“There is no Average Joe Bloggs” – reads the copy on the billboard advertisement of an insurance company. I couldn’t agree more with this, especially in the context of designing and developing new products for end users. No matter how much I like Statistics, we just cannot apply it to all things in our personal and professional lives. While its good to be number-savvy, we need to balance the quantitative with qualitative aspects, to get it right. More so in the case of product design and development, the “law of averages” doesn’t quite contribute to the successful product development. We are all familiar with the concept of user profiles and personas used in the design and development of products. These help a great deal in understanding the real needs and goals of your target audience. In this post, I will dwell on why designing for average users is a misconception and how we can make use of user profiles and personas in developing successful products.
All customers are not users
This is the biggest notion among my clients that customers are well, users of the products. Not always true! The good thing is that both customers and users are both people, the similarities end there. I think that “Customers” is a favourite term for Marketers whereas Designers and User Experience professionals connect better with the term “Users”. Customers are the people who purchase your products and services, while consumers or users use these. In some cases or well, most cases customers and consumers are the same. As in the case of some daily use products, white goods, FMCG, customers and users are the same i.e., people who buy your products use them as well. But in the case of high-end products, enterprise applications and productivity solutions, buyers could be different from consumers. For instance, office supplies, financial services, technology products like computers etc., the people who pay are different from those who suggest. These in turn are different from the people who decide and yes, the people who actually use the products or services could be completely different from the above groups.
First, know your Users
Knowing your users is the most important step in the approach to developing great products. By knowing your users, I mean to say that you must understand the goals and needs of the users. This understanding will help you in shaping your product or service, make it more suitable and appealing for the users. You can’t just create a product in thin air and then retro-fit it to the benefit of some people. As they say, the most important question in any business is asking “whose needs is the idea/concept/product going to solve?” . Texavi’s Unified Experience Framework has a whole phase dedicated to help you get to this. The “Know the Needs of your Users” phase has all the tools, techniques and technologies to ensure that we understand the real needs of the users. These are often unwritten, untold, unexpressed and even unknown to the very users. So, its a big challenge to get to the real needs of the users.
User profiling holds the key
It doesn’t make sense to design and develop your products for all the people in the whole world. There is a danger of missing out on most people, as they think it doesn’t suit their specific needs and goals. Also, on the extreme end, it doesn’t make sense to design your products for one or two users. This argument lends weight for some people to think the middle path and rely on the law of averages. So, they think that the best path is to design and develop for average user. But hold on, what is an average user? How can you get to that person and define the characteristics of average user? The answer to this question lies in the user profiles and personas. User profiles are essentially the characteristic grouping of users based on various properties, traits and behaviours. This doesn’t mean that you are defining an average user. Instead, you are trying to understand the essential aspects of your users. Using the profiles and personas helps the team to have a common language of understanding. This not only helps them in having a good picture of the end users, but also gives them a great affinity to the users, because of the name, form and physical characteristics.
Personas – archetypes not stereotypes
You might have heard of the term “persona” used in the context of marketing, research and product design. A persona is a representative user from amongst the group, but does not point to one user from within the group. It is a powerful design tool that helps the design and development teams and client relate to the target audience. Persona is not a stereotype of the users, but rather an archetype from the user group. In a persona, you give a form, a name and a picture to the representative users, so that all the team members and concerned people can relate to that person more effectively and easily.
Benefits of user profiles and personas
While there are many benefits of using the user profiles and personas in the product development life cycle, I list below a few of them that really stand out.
Understand the real users who you should target from amongst the many people in the population
Help prioritise the target segments within the groups of people
Know the real needs and goals of the target audience
Support in connecting and relating to the real needs of the users
Design, develop the products in a more practical and pragmatic manner
Evaluate and test the products, keeping the real users in mind
Minimise the effort, time and cost of development and rework
Hope you agree with me now that the average user is a myth and acknowledge the power of profiles and personas. Please keep writing in with your suggestions and comments. Till the next post, ciao!
Today our lives revolve around the mobile, agile and social aspects that have global appeal along with local flavours. Their impact factors could be attributed to the surge in various platforms, channels and devices that we use for both professional and personal lives. The PCs of the 90s are now complemented with the handy Smart Phones, ubiquitous Tablets and numerous trendy gadgets. Post (Snail mail) is giving way to Email, which in turn is waning in popularity compared to chatting, texting and gaming. There has been a massive shift in the roles of technology, business, products and services. Nowadays, there is one thing on the top of mind for clients, product designers and developers. No prizes for guessing the answer…Responsive Design! How can we deliver similar, if not identical experiences to our customers and users, despite the varied number and nature of the things around us? In this post, I will touch upon Responsive Design, as I see it in the light of delivering consistent and unified experiences.
The case for Responsive Design
Let us try and look at this from a technology perspective, especially computing technology at that. Till the late 90′s we were all familiar with the PC as an alternative to the manual operations. Back then there were only 3 major types – Windows, Mac and the more Open Source flavour – Unix. Applications and programmes had to be written specifically for 2 major mainstream platforms – Windows and Mac. Since the execution of the programmes depended completely on the underlying Operating System (O.S.), these had to be written and deployed specifically for these two platforms separately and explicitly. However with the advent of Java programming language, came the paradigm shift – “Write once, run anywhere”. In the early years of 21st century, Microsoft aggressively pushed its Dot Net platform and associated languages such as C-sharp. Both these were successful in ensuring the universal delivery and adoption of programmes and applications that were platform-agnostic.
New Technologies, same old problems
When the PC domination was waning, the cross-platform problem only got aggravated in exponential proportions. Thanks to the explosive usage of laptops in the early part of the 21st century, computing has gone mobile and portable. But this didn’t create many problems to the application and technology product vendors. Largely it was only the foot-print or size of the application that got impacted due to the new addition to the PCs. Following some other innovations in the programming and scripting languages, developers had some respite from grappling with re-writing massive applications to suit for multiple platforms. But it didn’t solve the problem completely. It only took a new shape with the onset of different browsers and their versions, numerous sizes, resolutions and vendors.
