different experience from shopping for wall decor, for instance. In the case of mattresses, shoppers tend to worry more about its functional qualities rather than its aesthetic qualities, which is not the case with fashion classes such as wall decor. With these nuances in mind, situations may arise where solutions for a specific class problem cause inconsistencies across broader classes.

At times like this, it was important to consider the potential repercussions of the inconsistency. For example, if people are used to clicking out of an experience from the left of a modal, moving the dismiss button to the right could create confusion and frustration for users. On the other hand, if the dismiss button is moved to account for a feature that solves a key need, it is also beneficial to weigh-in the value said feature offers to the user.

Another crucial consideration is scalability. Could implementing this change across other classes solve a key problem on a broader scale, or create problems?

Navigating a change in routine with a cat, when moving houses for instance, can help us better understand the correct course of action. It involves a great deal of empathy, and the ability to move back if your cat doesn’t like it (just kitten).

So, in conclawsion, be extra grateful for your furry little friend and everything they do to help you navigate user behaviors, frustrations, and motivations. And remember–just as evolving user needs constantly need to be met–that litter box isn’t going to clean itself!

P.S. Here’s my little pawduct designer.

About Wayfair’s Global Experience Design Entry-Level Programs:

Wayfair offers a variety of programs across the company that enable students and recent graduates to gain valuable industry experience.

The Global Experience Design Community offers three entry-level programs: the GXD Apprentice Program, the GXD Co-op Program, and the GXD Internship program.

Co-ops, or cooperative education, are a structured method of combining classroom-based education with practical work experience and provide academic credit for structured job experience. Co-ops give students the opportunity to apply classroom knowledge in a work environment for a sustained period of time. In the GXD Community, co-ops may be placed across all teams, serving all end-users. They’re hired for each of the three Wayfair XD (Experience Design) disciplines: content strategy, product design and research. The program runs for 6 months starting in January and June.

To apply, open roles are posted on Wayfair Careers in February and September.

Learn more about Wayfair’s student-centered programs here: in the US and Europe.