Ghost in the Pixel

While it’s understandable in this era of cool, beautiful designs marketed on app stores that a start-up (or any company for that matter) desperately wants “someone to make the UI pretty”, it’s vital to understand that a designer provides significant value beyond “pretty pixels”, or “easy usability”. A designer of digital products & online services should be treated as a partner and leader in the product development process.

Below is a quick breakdown of what we’ve discussed within Citrix Product Design as a model of framing how designers can and should function as leaders within a company, for long-term organizational gain. Designers within the team, or organization, offer the following leadership value:

Indeed the best designers know how to blend beauty and purpose flexibly, with a mix of creative thinking and analytical decision-making. They could very well be a company’s most valuable team addition, striking a model of design leadership that elevates everyone’s game within the company.

I just love how Devs and PMs often ask me (or my talented peers) to make “it” pretty. Usually the “it” being something that’s a total riot of buttons, icons, menus, tables, and randomly thrown stuff, already “pre-designed” by the esteemed stakeholders like aforesaid PM or Devs. Understandably it’s all borne out of good intentions (or we optimistically presume so)…We in this field often have heard this far too many times before, this seemingly harmless, light-hearted, yet teeth-grindingly irksome request. Can you (please) make this pretty for me? After all, it’s just a few colors, fonts, images and — voila! right? Oh and can you have it ready by 5pm or tomorrow at the latest? Thanks so much!

Of course, there’s so much more than whipping up a few colors and icons… And just what is it that makes this particular, simple request so bothersome, even offensive to designers? A few quick thoughts, as this has come up recently at a few talks I’ve given to folks in various contexts, in terms of requesting help from designers. And as designers, we’ve all encountered this at some point!

Foremost, “pretty” is a pejorative to a serious, well-intentioned designer. It is a word that smacks of triviality, frivolity, and altogether not-so-serious work..in a word “silliness”. It’s also somewhat vaguely sexist, but the primary issue is what it implies: window dressing and lip gloss treatment, that’s merely superficial veneer, to dress up a train-wreck of a product lacking nuanced, strategic forethought of use and quality.

Also this notion implies that the work of a designer is not legitimate work of industry, struggle, overcoming, and finally deliverance worthy of achievement. There is indeed a heroic journey no matter how you proceed, from empathic analysis, to creative synthesis, with prototyping and iteration, gauging user feedback, and so forth. There is significant effort and difficulty in the trials and efforts of “making something pretty”, and worthwhile.

So what should devs/PMs request? Instead of “making it pretty”, it’s far more productive to ask how to partner with designers in identifying the proper problem to solve, generating solutions that fulfill user’s goals, enable users to stay on task by creating something that is usable and desirable. How can PMs and Devs help designers solve the problem and deliver a beautiful, powerful solution to drive total sales, meet market targets, promote overall brand value, and provide something that’s strategically valuable, not just ephemerally cute or pretty. In other words, how can we ALL team up together to tackle flawed thinking and deliver a smartly thought-out product or service.

And besides, when it comes to “prettying up” the UI, that in itself really refers to clarifying, illuminating, emphasizing, adding structure, coherence, utility, value, and meaning that supports a person’s goals…echoing the words of legendary designer Paul Rand. How to make it more visually communicative, with hierarchy, balance, proportion, scale. How to make the product or service more emotionally resonant, such that people will love it, and demand more or spread a good word to their peers, and find delightful use in their daily activities. After all, this is really a big step towards going beyond “pretty” and delivering promising, impactful value, which is what we’re really striving for, though our non-design stakeholders may not realize it. We have to help educate our friends in Dev and PM what it really means to “design pretty”, and delivery effective value as product  design partners.

This year I was fortunate to be selected as a speaker presenting at the SxSW Interactive Festival on behalf of the Citrix Product Design team. An awesome honor, I took the opportunity to its fullest to experience SxSW This was actually my second visit, having previously attended about 5+ years ago when it was a much smaller event–I recall the halls being half empty!

Given the current “bubbly” hi-tech economic climate, the Interactive Festival this year was truly a massive, overwhelming phenomenal event featuring literally hundreds of activities, sessions, panels, keynotes, and all-day exhibits by sponsors, both inside and outside the main convention center hall. The Festival also encompassed over 15 different “campuses” (hotels) with shuttles transporting folks among sessions. And did I mention the all-night parties with lines out the door?? Yep, a high-octane spectacle!

Also, my festival photos are now online.

And my talk slides (Multitouch Delight for Enterprise Apps) are posted on Dropbox as a PDF.

Below are my highlights…

 

 

 

In light of recent controversies with personal data unknowingly being uploaded and/or shared, it’s good to take a moment to revisit some basics, which may make or break your relationship with a user, beyond the “pretty pixels” and “smooth usability”. At the end of the day, trust is the foundation for a healthy customer relationship and user experience. Once that goodwill has been earned, you don’t want to break it…

** First ask yourself if you really need such personal data in order to deliver your value prop to the user. Is it a “make or break” issue, really?

** What data are you planning to upload from the user’s device, and WHY? How will having that data lead to positive benefits for the user, thus amplifying your value prop? You want to make sure you’re building a strong customer relationship that lasts a long time!

** If you are uploading the user’s data: What types of data? How much? At what frequency? Is it encrypted? Where is it being stored? Is it being backed up? Can law enforcement agencies access it, and under what conditions? Is there a time limit? Will data be expunged sometime? What happens when the user dies (not just account deleted)? Is personal data being sold for profit? (sorry, gotta ask and just be honest with yourself…you’ll thank me in the morning!)