Solution to “the problem of plenty”
The good old sayings – “Variety is the spice of life” and “More the merrier” are applicable to most business scenarios and our own lives. However, with the advent of Internet and adoption of Smart Phones and Tablets, customers and consumers today are faced with the “problem of plenty”. This can be witnessed in the exponentially increasing numbers, varieties and ranges of platforms, operating systems, channels and devices. These are all increasing at such an alarming rate that often customers are pushed to the brink of confusion, chaos and frustration. But don’t lose your heart yet, there is a good news – the effective solution for these problems is a comprehensive methodology that comprises the approach, tools, techniques and resources. You can now analyse, design,develop, deliver and support solutions, products, applications for multiple platforms, channels, devices and browsers. In the following sections, we will look at how we can approach Responsive Design through the Unified Experience framework.
What is Responsive Design really
Design, by definition needs to meet the needs of the user in the right place, right time and right manner, of course, for the right users. Essentially, it is about creating products, applications and services that work and look the same across all systems, platforms and devices. While there are lot of definitions for Responsive Design, I would define it simply as designing, developing and delivering “Unified Experience“. Whether it is a product or service, the objective for product vendors is to deliver consistent, panoramic and unified experiences to their customers and users. Irrespective of the platforms, devices, underlying operating systems, numerous channels.
What makes a Design, Responsive Design
In the context of technology and programming, there had been a perennial debate on graceful degradation versus progressive enhancement. Despite the growing number of platforms, operating systems and devices, users want consistent experience. This consistent experience can be delivered only when you take care of the underlying navigation, content, presentation, functionality and interactions. Don’t forget that the customers and users are the same, their profiles and personas are not varying across the different platforms or devices. The first step in this approach is to identify, specify and communicate clearly the problems, opportunities and needs. Then the the conception, conceptualisation and implementation of suitable solution will follow through smoothly and in a structured manner.
How to create Responsive Design – Tips & tricks
I give below a few guidelines to get it right with minimal rework, redesign and repurposing. When implemented initially in the development cycle of any product or application, these would help achieve the responsive design and offer optimal experience to your users.
Think ahead, far and wide
Build eco-systems not just stand-alone products and tools
Consider all possible options – short term, medium term and long term
Go beyond technologies, assess real business needs and goals
Use minimally the platform-specific services and components
Hope you got some insights about Responsive Design that you can take away and implement practically. Love to hear from you on how we can improve the Blog. Until next time, ciao and yes, Happy Easter!
When I talk to my clients about developing great products that offer fantastic User Experience, many of them ask me why, when and how to go about doing it. The most frequently asked question from customers is “what is that one thing that makes or breaks great user experience?”. My consistent response to them has always been one simple word that truly wields the real power. Yes, it is “Consistency”. That is the mantra for creating great products and services that stand the test of time, offering delightful experiences to customers and users! However, this by no means is a quick-fix, short-cut approach to creating successful products and services. In this post, I shall touch upon the important role consistency plays in offering compelling experiences to your customers and users.
Think different, but be consistent
In the constantly changing business and technology landscape that we are living in today, it is imperative that you have to stand out from the competitive me-too products and services in the crowded market place. There is a growing need for businesses and individuals to think and act different. This also works when you wish to develop a new product, concept or idea and especially with the start-ups. It is indeed the hallmark of good startups to be able to think differently from the others to cut the clutter and make their presence felt. However over a period of time, the product or service gets adopted and it gains sufficient market penetration and user acceptance. At that stage, having consistency in presentation and overall experience becomes critical for the long term success of the product.
Consistency – experience and expectations
What does consistency mean in a product development context? Does it mean repetition, cliche and mimicking the same, always and in all ways? No, on the contrary being consistent helps your users to focus on the right areas in your products so that they derive optimal usage experience. Consistency can be seen as an antidote to monotony and often the positives of being consistent far outweighs the negatives of being routine and repetitive. Do not restrict consistency to just one specific product of yours, but broad-basing it across the products in a product line would help your customers and users. Consistency though largely is a broader concept, does vary to some extent based on the users’ culture and geography. The concept of “business” has remained the same all through the centuries. Customers and clients raise a PO (Purchase order) and vendors propose and offer their products /services and then raise an invoice/bill towards the products or services offered. Customers then make payments to vendors against these invoices. This is a consistent way of engaging in business and doesn’t vary from country to country and also does not change with the times.
Sample this as a proof of why I think that consistency is of a great help to delivering great experience. People from across the different parts of the world have been driving cars over the last few decades. There have been a lot of variants like petrol and diesel, differences in engine capacity and volumes. Cars do come in different models, sizes and shapes - sedans, SUVs, hatchbacks and so on. They also differ in the transmissions like manual and automatic. The steering wheel could be on the left or right side of the car, depending on which country you drive. However, no matter where you are driving, what type, model, size or shape of the car, the pedals for brake, clutch and accelerator (also called gas) are always in the same place and in the same order. From left to right, it will be clutch, brake and accelerator and its no doubt that this is what simplifies the driving experience for most of the car drivers in any part of the world. This is just one example of how being consistent helps the users to adopt the products quickly to their context, expectations and experiences formed.
Why be consistent?
Consistency when used in the right manner has the power of giving freedom to your users. It ensures that your users put their focus on the goal rather than the medium. I like to draw an analogy for this with the cinema screen and the projected movie. Consistency in your products is akin to audience watching the movie and enjoying themselves without getting distracted and disillusioned looking at the screen beneath the movie. It makes the experience smooth and lends flow and fluency to what the users look, learn and do within the product.
Let us look at some of the benefits of consistency
Is shaped on the prior experiences of users
Helps direct users’ attention
Sets the expectations of users
Delivers stability and safety of users, in a few instances
Aids users in strong brand and product association
Consistency doesn’t kill creativity
Quite a few people think that consistency kills the creativity and new ideas. I would argue that consistency doesn’t affect the innovative or imaginative thinking. Innovative product companies like Apple, Google implement consistency across their entire set of offerings. You can use standards and design principles as the basis for your product. These are the foundation based on which you should architect, design and develop the product. These are often sacrosanct and non-negotiable. Next in the order of priority are guidelines which are like rules of thumb. They are not prescriptive, but provide direction to what should be incorporated and how. But compelling user experience doesn’t stop at this level. Only when you start referring to heuristics and patterns, can the product start delivering delightful and superlative experiences to users. I drew the diagram below to bring out the main points.
