Three (more!) Dimensions of UX

Say you’re building something completely new and different, which can leave users feeling anxious and/or confused. How do you introduce it to the user, and get the user actually, well, using it?

It’s a good question, and particularly relevant in our current world, where we are constantly being bombarded with information, with the volume and content thereof being ever-increasing. Mind you, the fact that we spend our days hunched over a computer and/or a phone doesn’t help at all — if anything it only emphasizes the sheer amount of cognitive load that we all live with on a day to day basis. In this environment, the last thing you want is to add anything to this cognitive load.

As product developers, succeeding in this world involves either outcompeting the others, or making life easier for your users. Assuming that you aren’t in the business of being evil (please please don’t be evil!), your approach towards UX should focus on ensuring that the users know that they are doing the right thing, and having the appropriate guard-rails — literal and figurative — that prevent them from falling off a cliff. In short, what you do will probably fall into one or more of the following buckets

1. 1. If there are a bunch of new UI features that need to be figured out, don’t drop the user into the deep end. Make sure that it — whatever it is — is something that they can relate to, that they can apply their existing knowledge paths to. The ability to identify with a process or a story can go a long way towards easing a user’s path towards using your product!
2. 2. Regarding this usage, if it involves something new or different from what a user has dealt with in the past — i.e., it isn’t relatable — then you have to ensure that the behavior is dependable. Consistency and predictability are utterly important here, because if they aren’t there, the user will be hesitant to push the boundaries of their usage of your product.
3. 3. Finally, if the boundaries are way out there, if your product has vast range and/or complexity, then the interactions (the UI!) needs to be familiar. Steering wheel, pedals, gear-shift — a Tesla is a far cry from a ’51 Chevy Bel Air, but not all that different when it comes to driving¹.

Each of these — Relatability, Dependability, and Familiarity²— are orthogonal features that you need to consider. Which combination of these you focus on will depend entirely on the specifics of your product, but you ignore them at your peril!

1. Ok, don’t get started on me here, you get the point I’m making 😁.
2. For more on this, take a look at this writeup.