Here Comes the Heresy

I’m going to commit heresy by disagreeing with Donald Norman’s article, “Words Matter. Talk About People: Not Customers, Not Consumers, Not Users.” In it, Norman proposes that we stop dehumanizing the audience for our products by calling them ‘users’ and refer to them as ‘people’. He recognizes the potential problem of there being multiple roles in the product development process (the people who design, the people that are going to buy the product, etc) but he states that it’s no excuse.

Here comes the heresy: isn’t that what those ‘people’ are? Users of our products? I don’t think that the term itself is derogatory, but our industry has made it derogatory in that we usually picture the bottom of the barrel when discussing users.

Therefore I believe that the real challenge lies in changing our thinking rather than our semantics. We could refer to users as “geniuses” and still reference them in a disparaging tone. In my mind “user” is still a term for people and it does not have to have a negative connotation. It was a term created to set them apart from the developer and the client. This is the person who is going to use the product.

But I’m not totally dismissing Norman’s point. I do agree that we need to be specific in our terminology when referring to users. Sometimes one product will have multiple users and many different roles. Creating personas is one way to deal with this. For e-commerce sites you can have “Sharon the Shopper” and “Mark the Merchant.” This allows you to get to know your target audience and think of them (as Norman requests) as people.

In the end I agree with the need to put a face on your ‘user,’ but I do not think we need to change our vocabulary when initially approaching a project. Instead we need to take on a more difficult challenge; we must change our thinking. I believe Alan Cooper has the right approach when he says, “Think of your users as intelligent but very busy.” Design for easy, efficient use that compliments your user’s strengths and supports their actions. They are our audience and our partners in design; work hard to get to know them and give them the best experience possible.

Concocting an Experience

My senior year of college I took a class entitled American Food in the hopes that it would involve a lot of eating. Instead it was a large amount of discussion, reading and writing on the subject of food and culture. Despite my inner glutton’s initial disappointment, I gained an appreciation for food beyond its basic function of ending gnawing hunger. I learned that it was a social event, the sign of a culture, and an art form within itself. People studied it, wrote stories revolving around it, and I was fascinated. The way Ruth Reichl described a meal was so vivid and passionate that it was inspiring.

Like a typical time-crunched yuppie, I don’t get to cook a decent meal nearly as often as I would like and perhaps that’s why I look at it as a luxury. There’s a zen within chopping vegetables, sautéing garlic, and planning a well-rounded menu. Inevitably whatever I make tastes better than what I would get at a restaurant because I invested time and thought into it. I know what I’m going to consume and it’s not some junk food out of a microwavable box. It’s my own expression and it can be as complex as I wish.

Food isn’t fuel. It’s an experience that you concoct for yourself and others. It’s a chance to sit down, relax (read: stop multi-tasking!) and socialize.

UX of the Alarm Clock

Every morning I wake up frightened. Not for a legitimate reason such as a bear broke into my bedroom or I’ve had a nightmare where I live in a world without tex-mex ; no. I wake up every morning and frantically scramble to turn off the alarm that is so horrifically noisy and obnoxious it scares the bejeezus out of me.

You’ll remember my brief yet oh so true rant about my coffee pot. Well now I have a new appliance based enemy: the alarm clock. It’s a terrible experience to wake up scared every morning, yet I’ve had that same awful alarm clock for the past 7 years. The fact that I could avoid waking up every morning to its screams hadn’t even occurred to me until a co-worker mentioned that they never used an alarm clock. “You wake up every day of your life- why do that to yourself? Why wake up startled every single day?”

I was reminded of what they said when this morning the awful experience left my heart racing and my resolve firm. No more! I’m researching alarm clocks that allow me to have a better experience and not wake up flailing for once.

People have recognized this problem and have started designing some good ideas. Of course, I’m checking the reviews to see just how effective they are. As with anything, some of these have design flaws that ruin the entire product’s intended purpose. Others are somewhat pricey and I’m weighing cost versus my morning terror…

Regardless, I  refuse to wake up in fear anymore (and I don’t think these spunky alarm clocks will help). No matter how heavy you sleep,  there has to be a better alternatives than the clock radio that some sadist dreamed up.