Creating Pleasurable Interfaces: Getting From Tasks to Experiences

Creating Pleasurable Interfaces Getting from Tasks to Experiences presented by Stephen P. Anderson

STOP! You must be over 21 to view this presentation. (just kidding)

Meaningful? Emotional? Creating Pleasurable Desirable? Interfaces Getting from Tasks to Experiences presented by Stephen P. Anderson

A story...

Interesting for another reason...

How does this evolution relate to web interface design?

Joy of Use Hedonic Design Fun Affective Computing Emotional Interface Persuasive Pleasure Design Narrative User Interfaces Social Computing Funology Seduction Emotional Design Desirability Beauty, goodness, and usability Scent

http://www.poetpainter.com/thoughts/article/designing-for-more-than-tasks

Good interaction design focuses on what people want to... ✓ Know (content, good IA) ✓ Do (tasks, UI Design) ? Feel... “feel?#!!??”

"At this point in experience design’s evolution, satisfaction ought to be the norm, and delight ought to be the goal. So how do we do this as experience design professionals? If the word “experience” is in your title or department, it implies you’re considering these issues." Parish Hanna (2002)

“I am ﬁnally seeing that concept [whole product design] come to fruition as we move from a focus on product usability, where ease of learning, ease of use, and satisfaction with the interface and documentation are paramount, to broader issues that include branding, aesthetics, fun, and pleasure. This evolution follows a hierarchy of user needs...” (2005) Chauncey E. Wilson "Usability and User Experience Design: The Next Decade"

SUBJECTIVE / QUALITATIVE Focused on Experiences (People, Activities, Context) Have a believable story Co-create value with customers Connect people in community Prioritize Aesthetics (no, not Graphic Design) Are part of a bigger system (visual, behaviors, sounds, psychology) Appeal to emotional, spiritual, and Design for FLOW (boredom vs anxiety) social values Leverage Game Mechanics/Learning Theory Create a tolerance for faults at (completeness) lower levels Have a Personality Are tied to a person’s self-image, Meaningful Create conversational and context aware highly personal interactions Has personal significance (“Adaptive Interfaces”; narrative IA structures) Pleasurable Elicit Desire (Limited availability, limited access, curious and Memorable experience worth sharing seductive experiences) Simplify, organize, and clarify Convenient information THIS IS THE “CHASM” THAT HARD FOR ORGANIZAT Display information visually Super easy to use, works like I think Reduce features and complexity Usable Are easier to understand Creating Pleasu Can be used without difficulty Use language for more natural Getting fom Tas Reliable interactions Add features that support desired Is available and accurate behaviors (offline browsing) presented by Stephen P. Functional (Useful) Works as programmed Focused on Tasks (Products, Features) OBJECTIVE / QUANTIFIABLE

Let’s clear the air... Marketers were half right. & Usable + Useful ≠ Desirable

Some things I’ve learned... All of this... 1. Is not new -- this has been a popular topic in academia for years (Jakob Nielson was writing about "Seductive User Interfaces" in 1996) 2. Is given no attention in corporate environments (that I’ve seen) 3. Is being done (implicitly) within the ‘Web2.0’ community (if only because people are asking, "What would I want to use? How would I want it to work?") 4. Requires inverting the process 5. Is diﬃcult to sell and seen as a luxury (it’s critical) 6. Is highly subjective and personal, with centuries of diﬀerent opinions... (since at least the Greeks, with discussions of beauty)

The ‘Levels’

Usable Can be used without diﬃculty Reliable Is available and accurate Functional (Useful) Works as programmed Focused on Tasks (Products, Features) OBJECTIVE / QUANTIFIABLE

Pleasurable Memorable experience worth sharing Convenient THIS IS TH HARD Super easy to use, works like I think Usable Can be used without diﬃculty Reliable Is available and accurate Functional (Useful) Works as programmed

“Once their requirements for functionality and reliability have been met, customers begin to redeﬁne what is not good enough. What becomes not good enough is that customers can’t get exactly what they want exactly when they need it, as conveniently as possible. Customers become willing to pay premium prices for improved performance along this new trajectory of innovation in speed, convenience, and customization.” - Clayton Christensen, The Innovator’s Solution

Meaningful Has personal signiﬁcance Pleasurable Memorable experience worth sharing Convenient THIS IS TH HARD Super easy to use, works like I think Usable Can be used without diﬃculty Reliable Is available and accurate Functional (Useful)

16826054074 +1 682 605 4074

Most of ‘convenient’ is Information design. Somewhere in limbo between usability, information architecture, visual design.

http://www.aiga.org/content.cfm?CategoryID=258

http://www.airbagindustries.com/archives/005675.php

http://37signals.com/svn/archives2/the_long_road_to_simple_creating_debating_and_iterating_add_an_event.php

http://www.uxmatters.com/MT/archives/000015.php

http://www.23hd.com/2006/02/02/makeover-osx-ﬁrefox-software-update-alert/

Not just information design...

helpful (real-time) cues

conversational interactions...

conversational interactions... http://www.pandora.com/

...that guide and clarify http://www.lukew.com/resources/articles/web_forms.html http://www.lukew.com/ff/entry.asp?246

it’s simplifying what you ask for...