How to incorporate consistency
In the context of product development, consistency translates into the overall user experience and not just the superficial visual design. You need to look at all the various dimensions that contribute to the overall experience and delight of users. The following diagram sums up how you can lend your product a consistent experience…
Through the optimal use of consistency, user should be able to feel that he/she knows:
What I can do with this product
Where I am now, where I can go from here and how I can go
Why something works the way it does
What a particular element means when it is in of a certain colour, shape and size
How I can press, click, tap an element to get what I want it to do
Hope you find this post helpful. As always, please feel free to drop in your comments to help improve the quality and usability of my blog posts. Until next time, ciao!
There is one news item that I have been following very keenly in the evening newspaper , going back home from work, daily. It caught my attention a week ago and ever since, it has been on my radar. The news is not related to the bad state of economy, nor connected with sports , movies or music. It is the ‘Get London Reading’ news story published on the front page of London Evening Standard newspaper. This caught my attention because of the very title of the campaign and the positive vibes being generated and the potential impact and change it would create. The very title of this initiative is a great example of a behavior definition, nevertheless if it is a tad bit broad and ambitious, if not ambiguous.
Behavior change is possible
In my last post, we looked at what behaviors are and the main types of behaviors. Some people actually asked me the difference between a behavior, goal and task. When I have seen the ‘Get London Reading’ campaign, it instantly occurred to me as an example to help clarify this. A quick look at the campaign page hosted online will give you an indication why I refer to this as an exemplary behavior change programme. Well, in this post , let us take the next step and understand the Behavior Model touching upon the relationship between motivation, ability and triggers. I wish to draw some insights from Fogg Behavior Model (aka FBM) proposed by Prof. B.J.Fogg, using my examples.
The Poppy Appeal – Persuasion success story
A couple weeks ago, people in the UK observed Remembrance Sunday paying tributes to the armed forces personnel who sacrificed their lives in the line of service. People from all walks of life came forward to commemorate the bravery of soldiers in various ways. There were donations collected in different forms , the most visible of them being the Web site making the ‘poppy appeal’ and of course, the sale of poppies on the roads. You would have seen many people in London and other cities wearing and flaunting these poppies proudly, to show their support to the Royal British Legion. The poppy appeal program is a massive hit, garnering generous amounts of funds, besides all the attention. I wish to take the poppy appeal case as a success s story to elaborate my case about persuasion and behavior change.
Will do -> Want to do + can do
Let us consider a case when somebody comes and asks you to donate funds for the cause of soldiers. How many people will donate the money? Notice that some people do want to donate, because it is serving the noble cause of helping the defence services personnel, albeit in a small way. But not always do you find that all these motivated people can actually give. So, it is not enough to want to give funds, but most importantly, people should also have the ability to donate amounts. Great, so you found some people who want to and also who can donate. Is the job done? Not exactly. They need to be asked, reminded and provided with ways to donate . These are all the various triggers used to facilitate these motivated and able people to take the step and donate the amounts. Then and only then, would the motivated and able people come forward to donate.
Fogg Behavior Model (FBM)
So, from the above example, let us try and generalize this using the Behavior Model proposed by Prof. B.J.Fogg, Director of Persuasive Technologies Lab, Stanford University. You would have understood that people will do a task, not only when they are motivated but also when they have the ability. In other words, the first step in the process of behavior change is to identify those people who have high motivation. The next step is to simplify the task or process, or to increase their ability to do the task.
However, it does not always happen that these people actually do the tasks, until they are triggered with the right call to action. These triggers have to be placed on the journeys or paths of these people, at the right time, in the right place and with the right visibility. That’s the secret behind many successful products and services, which have been able to bring about a behavior change in their users.
Change is in the air – Lean & agile
You would have seen that this persuasion and behavior modeling is all about change, but change of a different kind. Organizations and products have been trying to induce the behavior change in the people. The beauty of this model is that it perfectly aligns with the spirit of other successful contemporary models for change management . These include but not limited to Agile product development and lean startup. All these models and schools of thought have an almost similar ideology. Agile product development is about identifying and responding and managing changes with the right people, tools and techniques. Lean startup embraces the philosophy of doing something in a small way leading up to a gradual and sustainable growth model. The behavior model encompassing behavior modeling, behavior change and persuasive design combines the best practices from psychology, change management, design and product engineering areas.
Mantras for changing behaviors
FBM is a powerful model which is applicable across different industries, product lines and market segments. It is very apt in the scenarios where you wish to make a long term behavior change, with an aim to make a positive habit among your customers and users. Here are some tips and guidelines, given by Prof. Fogg, based on the points discussed in this post.
Behavior depends on how motivated users are, their ability and response to the right triggers for action
People’s behaviors can be changed by motivating them, making it simple and/or inciting them to act
Place triggers on the paths of motivated people who are able to do the behaviors
Habits can be formed in people through behavior change
Focus on increasing ability by making tasks easier for users
Help people do what they already want to do
Hope you enjoyed reading this post and it is as helpful to you as the previous ones. Until next post, ciao!
In 2006, Apple and Nike joined hands to develop Nike+iPod, that changed not only the way people listen to music on the move, but also the way they manage their fitness and in effect, their health and lifestyle. Just about the same time, Nintendo launched Wii, that changed the way people play games from being passive to an active, out-of-your-couch experience . A decade ago, Google changed the way people navigated by shifting their focus from browsing to searching and now Facebook has changed the way people stay connected. All these products, beyond doubt, set out to change the behaviors of people who are motivated (I am not quite there yet:-) and are capable, if they are provided with the right resources.
