When you see a kid master a smartphone – watching videos, skipping ads, video calling grandparents – is it because the kid is clever or the UI is intuitive? Sorry parents, but in most cases, it’s the latter. That said, please don’t leave your kids unattended with phones.
Today, we have touchscreens. But do you remember when a computer mouse used to be the most cutting-edge navigation device?
Circa 2007, Parul and I left for the USA. Little did we know our first challenge would be playing tech support for our parents back home, helping them navigate the wild wild west of VoIP and input devices.
They had to operate a mouse so we could talk using Skype. But using the mouse was like a secret handshake they just couldn’t crack. We eventually just got hardware VoIP phones. It enabled us to connect without the tech tango. Fast forward to today, and both our parents are touchscreen maestros. Thanks, in no small part, to intuitive UI.
Designing a good user-centric product is about understanding users’ pain points, limitations, needs, and preferences. Empathy and research are the secret ingredients to getting this recipe right.
The mouse is a versatile tool, but using it can be challenging for people struggling with hand-eye coordination. And our parents weren’t the only ones struggling with the mouse maze. This same insight had led Phreesia to launch their first all-touchscreen Phreesia Pad, way back in 2005-06. It was a rugged tablet with big touch points to help older patients check in at doctor’s offices, cutting their waiting time significantly.
Being a designer at heart, watching users interact with good design is like a treat for my eyes and a spa day for my soul. Watching people struggle with poor UI pains me.
I think a product’s UI is successful only when the intended user needs little or no training on how to use it and can focus on the task they are trying to accomplish – do you agree?