Sometimes users prefer the less straightforward UX
blog.pwego.com
Sometimes users prefer the less straightforward UX
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Re: Sometimes users prefer the less straightforward UX
#2I hope you will still include the faster, more straightforward mode for those who want it. Otherwise this is another example of catering for the common denominator and giving techies the increased impression that all software is dumbed down for the masses.
Re: Sometimes users prefer the less straightforward UX
#3[deleted]
Re: Sometimes users prefer the less straightforward UX
#4I wonder how much of this is also people wanting to see value for money?
By this I mean regardless of how much work has to go into getting the information on screen, if it's just an information screen that does not allow much further interaction then the experience is finished after the first look. If you have to dig a little to find the information you are after, then the experience is extended which along with the feeling of discovery results in more satisfaction.
It's a problem I encounter when developing tools system support. I try for the simplest UI, but when presenting the tool inevitably get people asking how it took so long to develop something so simple?
Re: Sometimes users prefer the less straightforward UX
#5IMHO they’re taking the wrong lesson from this. Users don’t want complexity and they don’t want to hunt, but they desperately want not to waste time — they want some confidence that the action they’re about to take will further their goals. Showing an unordered list of unfamiliar names doesn’t further anyone’s goals, and it gives no confidence that further action will help, either.
Why keep scrolling if all the names are arbitrary? Why read one random trail report from one random person? No one has actual needs that are afforded by the original design. What’s the user story behind this? “As a sheep, I want to maximize my engagement with your application, in order to meet your KPIs?”
They write, “See, I'd made the information so readily available that it left the user no desire to dive deeper.” This is baloney. The first design presented no information at all; at best it presented a small amount of data, and data entirely abstract from any human use case.
The map design allows people to easily pay attention, on a familiar substrate, to things that are important to them. It gives users agency and confidence in the future.
You don’t need to present users with a puzzle or a journey, or to manipulate them at all. If they’re not using the UX surface you put in front of them it’s not working hard enough to show that it affords their goals. Get to know your users better, and quit falling in love with your own designs.
Re: Sometimes users prefer the less straightforward UX
#6The author of the app replaced a endless scrolling feed of snow condition reports for random locations sorted by date with a map of snow reports with the same information but more taps away. The insight was that users want more interactivity and discoverability but this is misplaced. The actual insight should have been that maps appeal to our spacial awareness more than names of places in random order.
Nobody cares about your “top picks” or “latest report”. When I look for a hiking trail I prefer to look for one pinned on a map instead of being curated on an endless scrolling list. Same goes for when I’m looking for a hotel in a city.
Re: Sometimes users prefer the less straightforward UX
#7IMHO they’re taking the wrong lesson from this. Users don’t want complexity and they don’t want to hunt, but they desperately want not to waste time — they want some confidence that the action they’re about to take will further their goals. Showing an unordered list of unfamiliar names doesn’t further anyone’s goals, and it gives no confidence that further action will help, either. Why keep scrolling if all the names…
I was about to make a similar comment. The author even states this at the end "user's prioritize trails close to them, so the best way to show that is with a map". --- The first UX was NOT the most efficient way to show the information but the second one was. Therefore, users do in fact want the most efficient UX. He was just wrong about what that was.
Re: Sometimes users prefer the less straightforward UX
#8IMHO they’re taking the wrong lesson from this. Users don’t want complexity and they don’t want to hunt, but they desperately want not to waste time — they want some confidence that the action they’re about to take will further their goals. Showing an unordered list of unfamiliar names doesn’t further anyone’s goals, and it gives no confidence that further action will help, either. Why keep scrolling if all the names…
Google has trained people that the top search results are all ads, and that you have to scroll past them to get to the good stuff. If you make a UI which replicates that, people will have the same assumption.
Or worse, you'll have some spammer posting "Fresh powder at Mt. Perfect" when it's bare ground with ice patches.
Re: Sometimes users prefer the less straightforward UX
#9TLDR: Despite the title, users don’t want a less straightforward UX, they want a UX that fits their needs and mental model. In addition, the UI should reflect the app’s conceptual model such that the user will intuitively learn it.
Re: Sometimes users prefer the less straightforward UX
#10IMHO they’re taking the wrong lesson from this. Users don’t want complexity and they don’t want to hunt, but they desperately want not to waste time — they want some confidence that the action they’re about to take will further their goals. Showing an unordered list of unfamiliar names doesn’t further anyone’s goals, and it gives no confidence that further action will help, either. Why keep scrolling if all the names…
I agree with this. The initial design presents trail names and a report with no context. I would immediately wonder what the list was..is this all trails within 30 minutes, 100 miles, or something else? Why is this trail sorted at the top...because it's the closest or the best, or most recently reported on? And why this particular report? Is it just the most recent, or the most upvoted? And those tags...is that the tags from this recent report, or the most popular tags from all reports, or ?
Basically, I have no idea what I'm looking at.