UX Input

The smart folks at Cloud Four recently wrote about the implications of an Apple TV, which is now rumored to be released at some point this year. It may even be getting tested right now in Canada.

It’s really interesting to think about what Apple could do with TVs. Cloud Four makes a good point about the Web on phones. At first, people never really considered browsing much on phones because the experience was so terrible. Or, if they did go online with it, they struggled through in spite of the experience. At that point in time, we were limited by a whole host of factors, from the hardware to the software to the data connection.

I think we’re at that point today with TV tech. The hardware and software just haven’t caught up yet. Even when surfing through a dedicated browser like that on the PS3, the TV Internet experience is awful. Not only do we lack decent hardware (the keyboard, but also a good way to navigate without a mouse), the software so far has just been a bigger version of what we’ve had for ages on the desktop. The context is totally different (lean back versus lean forward), yet we have the same setup. Of course it’s not gonna work. If Apple is able to figure out a rich experience for this lean-back couch mode, sign me up. I can’t say that I’ll check email on my TV, but it could open up new possibilities for finding and viewing content.

Link: Will Apple’s New TV Feature a Browser?

One thing I love about user experience as a field is that it draws on skills from so many areas — visual/information/interface design, programming, psychology, usability and copywriting to name a few. Sure, good software functions well. It helps users accomplish some goal. But it doesn’t stop there. The best experiences delight people.

I heard an analogy from Aarron Walter in a recent talk on emotional design that’s spot-on. In explaining the idea of UX, he compared our job to that of a chef’s. People don’t seek out great restaurants, he said, to simply get their daily fill of nutrients. That can be found in the canned goods aisle in any supermarket. No, we pay premium prices in restaurants for the experience. We open our wallets because the food is creative and beautiful (even if in some rustic way), not just functional.

The same goes for the apps and websites we build. Usability is important, but the whole experience is about more than just functionality. Even in going directly from A to B, there’s room for a little joy. Take the sleep light on Mac computers that doesn’t just indicate that the machine is asleep; it makes it feel like it’s actually sleeping. Look at the sticker used by Jimmy Johns that goes beyond holding the sandwich together and actually wishes us Merry Christmas. Or, take the outdoor outfitter Moosejaw.

Shipping seems like it should be pretty straightforward. The retailer boxes up a customer’s purchase and gets it in the hands of UPS. A few days later, the happy customer picks it up on her porch. A to B. But why waste this opportunity (especially when people remember first and last impressions the most)?

Moosejaw knows better. A laptop bag I ordered from the company arrived on my doorstep just the other day. Before even opening it, I felt a human connection from a simple, hand-signed sticker that sealed the package with a kiss (above). Inside, they thanked me with a letter and a hand-written smiley face that made me smile in return.

It’s a little thing. But it’s these little things that separate suppliers from brands. A handful of retailers would sell me that same pack at the same price and get it to me in the same condition (function). What’s going to make me their customer? Whether it’s software or hardware, the little things like this are what get people to remember you. It’s these little things, added onto solid functionality, that makes for wonderful experiences.

Passwords serve an important function. They make things secure and instill trust. But they create a lot of problems, too. For one, with new security requirements, passwords have become increasingly difficult to enter. Masking passwords as we type — a practice that needs to end according to usability experts like Jacob Nielsen — only increases the odds that we’ll make a mistake. This is especially true when attempting to type on notoriously unreliable mobile phone keyboards.

Another key problem with passwords is that we seldom remember which password we used when setting up an account (or worse, whether we even have an account). Even if you try to use the same password for everything online, security requirements will probably make you change it a bit from site to site (adding a character or a capital letter, for instance). This perhaps explains why so many users have duplicate accounts on popular sites like Target and Macy’s.

Luminary designer Khoi Vinh has questioned whether we need passwords at all. I love this idea. If passwords are going to cause users so much pain, we should only be using them when they are totally necessary.

Priceline has done just that. Sort of, anyway. They have replaced the password with the security question (and answer). When customers may only use your website or application two or three times a year, why make them remember passwords? Requiring a password in this situation all but guarantees they’ll have to go through the painful process of “recovering” it.

Priceline avoids all of this by instead asking users a question when they set up their accounts. Questions like these have been used for years as a supplement to passwords. Why not simply replace passwords with them? There’s no ambiguity about it. No looking through notes or emails. No signing into password managers. A simple question and answer and we’re on our way. More services should follow Priceline’s lead.

Email design can be tricky. Because the landscape of email apps and clients is so varied (not to mention unaccepting of Web standards), we have to code emails using techniques from the late 1990s. If you have the time and the budget, designing a compelling, elegant email can be a really rewarding task. But a lot of times, we don’t have that benefit.

Cue pre-designed templates from a couple of wonderful services, Campaign Monitor and MailChimp. Use them to get your campaigns off the ground, while giving you more time to focus on what matters as much as the design: the content.

Link: Email Templates from Campaign Monitor

Link: Email Templates from MailChimp

First, let me say that I love Netflix. Setting the recent pricing controversy aside, the company offers an amazing service. The amount of media they deliver every day is staggering. That volume of content and the elegant way it’s sorted and served up to us has totally changed how we think of media, not just online but off.

That said, even near-perfect products can have their usability issues. One that I’d love to see the UX folks at Netflix address is something that wakes me up at night. Literally. Let me explain…

Many nights, when I don’t feel up to reading before bed, I’ll get my laptop out and start streaming something. (Whether that’s a good idea is for another post.) Then, I’ll fall asleep. The problem is that when the movie/show is up, the signature red Netflix screen appears and casts the room alight. This usually wakes me up.

My solution? How about a nighttime mode running automatically that displays a black-and-white final screen instead of the red? I get the branding considerations, but surely black and white could fit into the core standards. In this setting, it makes more sense than the red. And it would be simple and cheap to implement.

The thing is, people don’t always use your products as you envision. Sometimes, odd scenarios happen that are hard to see in a lab. I think this is one of those cases. How do you find these outlier issues and address them? Listen to organic feedback from your users.

So, Netflix, that’s my feedback. It may be a unique case, but to me this matters a lot. Can you make this small adjustment in background color to your final screen? It would mean the world to me — and my sleep.

What do you guys think? Have you ever been awoken by this bright red light? What other types of things like this crop up when using a website or product?