You can change people’s behaviors
All the companies and products I mentioned above, proved that it is possible to use behavior modeling and design to effectively persuade people to do something positive. In this post and a few upcoming posts, I will touch upon how these companies and others have been successful in using the power of persuasion and behavior design. They have been effective not just in creating great products and services, but also in persuading and changing the behaviors of millions of customers and users, worldwide. Let us analyze and understand how they could do it and what really is the secret behind their success. In doing this, I draw my insights from Prof. B.J.Fogg’s Behavior Model (a.k.a FBM) to explain the relationship among behavior, motivation, ability and triggers. But first, let us understand persuasion and behaviors, in detail, in this post.
Persuasion as an art and science
Persuasion has been an art we have all been familiar with and it definitely is not new to us, human beings . Right from the time we are born and as we grow up into being professionals, we have been using different persuasive techniques to deal with family, friends, colleagues and customers. Marketers and advertisers, through the ages, have been successful in persuading us to look at, buy and use products and services. Its only recently that product companies have been looking at using persuasion and changing customers’ behaviors through structured and proven methodologies. More recently product companies like Fit Bit and DailyFeats-Jawbone launched wearable devices that help track your movements and proactively suggest ways to improve your fitness and health. Both these devices have been designed to persuade people to change their behavior, from a passive to a more active lifestyle. The key here is they have been successful in implementing the Persuasion and design and develop products to help change behaviors in a pragmatic manner.
What is a behavior
We keep hearing about goals, needs, tasks and activities, being used in our professional and personal spheres. Now you might be wondering how behaviors are different from these. Behaviors are perhaps more fundamentally ‘human’ and ingrained in us as human beings, than say, tasks or activities. No wonder then that behaviors could be separated from the other superficial aspects, such as activities and tasks . This is how I look at behaviors and I am not taking this from any specific source or resource. The personality of an individual can be dependent on both her attitude and behaviors. There are numerous theories suggesting ways to bring about attitude change. But as Prof. B.J.Fogg suggests, behaviors are better separated from attitudes for a clear definition and a focused approach to behavior change. So, I will follow the same approach and focus merely on defining target behaviors and bringing about the desired changes in behaviors of people.
Creating habits, not just products
Behaviors can come in different shapes and sizes. You might want to classify behaviors into different types based on the longevity or duration of their occurrence.
Get people engaged in a one-time behavior Eg., Replace all bulbs in house with eco-friendly energy-saving ones
Do it over some duration or for a defined period. Eg., Take bus/train to go to office, 3 days in a week
Do it continuously over a long term, almost as a habit. Eg., Use hand-sanitizers to keep hands safe from viruses
It is in the last category, lies the interest of most organizations and products. Which company wouldn’t like to have customers using their product on a continual basis? Or better still getting habituated to using the product to the extent of forming an addiction. Recent examples for this have been Google, Facebook and Twitter…all of them did implement this long term behavior change in a smart way by creating habits in people, successfully. Google created searching as a habit by replacing it with the browsing navigation. Facebook created the habit of checking out what your friends are up to and sharing with your friends your recent escapades. Twitter provided a way for people to express and update their activities in a short sentence. If you want to be successful in your business, then start looking beyond your product’s features and users’ needs. It is time, you looked at making positive behavioral changes to your users in different contexts.
Behaviors and their flavors
Behaviors can also be looked at from the perspective of what you like to do to them. Some times, you may want to induce new behaviors, while in other instances, you want to change the existing behaviors – increase, decrease, or altogether stop them.
New behaviors can be imparted to people. Eg., flossing teeth is new, compared to brushing
Increase existing behaviors. Eg., Brush teeth twice a day, instead of once
Decrease existing behaviors. Eg. Take less quantity of fatty food during dinner
Stop existing behaviors. Eg., Stop smoking (hmm…this is tricky:-)
Now that we have covered the basics of behaviors, we are now geared to get into the details. In the next posts, I shall explain, taking help from Prof.B.J.Fogg’s Behavior Model, how you can be more persuasive in designing and developing your products. Until then, ciao!
Behavior change it is, if you are wondering what’s hot in the consumer space. I see this as a game changer , with organizations now looking beyond satisfying the explicit needs of users. Simply put, as a product or a services company, you have the power to change the behavior of your users. Apple, Google and Facebook are great examples of how well they understood the behavior modeling and persuasive design and successfully applied it in their products. Numerous products such as FitBit and DailyFeats-Jawbone UP use similar concepts to make people fit and healthy, bringing about a change in their long term habits, resulting in better health and lifestyles. We will talk about these products in the coming posts, in detail, but in this post I focus on the ‘persuasion and behavior design’ boot camp that I attended recently.
Persuasion and Behavior Design Boot Camp by Prof. B.J.Fogg
Last week I participated in the 2-day Persuasion Boot Camp held at San Francisco, USA. The workshop was conducted by Prof. B.J.Fogg, Director of Persuasive Technologies Lab, Stanford University. It was a great experience, learning directly from Prof.Fogg, who is an eminent thought-leader on this subject. In this post, I will briefly touch upon the next 2 paragraphs with my views and then give a few snippets and key takeaways from the workshop. I wish to share with you the learning from this workshop and also my experience applying it. Watch this space for interesting stuff to come in the future posts. For complete set of photos from this workshop, please visit www.facebook.com/texavi
Essence of Boot Camp in few words
I give below a few points briefly on how the workshop was conducted, why I think its different from others and the important takeaways from the boot camp. To start with, the following one-liners summarize the learning.
Its all about users’ behaviors, not just product’s features
Solutions, not just problems
Focus on creating solutions quickly
Ideate, initiate & Iterate
This model aligns with the agile development and lean startup
Myths and misconceptions, shattered
The workshop helped address a few myths that we have about product design, development, human psychology and behavior design. I mention below a few misconceptions prevalent in the industry that we should be wary of .
Blind trust in excessive academic research
Focus on features is important for products
Attempts to motivating people on a continuous basis without simplifying the tasks
Focusing on attitudes, instead of behaviors.
