Adaptive Design
In our quest for a greater grasp of the ability to create inspiring and immersive experiences, we have to consider the elements of our products and services that aid and enhance those experiences. To get it right, there’s a lot to it. And a lot of it may seem obvious. We create a product that works, we dress it up in a sexy, usable interface and ensure that it’s robust and functional and everyone’s a winner.
But we can do more, right?
A large factor of a great product is ease of use. No matter how awesome it may look, no matter how many Stylexa clever features it may boast, if it’s difficult to use it’s going to become frustrating, it will get ignored and eventually will end up in the bin. And that will be one unhappy customer.
So, that makes it our job to create easier, more usable and smarter apps, websites, solutions and services that take the complexity away from the user and make tasks easier to perform. There are many ways we can go about developing this.
Sometimes it’s a case of taking several tasks and condensing them into one simple task, such as saving a user’s billing information so they don’t have to re-enter it every time, or Amazon’s ‘1-click ordering’ system. However if not designed and tested correctly these ’short-cut’ processes can be annoying or even troublesome. What if you were to click ‘1-click ordering’ by mistake or accidentally order something to the wrong place because the system assumed your default delivery address? We have to ensure we never overlook things like this.
More personal interactions
We can use personalisation and customisation options to allow users to tailor their experiences to suit their personal working processes. For example, providing the ability to show/hide and move the panels on the new BBC homepage allows users to create a more sensible website layout for themselves.
The new BBC homepage allows users to customise their experiences
The new BBC homepage allows users to customise their experiences
That’s great. But it most certainly applies itself to certain people over others. I love getting a new app and exploring through the menus to get to know it as well as possible. Whenever I create a new account on any form of social networking site, my first step is to discover how I can adapt my unique layout and options to tailor my own needs. Not everyone is like this.
So, we need to look at ways to help tailor user’s experiences for them, possibly sometimes without them even realising. This is where we turn to adaptive design.
Clever clever
To improve efficiency and ease-of-use we need to consider creating products that can assess user habits and in turn adapt, transform and even evolve to suit individual lifestyles and trends. Not to overuse Amazon as an example but their ‘Recommended for You‘ widget is a great demonstration of collecting data and using it to individualize experiences, and ultimately draw more money out of repeat visitors.
Here’s a neat example. How about a holidays website that analyses visitors browsing habits and serves deals and adverts according to places they seem to be more interested in. So if a particular visitor frequents the Italian section of the site over everything else, we can specifically target content related to Italy and holiday offers in Italy to the individual user.
However, we also have to be careful that these techniques enhance user experience and don’t intrude or annoy, because that really defeats the whole idea.
Smart devices
But why stick to online? Our reach can far extend websites and apps. How about a toaster that keeps track of how you prefer your toast, then resets itself so you get the ideal level of crispiness every time? Or can even adapt to different thicknesses and densities of bread?
What about if your car knew what time you set off for work every morning and automatically turned itself on 5 minutes beforehand to warm up?
This ideas may seem absurd now, but could very much be a reality in ten years time. As we find ourselves moving closer to a market that appreciates the importance of user experience and a consumer demand for more pleasurable products and services, we need to see beyond the gimmickry of these ideas and consider the reality.
One last idea. How about clothes that heated and cooled themselves according to the temperature? May seem silly now, may be the norm in 15 years time. Don’t you fancy a piece of that pie?