Based on my human tendencies, I was super eager to get out of the lines and get into my first SXSW Interactive session of 2016.
Scott Belsky from Benchmark taught us how to build and craft digital products based on the human tendencies we tend to take for granted during production.
Here’s a deeper dive into these human tendencies and how we, as digital producers, can use this knowledge to accommodate your users.
- Humans want to accomplish more with minimal effort
In the first 15 seconds of trying new digital products, human tendencies suggest we are lazy. But, it doesn’t mean we can’t make a connection them.
As lazy users, they don’t want long videos, too much copy, and bad on-boarding. As Dave Morin from Path, Brit + Co, and Facebook, says, “The Devil is in the Defaults”. Customers never change features, they accept the default. Spend a lot of time perfecting the default. The first mile of design should be the first mile of customer experience.
- Humans avoid difficult decisions
They’re always going to choose themselves over a product’s well-being. Users are naturally selfish. So put them first.
Users are skeptical of company intentions. The product should be about the user. Drill down the consumer’s first mile. Marketing and copy should be borne by the product team. It is part of the product experience.
- Pro Tip: Offer immediate utility. For example: “Get Paid Faster”. Don’t rely on long-term promises. Remember, we’re lazy.
- Humans prefer preserved options
Mo Options, Mo Problems. Too many options can hurt more!
Consider The Product Life Cycle…
Users flock to a simple product. Products takes users for granted and adds features. Users become overwhelmed. Another simple product comes along.
Stay simple and save time.
- Humans want to get recognized
Simply put, people are vain.
Social consumers products are as much about seeing who saw your content as they are about sharing and seeing other’s content. Likes, hearts, and shares are ways users analyze the products through their own experience. These “Ego Analytics” translate into ROI from an agency standpoint. We don’t create strategies for our clients unless their customers can visualize personal success.
- Humans Seek Familiarity
They cling to novelty. But, they seek familiarity.
Humans still have a little bit of “Lizard Brain” which is a way of saying we still have very old survival instincts. Comfort in familiarity is, arguably, an ancient evolutionary trait suggesting why humans recoil whenever things are new. Users save time and avoid anguish in digital products by using what they know will help them.
What does that tell us? Prioritize problems for new users over problems for power users.
Ok, let’s recap our natural human tendencies.
- Humans Want to Accomplish More with Minimal Effort
- Humans Avoid Difficult Decisions
- Humans Prefer Preserved Options
- Humans Want Recognition
- Humans Seek Familiarity
Basically, you need to gear your creativity toward the new user’s first experience. Keep it simple stupid. Don’t reinvent a system that works, slightly compliment it. Focus on the ego. And make users comfortable, as if you were meeting your future in-laws for the first time.
Ask us about how we can focus on your customers’ human tendencies! Give us a shout at 214-414-3035 or shoot us a message.
