From frustration to fascination
Let’s talk about buttons. Some people press a button once and wait. Some don’t press it at all. And some press it a hundred times, because surely that makes it go faster. How often people hammer a button tells you exactly how frustrated they are.
In the Netherlands I ran this as a workshop. We looked at sites that do UX well, then critiqued a few together as a room.
What fascination looks like
Sites people love have the same habits. The navigation uses the visitor’s words. Every page has one clear purpose. It works on a phone without pinching. And sometimes there is a small moment of delight, like a login screen where the mascot covers its eyes while you type your password.
What frustration looks like
Cookie banner, chat widget, newsletter pop-up and autoplay video, all in the first three seconds. A visitor came with a question and now has four things to close. By then they have forgotten why they came.
UX is a process, not a style
Research who your users are. Map their journey. Sketch, build and test with real people. When you find a problem, go back a step and fix it. UX design is the bridge between your users and your business, and you have to keep maintaining it.
The best feedback from this workshop came from the critique rounds. Once people learn to see friction on someone else’s site, they can’t stop seeing it on their own.
