“We shape our buildings and afterwards our buildings shape us.”
One might argue that we’re in a stage of digital product design where an interface is not so much designed as constructed. We build our “ideal” screens and workflows using design systems, frameworks and best practices. More… Lego than canvas, so to speak.
Which might explain heated reactions to Apple’s glass UI design language recently. It felt like we have gone full circle from allowing innovation, to being scared of it. I understand the concerns, and I cannot fully critique the reaction. Often, there is no need to reinvent the wheel, and many tools benefit from good, rigid, standardized patterns. Standard design is inclusive, accessible design. And yet, I fret that as a collective, we are losing the forest for the trees. The tech landscape has been flattened to the point where the reaction to anything new seems to threaten instead of excite the community.
This really came home to me last weekend as I played a video game called Inside on the Switch. It is the antithesis of good design practices. It opens with the main character in a dreary landscape. No preamble, no tutorial, helpful tips, or guides. Just a boy and no clue as to what to do. So I walked, explored, interacted. Gradually learning the patterns guiding each puzzle and slowly working through the solutions. Was it frustrating? Sometimes, absolutely. And utterly addictive.
Because like many users, I am used to well designed, frictionless experiences. Experiences made to nudge behavior. Which is essential in many ways for digital offerings. But, it’s also important to ask, am I designing my interfaces in a balanced way? I mainly work on an enterprise tool. Frictionless, seamless workflows? They are definitely key to my work. But it’s important to allow room to breathe, explore. To integrate surprise and delight. Not the surprise and delight that is cute but ultimately gets old. Not the hover sparkles or the confetti on purchase. But interfaces that encourage exploration. Because exploring is memorable, exciting. When we slow down, we remember better. For example, did you know that difficult to read typography is easier to memorize (good for studying material) and easy-to-read text is more scannable (ideal for analyzing data sets).
Designing a good tool is a tightrope walk between exploration and efficiency. And when a product leans too heavily toward one, it’s worth asking: what’s being nudged here? What is the desired outcome? Is this a helpful pattern? A dark one? Understanding the push and pull of friction can elevate an experience from a dopamine hit to something that enhances the life of those who use the product.