The Mobile Internet For The Rest Of Us | Home | Too Much of a Good Thing?

Filed under Design on July 6, 2007 by Chris LoSacco

Ux is Holistic

When developing software for the web, it's easy to forget that the end user--the human that's clicking around in a web browser--doesn't necessarily view her experience as a collection of disparate tasks (although she may), but rather as a singular experience focused on one goal, that gets harder and more complicated with each additional destination.

Let me provide an example. When signing up for a new payroll system, if our user is asked to enter a provider ID for her primary care dentist, but doesn't have the number on hand, she gets frustrated.

A simple solution is the one employed during the enrollment process for the ADP TotalSource system: just provide a hyperlink to the insurance company's web site, and let the user search for the ID.

Except not only has her enrollment experience just gotten significantly different (she's looking at a new web site in a new window... for the same task?) but the search for the ID is many, many clicks away--clicks where she's making decisions she's already made (like plan choice) and entering information she's already entered (like zip code).

A better user experience would be one that incorporates this additional and helpful functionality without exposing the stitches underneath. In software buzzspeak, this is called making the experience seamless.

The burden on the ADP development team here is a serious one. They have to take information they don't have control over, slice and dice it down to the sought after results, and present it in the existing interface. In most cases, the initial cost-to-benefit ratio here will always prohibit the effort, since typical management will say, it's okay, it gets the job done (or something to that effect).

A breath of fresh air, then, when the time comes to enter an ID and I have a list of available choices inline; when designers take the time to craft every point of the process; when the user experience is holistic.

This effect isn't lost on users. This is how to make people happy, encourage product loyalty and create a market for yourself.

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