Everything big is good – big ideas and big initiatives are always successful
Its difficult to make people adopt to new behaviors
Great content and context
The workshop was refreshingly different not only in the content but also in the context and delivery. Open-house discussions and interactive brain-storming replaced the more traditional ways of presentations. I can say that the highlight of the boot camp was that there was little or almost no usage of computers and Powerpoint presentations. Going by its apt title, the boot camp did its job aiming to make the participants experts in the specific areas. Prof. Fogg chose the topics very carefully and was even more meticulous in their delivery. He ensured that the core concepts are registered in the minds of boot campers using intensive hands-on sessions and role-plays rather than relying on typical pedagogic methodology.
Nice ambiance and a perfect setting
Far from the maddening buzz of the urban landscape, the workshop was conducted in serene ambience. Held in a beautiful guest house located by the riverside, the place was the best fit for learning and sharing . Also Healdsburg is a place surrounded with fertile land and so there is no dearth of natural vegetation. Every household here grows vegetables and fruits and no wonder you get the best quality natural products, direct from nature. This place also boasts of some fine vineyards and wineries around. All of these provide a great backdrop and a wonderful setting for the workshop.
And to wrap it up…
Good use of different rooms and sometimes outdoors kept the workshop alive and participants active
Outdoor activities and exercises were nice, thanks to the pleasant weather
Perfect blend of individual and group exercises made the sessions insightful and interactive, as well
Assignments right after discussions ensured that we applied the concepts to understand better
Interactions with alumni and previous bootcampers helped understand the value of the boot camp
Last but not the least, nice food and to top it all, a grand dinner arranged by the local wine trader
In the next few posts, I shall write more on the behavior model and how you can use the behavior design to create persuasive products and services. Hope you enjoyed reading this post. Until next one, ciao!
Whenever we start working on a new product or project, we are often rushed into creating ‘the solution’. Pressure builds up from all directions and we are but forced to start delivering the solution from the day one. This is where my problem lies…not being able to work on and understand the problem itself, but still trying to solve it. For instance, whenever you go to a doctor with an ailment or complaint, he does not give you treatment straight away. The physician asks you a set of questions, listens to your responses, understands what your problems are and then starts giving you the correct treatment. They call it ‘diagnosis’ and we all are happy to be diagnosed without asking any question to anybody, including ourselves. Then why is the resistance to adopt the same approach in other spheres of our work and life? Taking specifically the case of you, me and all of us, IT professionals and experts, I write this post to highlight the approach we should adopt to understand, define and communicate the problems before resorting to solutions.
Problems, needs, challenges & opportunities
Most of us use the terms problems and needs interchangeably in varying contexts. I am not too tied down to using any one terminology over the other. Bottom line is that we have to make an effort to identify them, define correctly, and strive to solve the problems or fulfill the needs. Some people also use opportunities in the same vein to convey that these have to be understood, pursued and addressed. You might have also come across the suggestion to replace the negative connotation of problems with its more positive and pragmatic counterpart, challenges. As I said, I am flexible on this and you can choose whatever you might like among the four terms problems, needs, challenges and opportunities. However, from a product manager’s perspective, my personal preference is to use the terms problems or needs, because they convey some sense of urgency and cry for addressing them and solving them at the earliest
Texavi’s Model for Problems and Solutions
I would like to touch upon briefly the model I evolved at Texavi to have a better handle at problems and solutions. The image below provides a clear distinction between problem space and solution space. As you can see, focus on the problem domain first helps us understand the WHAT and WHY which enable us to get to define the TO-BE WHAT and HOW to reach there. Also, this platform independent model lets you apply the methods and rules to any platform, technology. I shall discuss more on this in a separate blog post.
Problems drive solutions
Yes, problems do drive solutions and not vice versa. It is imperative to specify the problems first and then accordingly, direct our attention to the solutions. I would like to take the analogy of train and engine to put forward my point about problems and solutions. My fascination for trains and being a son of a Railways employee, I couldn’t but think of a better example. A train is driven by the engine and not by the bogies attached to it. No matter whether the engine is placed in the front or back of the train, it still powers the train and makes it move. Similarly, understanding the problems always helps us to find the correct solutions to tackle those problems.
How do you get to the problems
Well, by now you might have been convinced that problems are as important as, if not more important than solutions. The next obvious question that might come to your mind is how we can identify the problems, in the first place. From experience, I realized that problem solving is best when it is solved where it has come from. To be able to spot the problems in the correct way, we need to really have an open mind, with an inquisitive approach leading to exploration and discovery. This is quite different when you approach the solutions, which might need a one-pointed focus, with deep dive approach leading to generation of ideas and implementation of solution.
I follow a set of unwritten rules when trying to work in the problem space. These facilitate me by providing the right directions for the flow of my thinking. You can find the following pointers helpful in structuring your thoughts and approach to problem identification:
What are the problems?
Whose problems am I trying to solve?
Why are these problems existing in the first place?
Where can I start with my solution? Which problems need my attention, first?
When can these problems said to be solved?
How can I solve these problems?
My mantra for problems and solutions
Based on my experience as an analyst over the years, trying to find problems and solve them, I created a small mantra to help myself. This helps me focus and leverage the powerful relationship between problems and solutions. It is applicable to most situations, and helps all of us in any sphere of work and life. In fact, this entire post is based on this one and I would urge you, especially the product managers and business analysts among you to note it well and try and put into practice.
Know problems…know solutions
No problems…no solutions!
I hope that you find this post helpful to set the direction and help change your views about the problems and solutions. I will cover more details on the proven methodologies that we evolved at Texavi Innovative Solutions. As always, your feedback is welcome. Until next post, Ciao!
People often ask me what I think, are the most important factors that contribute to the success of a product. My answer varies depending on the nature of the product, the person asking the question and my mood in that moment, to name a few. But interestingly, if we draw up a list of the responses to this question, the two items that top my list are simplicity and consistency. Yes, there is no doubt that these two aspects of user experience help to a largest extent in making any product, a huge hit. In this post, I will cover the first one, ‘simplicity’ and how we can leverage this powerful yet ‘simple’ usability mantra to turn your products and applications into a success.
