Currently:
Product Manager at Shapeways
Studio Director at Toy Studio
Another great design practice and technique that I once heard or read about but have not persistently used it in practice. The next time you design something, try having a conversation with your design or user interface. How did that conversation go?
Tasting menus are meticulously designed by chefs to give diners the best culinary experience possible. Nothing is left to chance. Each item listed on the menu is chosen specifically to present an overall theme or cuisine from start to finish. There are no substitutions, there are no “May I have this on the side?” There is just what the chef wants you to eat and sometimes even drink. You drink this while you eat that and you’ll like it. It’s a well thought out plan, a work of art, it’s what a master of their craft wants you to experience from the moment you sit down at the table to the moment you leave. We as designers have a lot to learn from tasting menus.
I find myself time and time again using a web service or app that starts out great but with time I find it’s value decreases. Or for that matter I start using a service, and decide that it isn’t for me. Then, a couple months later someone is talking up a storm about how amazing this one service is and to be honest - it sounds amazing and like everything I want! When I’m told what the service or app is it’s something I tried months ago. I wasn’t using it the way it was intended to so it served no purpose to me (more about this on my previous post http://bit.ly/lostsrvcs).
Why is that I enjoyed Twitter far more 2 years ago than I do today? My followers count has increased by 1,000 maybe even more but why should that matter? Or better yet, why was I allowed to destroy my own experience? Funny enough, there’s a Twitter feature which could have easily let me enjoy Twitter the same way I enjoyed it 2 years ago - and that’s Twitter lists. When I’ve reached a point where the number of incoming tweets per second I have in my stream exceed a particular limit why wasn’t I prompted to create a new list or better yet, why wasn’t a list created for me? It could have been populated with Twitter usernames which I reply to often.
None of this happened, not even a little bit. I think I remember Twitter lists being explained to me at one point when they were released. Something about I could create lists now but no reason for why I should or how it could enhance my experience. Had I known it could recreate what Twitter was for me in the past I would have created a list the very second it was released.
Senior Curator in the Department of Architecture and Design, Paola Antonelli recently held an exhibit at the MoMA titled Talk To Me which highlights and emphasizes the importance of what Paola calls script. Paola says, “The message of Talk to Me is that designers today cannot just think of form, function, and meaning. They also have to think of script. Now, as a designer, you really have to think of how those objects are going to interact with people. Of course, this comes naturally to interface and interaction designers, but not as much to product designers or furniture designers—but they all have to learn that this is what’s necessary today.”
Paola is talking about traditional designers - but, the truth is while we as interface, interaction, and even game designers do think more about the form, function, and meaning of our creation the concept of an infinite script is still relatively new to us. It’s something which we have yet to progress very far in but it’s still our responsibility.
It’s time we start to think of the never-ending script. We must deliver a complete experience during the existence of a service or product that doesn’t differ or break what we want our “diner” to experience. We must design an experience which will be the best for them - regardless of what they have to say. They will do this like that because that’s the best way to experience what we’re trying to create. And if they don’t like it, well there are plenty of other apps or services they can flock to.
Side Note: In case someone thinks I hate Twitter after reading this, I do not. I love Twitter. It just happened to be a rather mainstream example that I thought would resonate well with anyone reading this.
Over a year ago I tried using Evernote. Everyone who spoke of it said it was a great service and that I should give it a shot. I was rather impressed with it’s ability to OCR my writing from a whiteboard and that was enough to keep me interested. The problem though was that I didn’t know how to use it so my sporadic Evernote use quickly turned into no use at all.
At the time I wasn’t really sure what I would use Evernote for. At first I thought I would use it exclusively for capturing whiteboard brainstorming sessions and I did. But when my whiteboard use dwindled so did my Evernote use. I remember trying to use it for project note taking but at the time, I did most of that on the studio’s wiki, project management software, or via e-mail. All three of those services provided me with rather substantial means of tracking and tagging my notes well enough so that I didn’t need to do much more.
Now, a year later I see the real power of Evernote. It’s not just meant for work, and it’s not just meant for play. It’s meant for my life. A collective digital scrapbook that I can scour at a moment’s notice. Whether it’s a recipe or an interesting game mechanic, my Evernote will give it a home and keep it safe until I need it. I didn’t quite understand that before my need for a service of that nature became so strong.
Almost over a year ago, a feature of a web service I use daily went unnoticed, lists for Twitter. When this feature was first introduced I asked myself, “Why would I want to make a list of people I follow? What would that list even be?” I couldn’t answer that question. Today I follow over 1,000 people on Twitter and lists make complete sense to me. Much like Evernote it wasn’t until I had a problem that Twitter lists showed it’s real value. I was having a hard time keeping up with people’s tweets whom I wanted to read on a daily basis. They were often hidden amongst several hundreds of other tweets and visiting their individual profile was time consuming. So I started a list of people whom I’d like to read every day on Twitter. The list works great and it really helps me keep up to date with those users.
So what does Evernote and Twitter lists have in common? They weren’t put in context to me when I was first introduced to them. I didn’t understand how either Evernote or Twitter lists would be effective yet yet now that they are effective, I can’t stop using them. Building a great service or a new feature is only half the battle the other half is presenting it in a way which will resonate with the target audience. Twitter could have created empty lists for me that could have been slightly suggestive as to the type of users I would add to that list. Entrepreneur, gamers, techies, any of those would have been great context for what lists are meant to do. Evernote similarly could have made suggestions as to how I should use their notebooks, and add media so it all makes sense and the value became apparent. In the end, it’s not just what you build but how you present it.
