If elevators could talk…
They would probably tell you that you need to press the button for the direction you want to go. Not the direction it should move to reach you. But that’s a discussion for a different day. (Or post!)
Today, I’ve been thinking about the misalignment between design and end-use of products.
When building something, designers may consider every minute detail and angle they can imagine. However, the end user will still use the product in ways designers never anticipated. WhatsApp founders, for example, probably never intended groups to be note-taking windows. But people have been using their single-people groups for all kinds of quick notes for years. I know the platform eventually introduced self-messaging, but we all know people with three or even four of those WhatsApp groups – because a single self-messaging window just isn’t enough for them.
Another important thing I believe design should keep in mind is the effort-to-reward ratio. If you want people to learn something new, the returns better be significant. The steeper the learning and effort curve, the greater should be the incentive at the end of it. Otherwise, it will never become mainstream. Ideally the incentive to try something new shouldn’t include any curve at all….
That’s what we have been striving to achieve with Rayden Interactive and Phreesia’s strategic partnership. To create seamless and humane platforms that can revolutionize an individual’s healthcare experience by making their lives easier and solving their common problems.
We want to do to healthcare what food ordering apps did to the food delivery ecosystem.
As for elevators. I am just thankful that unlike the Ministry of Magic in Harry Potter’s universe, our elevators only move in two ways!