...and it’s simplifying how you present things

...and offering visual cues

And also information visualization...

http://www.farecast.com/

http://www.ﬁlebrowse.com/

and yes, more tech stuﬀ... better performance the ability (for web applications) to work oﬄine single-sign on not having to reload a page, especially for simple edits.

Meaningful Has personal signiﬁcance Pleasurable Memorable experience worth sharing Convenient THIS IS TH HARD Super easy to use, works like I think Usable Can be used without diﬃculty Reliable

Pleasurable interfaces... place an importance on aesthetics. How do we select our cars? Why is decorating our homes so important?

http://www.subtraction.com/archives/2003/0512_stuck_on_sti.php

BUT...

Aesthetics: More than just visual design, anything that appeals to the senses.

Recognize this sound? “ba bump ba bump ba bump”

Aesthetics: More than just visual design, anything that appeals to the senses. More about the psychological response to sensory stimulus, than the actual trigger.

“Aesthetics (also spelled esthetics or æsthetics) is a branch of value theory which studies sensory or sensori-emotional values, sometimes called judgments of sentiment or taste.”

http://www.frogdesign.com/?p=13

http://www.poetpainter.com/thoughts/article/the-ipod-shufﬂe-and-wrigleys-doublemint-gum

http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/104/moto.html

Aesthetics are not necessarily a luxury but more of a basic human need.

Why buy a green burka if you’re a poor peasant who already has two blue ones? Why paint your nails red if you’re a destitute widow begging on the streets? These indulgences seem wasteful and irrational, just the sort of false needs encouraged by commercial manipulation. Yet, liberated Kabul had no ubiquitous advertising or elaborate marketing campaigns. Maybe our desires for impractical decoration and meaningless fashion don’t come from Madison Avenue after all. -Virginia Postrel

“Attractive things work better.”

Pleasurable interfaces... are fun to play with! Yes, Behaviors. AJAX. RIA.

Why are Goggle earth, Google maps (maps.google.com), the Beta version of Yahoo! maps (maps.yahoo.com/beta) and Microsoft’s Windows Live (local.live.com) so compelling, addictive, delightful? They provide the same information as the older, static maps from Yahoo!, MapQuest, MSN, and others, and the very same driving directions. They aren’t any more usable or easy to understand than the older, more static sites – some people have even found them more difficult, especially in their beta deployments. But they are more fun and engaging... The immediacy of response is both fun and useful. The fluidity of the graphics is engaging. These are visceral experiences: viscerally exciting websites. The traditional map sites, with sensible, reasonable interaction and instructions are behaviorally appropriate, but they lack excitement. I believe that a good deal of the visceral excitement comes from the graceful movements. Donald Norman: "Emotionally-Centered Design" http://www.jnd.org/dn.mss/emotionallycentered.html

Pleasurable interfaces... are subtle influencers “Ambient Signifiers” http://www.boxesandarrows.com/view/ambient_signifi

Pleasurable interfaces... have personalities: “Dominant vs Submissive.”

• People attribute personality to products based on their appearance and how they interact (Reeves and Nass 1989) http://www.affectivedesign.org/ http://iasummit.org/2006/conferencedescrip.htm#88

http://www.affectivedesign.org/ http://iasummit.org/2006/conferencedescrip.htm#88

Pleasurable interfaces... manage perceptions (not reality)

I Hate it as i am on dial up this dude seems to bounce forever.Sometimes i wish i had a virtual pin to pop the bouncing ball would be a laugh to see him fall off.

Pleasurable interfaces... oﬀer interesting, human conversations

http://www.simplyhired.com/

http://www.last.fm/

http://logopond.com/resources/

these guys are poor conversationalists

better, but...

"Welcome aboard our Southwest Flight . To operate your seat belt, insert the metal tab into the buckle and pull tight. It works just like every other seat belt; and, if you don't know how to operate one, you probably shouldn't be out in public unsupervised." "The weather at our destination is 50 degrees with some broken clouds but we'll try to have them fixed before we arrive. Thank you, and remember, nobody loves you, or your money, more than Southwest Airlines." Pleasurable interfaces... ...don’t have to be so darn ‘nice’ all the time. "We'll be dimming the lights in the cabin," he says quickly. "Pushing the light-bulb button will turn your reading light on. However, pushing the flight-attendant button will not turn your flight attendant on." There may be 50 ways to leave your lover, but there are only 4 ways out of this aircraft..." "Ladies and gentlemen, if you wish to smoke, the smoking section on this airplane is on the wing and if You can light 'em, you can smoke 'em." http://gosw.about.com/od/resortsandtours/a/swjokes.htm

Pleasurable interfaces... arouse curiosity

(tease people)

http://www.stolen.la/jessey

Pleasurable interfaces... ...keep you coming back for more!

