Humanize Design With These 8 Genuine Tips
As humans, we are so used to all the daily things that we don’t give any special attention to any of them.
But, as product designers, it is our duty to see the normally unseen things and discover the ‘wow’ effect.
Habituation is a part of human nature that stops us from noticing problems and fixing it. So we should try to see the world as it really is, not the way we think it is. It’s easy to solve a problem that everyone sees and it’s hard to solve a problem that no one sees.
Here’s a useful guide on how to start your career as a UI UX designer in 2020.
As a designer, we have to see products through the eyes of a customer, who has fear and possible frustrations regarding if the new technology could work straight away for them.
To provide a better user experience (UX) there are 5Es.
1. Entice
‘Entice’ prioritizes quality over quantity. In order to avoid visual clutter on the site or app, we need to choose quality and personalization over quantity to attract customers. Designing an authentic product starts with quality i.e. addressing the right content to the right user.
2. Enter
Users ‘Enter’ into the experience, crossing from one context into the designed context. Human mind is emotional. Therefore, we need to design experiences to produce positive emotions that make them feel like they are interacting with a person and not a machine.
3. Engage
The activities ‘Engage’ users into experience by giving your users a lot of choices wherever possible. Human mind loves to control their choices by customizing their experience in a way that fits with their needs.
4. Exit
‘Exit’ is the clear end of the designed experience. Humanizing design experiences is very powerful as great conversations happen when you know each other and are connected emotionally.
5. Extend
It indicates a physical or digital object that the participants can take with them to ‘Extend’ the experience. This is essentially the principle of reciprocation at work; re-paying someone if they do something kind for us. For example, give users a free gift card or coupon.
How To Humanize Design
The following are the ingredients for your success recipe if you want to offer better user experience and stand out in the crowd.
1. Attract people of all age groups
Who it is for? Dig deeper and find out all about your users. What delights them, the context of usage and functionality, etc. This will help you offer a better design.
2. Look Different
In this age, when everything is going digital, when multiple similar objects are present, the one that differs from the rest is most likely to be remembered. So, humanize design to connect emotionally.
3. Interactive
The human mind loves to take control of things rather than being controlled. Therefore, allow users to control their interfaces by giving them choices to choose from. They love to create a better user experience by customizing.
4. Easy to use
Lesser the cognitive load for users, better is the design. As humans are visual beings, decluttering the contents by choosing minimalist designs with familiar patterns makes it easier to convey the message to the user within 3 to 5 seconds.
5. Humans are not machines
Humans are not machines and they are imperfect. They need help to quickly fix the errors to get things right. When it comes to design, try to include more elements that are similar to human nature. Eg Buttons with curved edges give it a human touch rather than a perfect rectangular digital button.
6. Fitts Law
Fitts Law is a predictive model of human movement established in 1954 by psychologist Paul Fitts. This empirical model explains the speed-accuracy trade-off characteristics of human muscle movement. It explains that as a target gets smaller or further away, it takes longer to move towards it. So the placement of each and every element matters.
7. Mimicry
Mimicry is the act of copying familiar objects, organisms, or environments in order to produce special benefits affordable by their properties. For example, the act of implementing real-life objects and their properties to design helps the user to feel more familiar and increases the understanding by humanizing design.
8. Aesthetic Usability Effect
Aesthetic Usability Effect is where a user will perceive an attractive product as easier to use than an ugly one. As human beings are visual creatures, we respond to and process visual data better than any other type of data.
Wrapping Up
Always keep in mind that the Customer is King. Checking on the above tips for humanizing design will make users feel more connected and thereby make your product more memorable.
So, let us make a difference to fight habituation in order to provide a seamless experience for the new customers. Be the change to experience the world better. Look broader for possibilities. Look closer as small things make a bigger difference. Think younger as curiosity is the key.
So we need to stay a beginner for better product design. Hope you enjoyed it. Be different.
Want to collaborate with a top UI UX design service provider, who creates thoughtful digital experiences by adopting a smartly humanized approach? Call us for a free consultation.