Investigating emotion as it relates to our perception of usability. Given at the Internet Summit '11.

1. THE SECRET LIFE OF USABILITY
— —
WAYS EMOTION AFFECTS OUR PERCEPTION OF USABILITY

2. HI! I’M
TODD
I work as a Senior UX Designer
at Viget—a web development and
design agency.
@toddmoy

3. If usability engineers designed a nightclub
it would be clean, quiet, brightly lit,
with lots of places to sit down,
plenty of bartenders, menus written in
18-point sans-serif, and easy-to-find bathrooms.

4. But nobody would be there.
They would all be down the street at
Coyote Ugly pouring beer on each other.
—Joel Spolsky

5. Usable software is like edible food. —Someone

6. USABILITY
The extent to which a product can be used
by specified users
to achieve specified goals with
, , and
in a specified context of use.
’

7. good decisions
emotion + logic

8. We first respond
emotionally.

9. Our emotions
help us:
• focus
• decide
• perform
Our perception
of usability is
colored as a
result.

10. We should
anticipate and
shape emotion in
our designs.

11. ⊣ THE SECRET LIFE OF USABILITY ⊢
WAYS
ONBOARDING PERSONALITY TREATS

12. of
ONBOARDING

13. 1913
Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring premieres

15. 1913
Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring premieres

17. Who handles onboarding well?

18. Twitter : being a wingman*
*pun not intended, but wholeheartedly endorsed

22. Pages for iPad : a toy in the sandbox

24. Usability
is like an
escalator.

26. What users know

27. What users need to know
What users know

28. What users need to know
What users know

29. As the gap increases,
we feel:
• less certain
• more defensive
• stripped of control

30. The gap is
influenced by:
• vocabulary
• complexity
• predictability

31. • design
• functionality
• passion paths

32. • training
• demos
• wizards
• seed content
• measured change

33. of
PERSONALITY

36. Who focuses on personality?

37. Hey, you want to hear the
most annoying sound ever?

42. We respond to
personality.

43. It’s a conversation conducted through an interface
user designers

44. Conversation
MESSAGE ATTITUDE DELIVERY

45. Conversation
MESSAGE ATTITUDE DELIVERY
what do they
need to know?

46. Conversation
MESSAGE ATTITUDE DELIVERY
what do they what tone do we
need to know? take?

47. Conversation
MESSAGE ATTITUDE DELIVERY
what do they what tone do we how do we
need to know? take? communicate it?

48. Personality Map
NEEDS EMOTIONS
MESSAGE
ATTITUDE
DELIVERY

49. Personality Map NEEDS EMOTIONS
MESSAGE
ATTITUDE
DELIVERY

50. Hey mom. Mom. Mom.
Here be dragons. Mooooooom. MOM!!
What’cha doing?

51. TITLE
of
TREATS

53. Who gives treats?

57. vs 23 Likes

58. When we feel good, we design faults.

59. Positive feedback
makes us
accommodating.
(negative feedback makes us dismissive.)

60. Delight can:
• distort time
• motivate
• build trust

61. successes & rewards
errors & friction

62. successes & rewards
errors & friction
positive impression
negative impression

63. Attributes of delight
anticipation
reward timing

64. WHEREUPON WE
WRAP IT UP

65. WHEREUPON WE
WRAP IT UP
I. Usability is based on perception

66. WHEREUPON WE
WRAP IT UP
I. Usability is based on perception
II. Perception is affected by emotion

67. WHEREUPON WE
WRAP IT UP
I. Usability is based on perception
II. Perception is affected by emotion
III. We should anticipate and shape emotion

68. Thoughts or questions?

69. Thanks!
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