Fixpert

Every so often, I help a co-worker of mine (I will refer to him as “Phil”) by reprogramming his cell phone so that his ringer is not so loud at work. He is a smart guy, and though he doesn’t have a technical background, he is proficient on a computer. In fact, he uses a computer all day long for his job.

I think if Phil put his mind to it, he would certainly be able to re-program the phone himself. Which leads me to this post. I think that instilling confidence into our audience — whether on the web or on an electronic device — is an important component of good interface design. Something about Phil’s phone intimidates him, and eventhough he is embarrassed when his phone rings so loudly (keep in mind, embarrassment is a strong motivational tool) he doesn’t even attempt to change the settings himself because he is sure he won’t be able to figure it out. In fact, he is more willing to cringe and avoid eye contact with his colleagues as his phone rings loudly, than pick the phone up and start pressing buttons.

There are implications here not only for physical product design, but also web design:

• Are we offering so many features that even the most basic features go unused?
• Are we using industry jargon — or sometimes jargon specific to our company — to label our interfaces?
• Are we creating interfaces for our internal customers (inside the company) that are ineffective or unusable for the actual customers?
• Would you want to use your own product?
• Would your parents?

I know I’m not the first person to ask these questions, but I’d like to hear your thoughts on this. I am also interested in hearing how web designers can use their industry expertise to influence the decision-makers in our companies to make decisions that are good for the online customer. The traditional sales method of throwing as much in the customer’s face as possible just does not translate to the web, so it’s up to us to educate our bosses, and our boss’s bosses.