Pleasurable interfaces... make you laugh

Pleasurable interfaces... create ‘FLOW’

Pleasurable interfaces... can learn a lot game interfaces

http://www.linkedin.com/

Typology of Cognitive Pleasures (in no particular order) 1. Discovery User experience as exploration of new territory 2. Challenge User experience as obstacles to overcome, goals lying just beyond current skill and knowledge levels 3. Narrative User experience as story arc (user on hero's journey) and character identiﬁcation 4. Self-expression User experience as self-discovery and creativity 5. Social framework User experience as an opportunity for interaction/fellowship with others 6. Cognitive Arousal User experience as brain teaser 7. Thrill User experience as risk-taking with a safety net 8. Sensation User experience as sensory stimulation 9. Triumph User experience as opportunity to kick ass 10. Flow User experience as opportunity for complete concentration, extreme focus, lack of self-awareness 11. Accomplishment User experience as opportunity for productivity and success 12. Fantasy User experience as alternate reality 13. Learning User experience as opportunity for growth and improvement http://headrush.typepad.com/creating_passionate_users/2006/04/cognitive_seduc.html

Meaningful Has personal signiﬁcance Pleasurable Memorable experience worth sharing Convenient THIS IS THE HARD F

Q: How do you know if something has meaning’?

A: It’s the only option.

=

What makes something meaningful?

If you want to create meaning... have a story that people believe in

SUBJECTIVE / QUALITATIVE SUBJECTIVE / QUALITATIVE Focused on Experiences Focused on Experiences (People, Activities, Context) (People, Activities, Context) A product can be... Meaningful Meaningful Has personal significance Has personal significance Pleasurable Pleasurable without being... Memorable experience worth sharing Memorable experience worth sharing Convenient THIS IS THE “CHASM” THAT IS REALLY, REALLY Convenient HARD FOR ORGANIZATIONS TO CROSS Super easy to use, works like I think THIS IS THE “CHASM” THAT IS REALLY, REALLY HARD FOR ORGANIZATIONS TO CROSS Super easy to use, works like I think Usable Usable Can be used without difficulty Can be used without difficulty Reliable Reliable Is available and accurate Is available and accurate Functional (Useful) Functional (Useful) Works as programmed Works as programmed Focused on Tasks Focused on Tasks (Products, Features) (Products, Features) OBJECTIVE / QUANTIFIABLE OBJECTIVE / QUANTIFIABLE

If you want to create meaning... Connect people “We’re social animals”

If you want to create meaning... have really meaningful stories

’80s ’90s ’00s Consumer Meaningful Brands Experiences Experiences “Toward meaningful brand experiences” David W. Norton, PhD, Vice President, Experience Strategy and Research, Yamamoto Moss

“Toward meaningful brand experiences” David W. Norton, PhD, Vice President, Experience Strategy and Research, Yamamoto Moss

If you want to create meaning... Co-create value with your customers

If you want to create meaning... limit availability or access

If you want to create meaning...

(I’ll stop here)

So, what have we learned? Interfaces DON’T have to be... • easy • nice, or • consistent

User Experience Design • Seeks to understands , their , and the of those Activities • Explores those activities, leveraging technology-based products and services While designing interfaces, the UX team focuses on Animation Focus on Emotions... these 6 (+1) elements: Visual Design BEHAVIORS Copywriting AESTHETICS For Persuasion [ BASIC HUMAN Visual Trends Narrative/ PSYCHOLOGY ] Storytelling (Context and LANGUAGE Information Change Cues) METAPHORS Design PATTERNS STRUCTURE For Technical Focus on Comprehension Writing Usability Patterns / Information Architecture Heurisitcs (Taxonomies / Processes) © Stephen P. Anderson / poetpainter.com

Some closing advice? • Start collecting more examples, for ideas • Invert the design process: think from the "outside in" Start with the experience, work backwards from there... forget internal politics, constrainsts, packages, and products-- just think ideal experiences, and THEN figure out how to fit the technology and politics to that experience • Roleplay: “If I was the customer, what would I want?” • Identify things that make you smile [cry, surprised, curious, delighted, etc. ] in the real world. Deconstruct these. Then figure out how to introduce similar ideas to your virtual product. • Consider the “entire experience” - your product / service is part of a larger context. • Start learning more about psychology... (or at least learn some basic principles)

Questions? All slides will be posted at: www.poetpainter.com

Creating Pleasurable Interfaces: Getting From Tasks to Experiences

8 comments

Notes on slide 1

150 Favorites & 3 Groups