Design like the user is drunk…
The user is definitely not drunk but an average person has a lot going on at any given time hence the attention and patience people have for your products is minimal and often equal to that of a drunk user, especially if your product is a mobile app.
I’d like to point out that I don’t drink but I believe the mindset behind this concept is pretty awesome. I have nothing against those who drink either, we’re all entitled to our choices.
Today am talking about Cognitive psychology. This is the scientific study that helps reduce cognitive load for people trying to use the products we’ve designed. Good design puts minimal load on; attention, working memory, speed of information processing and pattern recognition.
What does alcohol have to do with this Vuyanzi? Glad you asked, weeeell all four cognitive skills mentioned above are impaired when alcohol is consumed. Furthermore, drinking results in blurry vision, mood shift from cheerful to enraged, and impatience behavior.
Drunk user testing can help you understand if your design is intuitive hence allowing people to complete their tasks without the interface getting in the way. A drunk user is a good model for how your users may be different from you, therefore, it’s good practice to help your users to achieve even the simplest of tasks. If drinking is not an option for you, you can get help here, I got you!
How much alcohol is good enough to test the mindset of your users? ( we both know I wouldn’t know really, but below is product plan’s rough estimate)
Here’s a fun fact for you, research shows that fewer people are interested in reading long texts, nngroup said:
I guess all I am saying is Drunk User testing has been a thing since 2013. Don’t take it from me, google it :)
Will Dayble said, and I quote, “… great UI is not there, it’s like couples who talk without talking…” As much as possible, make the UI porous so that users don’t realize they’re there. You should be able to understand what a site is doing when it’s blurry as to when it’s not — Alcoholics have blurred vision when drunk.
Don't get me wrong, am not saying that your design elements should be huge and boldly colored. Neither am I saying they should be minute. Getting a balance between the two, that’s what you should aim for.
Walk with me, say you want to guide a drunk user into an uber:
1. Put on your shoe.
2. Get into the uber.
3. And off we go home!
OR
- Buy a ticket.
- Download it.
That was simple, sadly, our UI’s are not usually like this.
As a designer, guide your users through the process. When in doubt, say it twice eg. You’re about to delete an item. Congratulations you have deleted an item, 😅 as stupid as it sounds, it’s the simple things that differentiate one user experience from the next. Besides, confirming user actions helps overcome uncertainty and informs the user that their action has been recorded.
Speed signs are clever, you go a couple of 100 meters and you notice a sign you had seen before but hadn’t realized.
Emotions matter a lot when designing. Some drunks could go from happy to enraged within seconds. Try getting users to use your products as you observe them and you’d realize how the smallest details offend them.
There was a product I was working on once and I got 5 people in my neighborhood to randomly use it as I watched and their feedback drove me crazy if I am being honest. Nothing made sense to them somehow. They questioned every component that I thought was a masterpiece and in the end, I felt small but I learned from my observation 😉.
Here’s the thing, it’s better to improve usability for a product that people want than to build in a vacuum without including actual users. This all boils down to user feedback and a dozen iterations.
Don’t confuse a drunkard to be unintelligent, cause he’s not! A person with an IQ of 210 when sober will still have an IQ of 210 when drunk.
Here’s the bottom line, keep it simple!
Mob love,
Vuyanzi.
References
- Will Dayble — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2CbbBLVaPk
- Richard Littauer, The User is Drunk — https://theuserisdrunk.com/
- Austin Knight — https://austinknight.com/writing/ux-insights-from-a-drunk-guy