Simplicity sells
Yes, simplicity does sell and sells, all by itself. Its perhaps the biggest value proposition in your product. In any industry and any geographic market whatsoever, you have hundreds and thousands of products and variants. There is a huge margin of difference between the leading few and the following majority. Often this boils down to one super differentiating factor and that is simplicity. It works wonders not just before sales, but also after the sale is done during the usage by end-users. This positive experience during the product usage prompts more usage, referrals and increased sales, overall.
A case in point is the search industry in the 1990s. Most of the web sites and applications at that time, including the then search leaders like Altavista and MSN had their web pages all cluttered with too much content. Google then understood that the only way to make users happy was by uncluttering and uncomplicating their search experience. They did this by keeping it really simple, with the entire page being occupied by a text box and a button. Need I say more about the success of Google search and how this powerful execution of minimalist design made Google the giant that it is today, not just in search but in software, mobile and many more product areas.
Less is More
In the words of the great architect, Ludwig Van Der Rohe, “Less is More” has been a watchword for the architects, designers and stylists. A pithy motto which says it all and stands by its meaning, simplicity is just that . While some designers also refer to this school of simplicity as ‘Minimalist Design’, other professionals and users might prefer to call it ‘working easy’. Making things simple is often a complicated process in itself and does ask for a methodical/systematic approach in the product development space. In this post, I wish to mention a few tips and techniques that I follow as part of my product engineering practice. You might see that these are just a few in the hundreds of ways, and for simplicity’s sake, I will focus on a few things because, less is more.
Let us ‘uncomplicate’
There is no dearth of complexity in our lives and professions. We are inundated with huge number of problems, challenges, and pain areas to give enough exercise to our body, mind and soul. Obviously we don’t want the products that we use to add up to this already complicated and stressful situation. The only way we can try and help ourselves is by looking at the problems and looking for the solutions that make it really easy.
There are various ways to attempt this uncomplication. However, the underlying concept is that you first need to identify the complexities involved and then find ways to remove or minimize them. To be able to do this, I suggest you try and get answers to the following questions.
Whose problem is it?
What problem(s) do you need to solve?
Why were the problems there in the first place?
How does solving this problem help the person(s)?
Where can we go from here?
Reduce the cognitive load
The gateway to simplifying the product lies in the extent of cognitive load on users. I would say that this is the first and foremost step in the way to deliver a great user experience. This cognitive load could be in the form of visual or textual elements, for example when we refer to the presentation layer. It could take the shape of deep levels of navigation or the manner in which the elements are laid out by the information architecture. This is so important an aspect of the product engineering model, that I planned to write a separate blog post on this in the near future.
Cure Featuritis with simplicity
Most of the product managers are pretty well aware that they have a potential evil that they constantly need to fight off and that is Featuritis. However much they try, they invariably fall into the trap of adding more features and functionality, without validating how beneficial or what value they add to the product and its users. In a never-ending chase to build a better mouse-trap, the product takes the shape of a mammoth white elephant. Or just to exaggerate, the product could turn up into a ‘Frankenstein monster’ whose course cannot be controlled any longer by the product management team.
In the context of electronics, computers and software products & applications too, there has been an increase in the complexity scale corresponding to the rapid increase in the number of products. For instance, just jog your memory, thinking about the size of the device and the number of buttons on your Television remote control as you changed your Telly sets over the years. These are a great proof that with time and number of products in the eco-system, the complexity only increases and the converse may not be true all the time.
The only cure for this disease is Simplicity. Ask yourself the following questions when you want to add any new feature or make changes to an existing functionality.
Who is this feature meant for?
What problem is it trying to solve? or how does it help the person?
Which users’ task is this feature relate to?
How better can we make the product/process?
How different is this feature from similar ones in previous versions or competitors’ products?
Push them under the carpet
You don’t have to give everything upfront and right on the first level. Understand the goals of your users from their own perspectives. Identify the tasks mapping to these goals or needs. For each task, you need to identify its importance and urgency. Then decide where in the order of things, you need to place the task and corresponding feature. It might happen that the feature needs to placed not at the top level, but somewhere deep down in the 2nd or 3rd levels of the hierarchy. That should be perfectly fine because you based your decision on the sound logic and understanding of the users’ needs and their key tasks.
A perfect example for this is the all too popular Swiss army knife. Give all the options to users, but let them decide how they wish to use a specific option, depending on the circumstances and context of usage.
Not just ‘ease of use’
Some people would equate simplicity to ‘ease of use’. But I think that simplicity goes way beyond ease of use and it is the effect of an all encompassing experience not just related to usage of the product. During the analysis, design and development of products, teams must take note of simplicity as a mandatory requirement for the product. In fact, the biggest measure for their effort and productivity is directly proportional to the success of the product in that how simpler the product got when compared to its previous version or that of the competitors’.
My five tips for simplicity
Finally, you can check how effective and simple your product has been designed and developed. I suggest you popup the following questions putting yourself in the shoes of the users and with their conceptual model in your mind. When you are satisfied with the answers that you give yourself, well you have got a product that flies!
What can I do with this product or app?… (Functionality)
Where am I now and where can I go from here?… (Navigation)
What should I do now to make <something> happen?… (Interaction)
Is it pleasing to the eyes? …(Presentation)
Is there help, ready and when I need it?…(Help)
With this I end this post, and hope you enjoyed reading it and find it useful. Please do drop a line if you have any suggestions or questions. Until next post, ciao!
“10.4 Saeed Ajmal to Tendulkar, no run, lbw! Ian Gould raises the finger and Tendulkar wants a review. There’s only one review left. That pitches in line, hits him in line but the replays show that it is likely to miss leg stump. And listen to that roar in Mohali. That looked close. Tendulkar bats on …“
The above was an excerpt from www.espncricinfo.com on the commentary of India vs. Pakistan cricket match. It was the crucial do-or-die semifinal match in the Cricket World Cup 2011 played at Mohali, on 30-Mar-2011. A billion hearts would have skipped beat but thanks to UDRS (Umpire Decision Review System) which uses the predictive ball movement technology, the God gets a breather and so do the billion fans around the world. And at the end, India won the match with Tendulkar scoring invaluable 85 runs, contributing to India’s victory!
