Every so often, other UX designers and I head down Mission Street to our favorite cookie bakery. There, we indulge in warm chocolate chip cookies fresh from the oven, perfectly baked to a golden heavenly color and melted gooey chocolate on the inside.
However, our journey there isn't as perfect as the cookies. We often experience spotty service. The cashiers sometimes don't get it right, making mistakes on orders. It's hard to shout over the noise and over the counter (when you're short like me), trying to point to the cookie you want. It's confusing where we can order the cookies vs. where we can order the sandwiches (apparently there are two lines). Despite it all, we always return, because they have the best cookies this side of San Francisco.
What's interesting is that people do this all the time. People are willing to go through the dark, dangerous cave, fighting monsters and digging through the dirt just to find the gold.
As an user experience designer, it amazes me how people are okay with struggling with a complicated cell phone or a dishwasher with a multitude of buttons. Sometimes I want to scream, "Don't you realize that you can have something better?" But people keep trudging on because it's the reward at the end - the communication with a loved one or the clean dishes ready for dinner.
Being designers, we have the ability to improve the journey to the destination. The discovery and learning of a product does not need to be challenging. It is our responsibility to find the easy way.
I like to say that I chose user experience design because of this. What's interesting is that user experience design - the thinking behind the design - is rarely if ever noticed. People remember the experience - whether it was pleasant or downright horrible. Designers have the ability to design for better experiences without people ever knowing it.
For one thing, I would suggest to the cookie bakery should have a sign for two lines - one that says "Cookie Lovers" and the other says "Everything Else".
