{"rowid": 150, "title": "A Gift Idea For Your Users: Respect, Yo", "contents": "If, indeed, it is the thought that counts, maybe we should pledge to make more thoughtful design decisions.  In addition to wowing people who use the Web sites we build with novel features, nuanced aesthetics and the new new thing, maybe we should also thread some subtle things throughout our work that let folks know:  hey, I\u2019m feeling ya.  We\u2019re simpatico.  I hear you loud and clear.\n\nIt\u2019s not just holiday spirit that moves me to talk this way.  As good as people are, we need more than the horizon of karma to overcome that invisible demon, inertia.  Makers of the Web, respectful design practices aren\u2019t just the right thing, they are good for business.  Even if your site is the one and only place to get experience x, y or zed, you don\u2019t rub someone\u2019s face in it.  You keep it free flowing, you honor the possible back and forth of a healthy transaction, you are Johnny Appleseed with the humane design cues.  You make it clear that you are in it for the long haul.\n\nA peek back:\n\n\n\nThink back to what search (and  strategy) was like before Google launched a super clean page with \u201cI\u2019m Feeling Lucky\u201d button.  Aggregation was the order of the day (just go back and review all the \u2018strategic alliances\u2019 that were announced daily.)  Yet the GOOG comes along with this zen layout (nope, we\u2019re not going to try to make you look at one of our media properties) and a bold, brash, teleport-me-straight-to-the-first-search-result button.  It could have been titled \u201cWe\u2019re Feeling Cocky\u201d.  These were radical design decisions that reset how people thought about search services.  Oh, you mean I can just find what I want and get on with it?\n\nIt\u2019s maybe even more impressive today, after the GOOG has figured out how to monetize attention better than anyone.  \u201cI\u2019m Feeling Lucky\u201d is still there.  No doubt, it costs the company millions.  But by leaving a little money on the table, they keep the basic bargain they started to strike in 1997.  We\u2019re going to get you where you want to go as quickly as possible.\n\nWhere are the places we might make the same kind of impact in our work?  Here are a few ideas:\n\nRespect People\u2019s Time\n\nAs more services become more integrated with our lives, this will only become more important.  How can you make it clear that you respect the time a user has granted you?\n\nUser-Oriented Defaults\n\nDefault design may be the psionic tool in your belt.  Unseen, yet pow-er-ful.  Look at your defaults.  Who are they set up to benefit?  Are you depending on users not checking off boxes so you can feel ok about sending them email they really don\u2019t want?  Are you depending on users not checking off boxes so you tilt privacy values in ways most beneficial for your SERPs?  Are you making it a little too easy for 3rd party applications to run buckwild through your system?\n\nThere\u2019s being right and then there\u2019s being awesome.  Design to the spirit of the agreement and not the letter.\n\nSee this?\n\n\n\nMake sure that\u2019s really the experience you think people want.  Whenever I see a service that defaults to not opting me in their newsletter just because I bought a t shirt from them, you can be sure that I trust them that much more.  And they are likely to see me again.\n\nReduce, Reuse\n\nIt\u2019s likely that people using your service will have data and profile credentials elsewhere.  You should really think hard about how you can let them repurpose some of that work within your system.  Can you let them reduce the number of logins/passwords they have to manage by supporting OpenID?  Can you let them reuse profile information from another service by slurping in (or even subscribing) to hCards?  Can you give them a leg up by reusing a friends list they make available to you?  (Note:  please avoid the anti-pattern of inviting your user to upload all her credential data from 3rd party sites into your system.)\n\nThis is a much larger issue, and if you\u2019d like to get involved, have a look at the wiki, and dive in.\n\nMake it simple to leave\n\nOh, this drives me bonkers.  Again, the more simple you make it to increase or decrease involvement in your site, or to just opt-out altogether, the better.  This example from Basecamp is instructive:\n\n\n\nAt a glance, I can see what the implications are of choosing a different type of account.  I can also move between account levels with one click.  Finally, I can cancel the service easily.  No hoop jumping.  Also, it should be simple for users to take data with them or delete it.\n\nLet Them Have Fun\n\nDon\u2019t overlook opportunities for pleasure.  Even the most mundane tasks can be made more enjoyable.  Check out one of my favorite pieces of interaction design from this past year:\n\n\n\nHoly knob fiddling, Batman!  What a great way to get people to play with preference settings:  an equalizer metaphor.  Those of a certain age will recall how fun it was to make patterns with your uncle\u2019s stereo EQ.  I think this is a delightful way to encourage people to optimize their own experience of the news feed feature.  Given the killer nature of this feature, it was important for Facebook to make it easy to fine tune.\n\nI\u2019d also point you to Flickr\u2019s Talk Like A Pirate Day Easter egg as another example of design that delights.  What a huge amount of work for a one-off, totally optional way to experience the site.  And what fun.  And how true to its brand persona.  Brill.\n\nAnti-hype\n\nDon\u2019t talk so much.  Rather, ship and sample.  Release code, tell the right users.  See what happens.   Make changes.  Extend the circle a bit by showing some other folks.  Repeat.\n\nThe more you hype coming features, the more you talk about what isn\u2019t yet, the more you build unrealistic expectations.  Your genius can\u2019t possibly match our collective dreaming.  Disappointment is inevitable.  Yet, if you craft the right melody and make it simple for people to hum your tune, it will spread.  Give it time.  Listen.\n\nSpeak the Language of the Tribe\n\nIt\u2019s respectful to speak in a human way.  Not that you have to get all zOMGWTFBBQ!!1 in your messaging.  People respond when you speak to them in a way that sounds natural.  Natural will, of course, vary according to context.  Again, listen in and people will signal the speech that works in that group for those tasks.  Reveal those cues in your interface work and you\u2019ll have powerful proof that actual people are working on your Web site.\n\nThis example of Pownce\u2018s gender selector is the kind of thing I\u2019m talking about:\n\n\n\nNow, this doesn\u2019t mean you should mimic the lingo on some cool kidz site.  Your service doesn\u2019t need to have a massage when it\u2019s down.  Think about what works for you and your tribe.  Excellent advice here from Feedburner\u2019s Dick Costolo on finding a voice for your service.  Also, Mule Design\u2019s Erika Hall has an excellent talk on improving your word fu.\n\nPass the mic, yo\n\nHere is a crazy idea:  you could ask your users what they want.  Maybe you could even use this input to figure out what they really want.  Tools abound.  Comments, wikis, forums, surveys.  Embed the sexy new Get Satisfaction widget and have a dynamic FAQ running.\n\nThe point is that you make it clear to people that they have a means of shaping the service with you.  And you must showcase in some way that you are listening, evaluating and taking action against some of that user input.\n\nYou get my drift.  There are any number of ways we can show respect to those who gift us with their time, data, feedback, attention, evangelism, money.  Big things are in the offing.  I can feel the love already.", "year": "2007", "author": "Brian Oberkirch", "author_slug": "brianoberkirch", "published": "2007-12-23T00:00:00+00:00", "url": "https://24ways.org/2007/a-gift-idea-for-your-users-respect-yo/", "topic": "ux"}