To use or not to use
There has been a perennial debate about use of technology in sports and games, especially in popular ones such as Football, Cricket and Tennis. Most recently in Cricket the UDRS and Hawk-Eye technologies came under the scanner and ignited the debate. While there are a few who would argue against it, some people do favor the use of technology. I, for one, would not take sides and certainly not in this post. I wish to touch upon how technology and more so, better user experience have brought about changes in the way sport, particularly Cricket, is being played and viewed over the last few decades.
For the sake of clarity and simplicity, I would like to classify my thoughts on usage of technology and usability into two different perspectives – one that dwells on their usage while the game is played – to help players play better and umpires take decisions effectively. And the other perspective touches upon the perspective as to how technology has evolved to help show the games to spectators and audiences in a better way, enhancing their viewing experiences of the game.
The evolution of Gentlemen’s game
There has been a sea change in the way the game has been played and viewed over the last few centuries. From the days when it was played only by men, the ‘Gentlemen’s game’ had undergone quite a few modifications in the rules, format and duration of play.
I cannot recollect the days when technology started making in-roads into the game of Cricket. I don’t intend to trace that in this post any way. Technology and usability had made their presence felt as the game transitioned from white-flannels to fully logo-ed colored jerseys, red cherry balls to white balls, 5-days test matches to one-day matches and now the popular 4-hour Twenty-20 games.
All through these transitions, technology and the better use of it only enhanced the playing of the game and made viewing the game a pleasure too! Well, there are some things which neither technology nor usability could help change, one of them being ‘sledging’ and the other one ‘match fixing’ :-)
Playing the game
First, let us look at how technology in the game had evolved over the years and how it helped play the game better. By and large, these technological advances helped umpires and referees take the right decisions in the most tricky or difficult situations. Often times, there were quite a few fumbles and mumbles in deciding run-outs, leg-before-wickets and stump-outs, because they required the umpires to look at the instance of the ball and bat from awkward angles.
Using multiple cameras in different positions definitely helped umpires view the same ball from For instance, the stump-vision technology with the cameras fitted into the wickets helped with a newer perspective and helped them get to the other and often impossible side of the moment. The same applies to the now controversial Umpire Decision Review System a.k.a UDRS. Of course, this system makes use of the Hawk-eye technology to predict the potential movement of the ball, based on the point of pitching.
And then add to this list other not-so high-tech stuff but which turned out to be a hit. One of the popular items is especially in the Twenty-20 matches, Microphone attached to the players, and sometimes umpires while the game is on. The idea is to have an interactive chat on their views and opinions, which will add some zing to the spectators interest in the game.
Viewing the game
A few years back, I could remember seeing the score only at the end of the over. But over the years, score is being displayed always-on. Also it used to take quite a while to re-play the previous deliveries of the ball. They used to only show replays for important deliveries such as a boundary or a wicket. But again, advancement in technology made more usable and pleasurable viewing of the game. Now if you miss a ball, you don’t have to worry too much. Thanks to the multiple cameras across the ground, now for every ball delivered, we have instant re-plays. Also, these replay not just in one angle, but multiple angles, and multiple formats and speeds to help get a better view of the same delivery.
Besides the above, more recently ultra-motion cameras provide that super slow motion videos of ball delivery, impact with the bat and subsequently its motion. These offer some stunning moments of the game for viewers – whether its that unbelievable catch by the fielder or the unimaginable angling of the bat by the batsman to score that cheeky shot. Also, speed guns are deployed to help determine the speed of the bowler’s delivery which help show the speed of the ball almost instantaneously.
Cricket had been predominantly filled up with figures and statistics. This might be challenging for a lot of fans and sports personnel to follow, remember, analyze, interpret these mere numbers. To help reach out to these key users and stakeholders, technology and user experience had been pressed to better use. To help make sense of the raw numbers,statistics and unfathomable analyses, a smarter option was made available, that of charts, graphs and other types of info-graphics.
Most of these widgets (short form for What-I-do-is-what-I-get) are helpful in the analysis of the game and the teams’ scores. These graphic elements are used to compare and contrast the performance and progress of the players and teams as well. Some of the widgets offer exceptional interaction and experience providing an easy-to-understand way of representing the otherwise mundane figures.
Not every widget is used in the same way to do the same thing. Each of them has a unique purpose, and usage mechanism. Some of the elements like the Wagon wheel, and Spider are used primarily to analyze the batting performance of the teams. A few others such as the Manhattan and worm are used to analyze the scores of the teams, whereas some others such as bar diagrams and pie-charts are used to help present the bowling related figures in a better way.
A look at the above indicate that usage of technology and usability of it only helped enhance the experience of playing and viewing the games. With more ways of interaction such as the Mobil phones, Touch screens and Tablets coming in our way, I expect this to improve the experience of sports and games. There is no doubt that these will help the players,umpires and referees focus on what they should do (i.e., play the game, enjoy and entertain) and leave the rest to technology. And, for the viewers and sports-admirers, it will only make their experiences more fun, immersive and delightful!
Disclaimer: Some of the images used in this post have been taken from live feeds from Espncricinfo.com, Ndtvcricket.com and so the copyrights for these belong to the respective owners. Also, a few images have been taken courtesy other sites. The author of this blog post, and Texavi Innovative Solutions do not own any copyrights for the images used and the copyrights are attributed to their respective owners.
Just a couple weeks back Apple launched iPad2, the newer version of their tablet. No, I am not going to review and list out the good and bad things of iPad2 in this blog post. Rather, its about what’s keeping this company going…hardly a week after the iPad2 launch, there had been news abuzz that iPhone5 is being launched soon and some sites already got their hands dirty and published some screenshots of how the iPhone5 looks like and the features it will have. Its this ability of Apple inc., that surprises me every time they come up with a new product or enhancement of an existing product. I can see Apple as having perfected the art of ‘wowing’ users. In this post, I touch upon some takeaways from this spirited organization and their products, and also look at my own experiences with others.
