shiny hammers — utility + usability + beauty

Shiny Hammers

This is a talk about altruism.

Also, vanity and laziness.

About alignment of interests.

About earning happy customers.

And keeping them.

By investing in design.

Design?

Design = creation of something that does work

…so people don’t have to.

Design = innovation

Design = leverage

name, logo, meme

hardware, software, service

recipe, guide, mantra

Design is a fundamental

human pursuit.

firethe wheelagriculturearchitecturerule of lawmedicine

society

Design is aboutscaling people.

Product Design

Product design =investment in customer

acquisition and retention

Retention = happiness

Happiness?

Back to hammers…

Everyone has a shiny hammer.

The tool you reach for first,the tool you feel great using.

The tool that helps you scale.

Three Things to Consider

Good

Cheap Fast

Utility

Beauty Usability

Utility

Beauty Usability

Utility = work

Utility = capability to do work(for a customer)

Utility

Beauty Usability

Usability = cost

Usability = cost to access utility

Cost = time + $,fixed and variable

Fixed usability cost =evaluation, implementation,

switching cost, learning curve

Variable usability cost =maintenance, usage,

exception cost

Utility

Beauty Usability

Beauty = concisedescription of value

Value = utility × usability

Beauty works toevoke positive emotion,

e.g. confidence, trust.

Beauty maximizes the oddsa potential customer will

consider your product

…or an existing customer will evangelize it.

Accessible Utility

Everything designed hasmaximum theoretical utility.

Accessible utility = theoretical utility × usability

= efficiency = value

Greater usability = lower cost

For equivalent utility, increased usability =

greater value

For each customer, every product has maximum

utilizable value.

(More sophisticated customers can access greater utility.)

Each potential customer has a budget (time + $)

to invest in your product.

To acquire a customer, you must meet their

accessibility threshold—their budget.

Obviously this is perceptual—witness success of certain

products, e.g. vices.

Surplus Time

Great products give time back.

Time back = happier customers

Customers will invest surplus time

back into your product.

A product that helps your customers scale,

helps you scale.

Organic growth,user communities,

evangelists.

Constraints

Why invest in design?

Investment in designinvests in your customers

and invests in growth.

Investing in design says“I like my customers” and

“I want more.”

Altruism =“I can help you”

Vanity =“I can help you”

Laziness =“I have limited resources”

Designing a product to scale?

Where are you constrained?

salessupport

developmentoperationscustomers

If you have zero customers,there is only one right answer.

Design investment changesas you build relationships

with customers.

Design investment is a deliberateallocation of resources between

utility, usability, and beauty.

Focus shifts as yourtarget customers change.

New needs require new investment in utility.

Growing businesses

Enterprise

China

Invest in usabilityto reach customers

with fewer resourcesor simpler needs.

Maximize shareof existing markets.

Empower the layman.

Invest in beauty to address changing tastes

or new customers withdifferent tastes.

In a competitive environment,there is no normal.

Usability in Practice

Avoid falling into the product trap.

Not every usability problemshould be solved with UX.

Sometimes it’s cheaper tothrow people at the problem.

(Or cheaper people. It depends where

you’re constrained.)

Customer Support

Customer support is a greatway to increase usability atlow cost to your customers.

It’s also a great feedback mechanism.

Obviously, this isn’t scalable—“web-scale,” anyway.

If you only have 10 customers,you don’t have a scaling problem.

You have a “I only have 10 customers”

problem.

Documentation

How fast is yourproduct evolving?

A high rate of change makesdocumentation obsolete quickly.

Document stable or matureparts of your product.

Leave the rest to support.

Community

Do your customers talk to each other?

Do they have surplus time to spend on your product?

Seed a community—Twitter, Facebook,

forums, mailing lists.

Reward altruisticcustomer behavior.

Interface Design

Does your product dosomething new,

or something better?

M-PESA unlocked bankingfor millions in Kenyavia mobile phones.

M-PESA delivered demonstrablyless utility than a bank.

But with infinitelygreater usability.

Minimum Viable *

Start here.

Utility

Invest a little here.

Beauty Usability

And here.

Beauty Usability

Start with just enough utilityto get your first customer.

Until you know whoyour customer really is or

what your product really does,invest judiciously in

usability and beauty.

Usually, that meansfor patient customer zero,

usability = you

You probably know yourfirst customer. Spend timewith them. Teach. Listen.

At this point,beauty = also you

Since you know your customer,and presumably they trust you,

they’ll try your product.

Try = minimal investment(time + $)

The burden is on you to prove why your customershould continue to invest

in your product.

Your customer puts in time + $,and—hopefully—gets utility out.

And time back.

And greater happiness.

Randy Reddig@rr