All of this must be captured like typical business requirements, with full unanimous agreement among product leads, and presumably reviewed by your company’s legal counsel. (I’m not a lawyer, but that’s my hunch, to protect everyone)

** Always err on the side of “Opt-in” first, not “Opt-out”. Make the user decides to opt-in; don’t assume the user is comfortable having their data silently uploaded without consent. Users don’t want an unpleasant surprise that their data was sent without their consent. A great way to break a relationship and lose trust, guaranteed!

** And most critically: Is this all explained up front, in clear language to the user so they can read it, understand it, and take action against it, easily, if they so desire?

Finally, just because you can detect and store certain personal data (due to the way iOS or Android technologies work, and their App Store policies), doesn’t mean you should. And please, don’t use “the other kids are doing it” excuse or “it’s been like this for years”. What are you, a 3 year old? No, you’re (hopefully) a legit business with an amazing vision, and a responsibility to your users and stakeholders.

Always ask yourself what’s your true motive, goal, and benefit to the user regarding data policies. Be honest with yourself. Be transparent and let users know.

Is there another way to deliver value to customers without accessing their personal data? If not, consider making those features that require personal data “premium features” at a micro-payment scale or subscription service. Again, be very clear about your intentions with the data even if the user is paying for that level of use.

Hopefully these starter questions around data-sharing policies will put your team and company on the “happy path” of positive relationships and good user experience overall with your user base!

Think for a second. What’s the most private, intimate information on your phone? Well, ok you got your photos from last night’s wild ragin’ party (I won’t go there ;-) but other than that? For me, it’s my address book, a compilation of phone numbers and email addresses of cherished loved ones (parents, family, close friends) and folks who have information of a deeply intimate nature (my primary care doctor, tax accountant, insurance agent for starters…). That is, people with whom I have a veritable trust-worthy relationship of varying degrees of familiarity, including valued co-workers and maybe a few acquaintances via conferences. That’s the key word here: trust. There is a presumptive 2-way street of confidence, reliability, assurance, and social agreement that we “trust each other” with our information and the relationship that info suggests and implies, from a fun Sunday 9 am chat in our pajamas, to that urgent midnight call about a health or financial emergency.

Now imagine a social networking company, with a beautiful slick whimsical interface that breathes a sigh of relief from the confusions of Facebook, but it’s snarfing up that very trust-based information without your knowledge. Without your consent. You don’t have to imagine, because it’s real and was accidentally discovered by a curious developer as reported on The Verge here. The culprit is Path. A startup whose v1 garnered lots of inside-the-Valley interest but didn’t really explode onto the scene until v2 with a nicely redone interface and modified focus, becoming a personal diary for sharing with your “real friends” (as a presumably nice subset of the hundreds via other networks…ok, THE network, aka Facebook :-). Now it seems the wonderful user experience and brand affiliation of Path have been utterly tarnished, with a supreme violation of trust of the very intimate information on my personal device, by uploading the ENTIRE address book of my iPhone to their servers. Why? For what purpose? Who knows. They clearly don’t need to do so, as the app can simply “view” into my contacts list (aka Address Book) to identify “friends” that I can add to my Path for sharing. But why copy that info it to their servers? Seems unnecessary and…frankly arrogant, or perhaps just flat out stupid.

Ultimately, it just makes me wonder who was the fucking douchebag(s) that decided that copying this kind of sensitive information was a) necessary b) justifiable and c) unimportant to let users know it was even happening. I don’t mean the actual names of the people, but the roles and positions. What was the nature of the conversation tucked away in some conference room? Or maybe there was no discussion–even scarier! Yikes. Just a set of silent consensual assumptions that this was all permissible …This is the glaring arrogance of young eager feisty start-ups driven to impress and “get to the market”. To believe that whatever they think (or not-think) and decide is somehow good for everyone…oh, and by the way, it’s not an issue anyway, so just keep using our app, right?

Trust is an absolutely fundamental element of a user’s experience and core to the creation of a viable customer relationship, even the business model itself, embedded in the value proposition. Yes, trust is a cornerstone of the business. It ensures a healthy customer – provider connection with positive multiplier and viral effects. Trust is infectious as “good word of mouth” spreads, and transactions increase, usage grows, value is augmented. It’s a virtuous cycle.

But just as infectious is distrust. A violation of the customer’s sense of identify, privacy, and of their own dignity. But especially their sense of pride in a brand they enjoyed and believed in and defended, trying to persuade friends to participate and join in. All of that gets eradicated in a few seconds. The “path” from success to disaster is a quick and easy route. And this saddens everyone, including it’s fan base of faithful users.

It’s high time such hungry young firms pause for a minute, take a breath from their “barbarians at the gate” mentality rushing out the door, and carefully reflect upon the principles and values that enable a good design, product, and experience: trust, dignity, respect, and pride. Recall Dieter Rams, the pursuit of what is ethical and aesthetic. What’s the balance between using a customer’s data versus preserving a sense of caution and judiciousness. Where’s the line between rushing to do bold things and wariness of the risks against people’s privacy and security. Because once you go over that edge, there’s no coming back, period. That’s when the company’s true values are exposed for what they really are. That’s when users know who you are, and trust me, it won’t be forgotten.