Keep them guessing
Keep your users guessing, yes, very well! But, keep them guessing not about how to use your product in the first place, but about what your product can do for them. Keep them and also your other stakeholders, guessing on what’s the next set of offerings and value proposition you are going to serve them with. Apple keeps its users and the entire world guessing about the next big launch, notwithstanding some companies and sites who rake in the moolah by leaking news about these soon to-be-launched products. Its about how you keep your customers, users and stakeholders on their toes about your soon-to-be launched products.
Not just before release, but after launch and the purchase, users are indeed surprised with the experience they derive from Apple’s products. Let us not look at the value-for-money aspect of Apple’s products, which is a completely different topic altogether. Apple has always been a game changer and led the pack, little wonder then that they always enjoy the first-mover advantage and so the premium pricing. Whether its the Macintosh computer way back in the 80s, or the iMac in the 90s and iTunes, iPod, iPhone and iPad in the early parts of the 21st century, Apple always has been successful in keeping their users, stakeholders (and competitors too) pleasantly surprised, time and again!
‘Wow!’ – the element of surprise!
Whether its computers,music players, mobile phones and tablets, Apple’s core delivery seems to be…’Wow experiences!’ Taking a cue from this company, its quite obvious that organizations in any industry need to keep their customers and users amazed and amused. Some companies and products do resort to this in the form offering coupons, gifts, scratch cards, discount codes, freebies, BOGOFFs (Buy-one-get-one-for-free) etc. But do you think users are going to be really ‘surprised’ and ‘wow’ed by offering these surprise elements? You are right, they are least bit impressed, leave alone surprised by these itsy-bitsy extras.
When I say ‘surprise’, I refer to it in the context of the relationship you develop with your users. Its not about giving value in small packets, but to make your users genuinely fall in love with you, your products and your brand! Its about how enchanted and charmed they are with your products, not about those little extras that they are getting from your products. If you genuinely want to ‘wow’ them, don’t just look at the product alone. Focus on the holistic experience surrounding your product, services associated with it, your brand, communications.
Keep it simple
It might be as simple as changing a few elements of your product, on and off, a la’ Google. How much we all love the ever-refreshing ‘Google doodle’! Google changes their logo every often to celebrate or commemorate a leader, an occasion or a festival, worldwide. Note that they don’t change it too drastically to move out of their original corporate branding, nor so often that users get irritated. There is a season and reason for change and that’s one small way in which Google surprises their users in a small but significant way. Google does this brilliantly well in a simple and subtle way, take for instance the ‘I am feeling lucky’ button right below the Search bar.
The ‘Joy’ of surprise
Of all the chocolates and sweetmeats available in the market, my 4-year old daughter loves one thing the most, Kinder Joy. I noticed this not just with my kid, but with most others as well. I tried it myself and found it pretty amusing and amazing too why kids love this particular chocolate so much. This chocolate comes in an egg-shaped attractively colored package. When you open it, two parts – the first is of course, a chocolate and the other one a ‘surprise’ gift. This you can only see after opening that small container. Another interesting thing is that you also get a human-shaped spoon that comes along the pack so that you can eat the chocolate with that.
Analyze this…is it the chocolate that is doing the magic? it could be one reason, but not entirely. Then is it the attractive packaging? perhaps, yes. Or could it be the handy spoon that comes along to eat the chocolate with ease? Could be true. Is it the ‘surprise gift’ that keeps the kids guessing what could be inside and tickles their inquisitive brains-the small toys they are going to get in addition to the chocolate? Yes! That’s one major factor because the so called surprise-gift is not something you take out of the box and start playing. It needs to be built, assembled, joined, glued or worked upon. That’s the icing on the cake. Keep your users guessing and keep them, engaged not just with your product but with all associated services and activities. Note that its the entire experience of all the above elements that is adding up to the ‘wow’ factor.
Engage your users and build a relationship
Any relationship will turn sour if you don’t have an element of surprise. The relationship between product owner and user is no different. Spice up the relationship with a release now and then. You need to build a cult-like following amongst your customers and users. An example of a terrific relationship between an organization and its customers is Harley-Davidson. The proud owners of Harley do not just ride the motor cycles, but live their passion, joining clubs, and organizing and participating in fun events, social activities etc., which revolve not around the motor cycles, but also beyond them. It is an ‘experience’, a culture created around the relationship between you as an organization and your user community.
Relationships remain healthy and happy if the involved parties are engaged and are committed to each other. Same holds good for you and your users. Often, this commitment is driven by your users’ passion for your products and their expectations for your new products, which are built around the experiences from existing products.
Do you do OOBE (Out Of the Box Experience)?
Usability is dead, long live usability! Usability here, is referred to in terms of user’s experience just during usage of your product. You must look at an all-encompassing experience offered to your customers, users, stakeholders.In the time of square-box PCs, which were all-white, a sleek computer with curvy back with blue tinge did make a big difference. Apple introduced their iMac G3 machine which was a computer with drop-dead good looks. Add to that, a handle on the top to hold the monitor and pull it out of the box. With its sheer looks, ease of handling, the user could not help but say ‘WOW’ just after opening the box. You could only imagine their experience while working with the actual computer.
Keep in mind that you need to address the needs and wants of not just the existing customers or user-base, but also prospective customers and potential users-to-be. Also, this needs to be done at various stages of the customer and user engagement with you. You need to ensure that the element of surprise and ‘wow’ factors are built right from the pre-launch phase through to the launch phase. Not only that, it needs to be sustained for every prospective customer and user from pre-purchase, through to the purchase a.k.a point-of-sale to the post-purchase experiences.
Here is how to ‘wow’ your users
Here are some tips and tricks on how you can inject a bit of ‘surprise’ into your product development and release approaches.
First, release your site with bare minimum features. Add a ‘Beta’ to your site
Go agile – release often, release little
Keep releasing /launching on a continual basis, newer features and functionality
Build up an active user community
Spread the good news about your newer products, versions, enhancements
Give only so much info that your users are excited and your competitors, scared
Manage a few pre-launch sneak-peeks a.k.a leaks of your product
Focus not just on the product, but the entire experience surrounding the pre-purchase, purchase/point-of-sale, post-purchase
For your benefit, I gave below the images of the above mentioned products and examples.Have fun, browsing through this interactive feature. Until next post, ciao!
