"Making world a better place", "More Simple, the better the product is". You have probably heard this a million times. All designers believe that simplicity is important but what does it really mean to make something simple? Traditional wisdom says that simplicity is about less, removal and reduction of friction. But what simplicity is really about is comprehension and clarity of purpose.
Can we design such that people instantly understand what’s going on and make a confident decision about what to do next? Most of the time we think it means less, that by removing stuff we achieve simplicity. We think by keeping content above the fold we’re helping people focus, or by using bullets instead of paragraphs more people will read it, or by cutting text in half it becomes more clear. But simple doesn’t mean “less”. A better definition would be “just enough”. Simplicity has tricked us into thinking its about less. But it’s really about having just enough.
From a designer's perspective, an ideal product design process can vary depending on different factors. These are such as the UX project scope, the size of a company, budget, or deadlines — just to mention a few. In a good design, the business requirements meet user needs, which are satisfied within the feasible technical possibilities.
In order to capture that vision, a product designer should be in a position to answer some of these question to really achieve clarity:
- What Problem are we trying to solve?
Take enough time and clearly articulate the problem as concisely as possible. Clear articulation of trade-offs, clear articulation of hypotheses is extremely crucial during the process. Once you are able to do this, you have a lens through which you can answer the remaining questions, further clarifying your purpose and informing your strategy going forward.
- Whom are we solving the problem for?
To continually innovate and produce designs that hits dopamine rush in people, profit cannot be the #1 metric. Without a clear understanding of your target user base, you run the risk of building something that doesn’t meet or fit any expectations. Testing your product in a small user base is crucial in the beginning. For example: If you making an app that lets teenagers find a partner, test the app in a high school first before launching it nationally or globally.
- Where can we improve to avoid Product Decay?
Design is never release and forget. You release and renew so that it doesn't hit what is called as 'Product Decay'. Look at Twitter's Fleet feature for an example - it reached a level of saturation because twitter as platform does not lead itself as status sharing app, it is more like a global chatroom. The PM at Twitter must have thought of shipping the Fleet because that is a hit in Snapchat and Instagram, which are fundamentally a photo and micro-video sharing platforms. Twitter had to eventually stop it based on it's low usage and high dev maintenance.
- Are we applying right kind of Strategy specific to a Product?
For example, if you're working on a social app or apps for teenagers - you might think sexy gradients & graphics will make your app is cool and then people will use it. In reality, visual design has nearly zero impact on success.
Instead focus on:
· Layout
· Hierarchy (Spend time on building a clear information architecture)
· Feature discoverability (100% percent of Netflix users open IMDB or Rotten tomatoes to see the rating because there is no discoverability feature on Netflix based on rating)
· Seeding content
In the shortest time possible, do whatever you can to:
(1) Get users to the Aha Moment (i.e., "Oh that's what this app is for")
(2) Activated (e.g., reach minimum friend count or successfully find a partner to hang out)
In the ever-expanding startup world, those who value and apply UX from the start will be those at the head of the pack.
Keep designing and Iterating :)