The two sides of product design the guidance or obedience to user habits

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"Editor's note" This article is reproduced from IT workers.

This question is actually very tangled, just like how to balance user experience and user habits, are more difficult to weigh, but the real work process and often encounter, when the product has been released for a period of time, or the market already has similar products, generally speaking, the user's use and operating habits have been developed. The release of a disruptive product design at this time will undoubtedly impact the user's usage habits.

Regardless of whether the new product enhances functionality, whether or not to enhance the user experience, the impact of its user habits alone, we must take into account in the design, is to comply with user habits in some respects, or should strengthen the guidance, forcing users to break the habit, need to have a better balance before making a decision.

Everything has two sides, and is not blindly pursue the user experience, the pursuit of novel design will attract users, and not everything in accordance with the user's ideas, can make the product has a long-term development.

We know that users have a learning cost when it comes to using new things, which means that we need to find a design guideline or method that is easy for most people to accept, as an extension of the product, thereby reducing the cost of learning, which is where we play our own creativity and imagination, Believe that most of us in the process of imitation and learning, will eventually form their own design system.

In our product design process, there may be times when we need to deviate from the user's previous habits in order to maintain the continuity of the user experience, or to change the original user experience design in order not to interfere with the user's operating habits.

So is this a guide to user habits or obedience to user habits?

In my personal work experience, mainly look at the value of product design, the real value of the product design revision, everything is not a problem, whether it will affect the user experience or will affect the user's use habits, will be new products to guide new habits, the key is how to assess the value of this, I think all the product managers or product designers will feel that they are designing something that is valuable, this is still to be measured from an objective point of view, as Ma talks about product design, any product has a core function, its purpose is to help users, to solve the user on one side of the strong demand, such as saving time, Solve problems, improve efficiency, etc., this is the value of the product, we can also use this to measure.

For example, the shopping payment process optimization, can reduce the user's operation steps, reduced from 7 steps to 4 steps, without affecting security, this design changes are very valuable, in this case, user habits should be guided, users are willing to accept such changes, this is the product value of the present.

Valuable product design, users are willing to accept, will develop new user habits, but also to a certain extent to enhance the user experience.

Users like the high efficiency and low cost of things, there is a real product value, the big problem has been basically no, the rest is to how to reduce the user's learning costs, is to take the initiative to guide, I believe that everyone knows how to guide.

Can take a look at the new version of Sina Weibo after the launch of a small hint, a lot of products released later will have a similar small function, guide users to learn, master the basis of the operation or hint of the new design and old design differences, function point layout differences. Also through some advance notice of the way, first let users know that the product will be revised, roughly changed to what it is, so that users have a psychological expectation, will also enhance the user's acceptance of the new version.

So what kind of circumstances should conform to user habits?

In fact, the word obedience is a bit bad, or with respect for user habits to describe more appropriate. Personally feel that the value is small, dispensable, change does not change the user can accept this, or not easy to do the revision is better, its own new design is not enough to attract users of the place, after the change

One, will increase the user's learning cost;

Second, will reduce the user experience;

Just put yourself in your shoes, when we are using a product, if found that a feature of this product after the release of a new version of a change, the core function has not changed, just show the style or layout changed, resulting in the use of illusion or suddenly can not find this function, What kind of feeling will it be?

There is the regulation of some of the constraints of the design, such as some industry design specifications, or industry mainstream design, it is best to design the appearance of big difference, because these things have been groping for a long time, nature has its truth in it, and users have been accustomed to such a way, this situation is best not to risk to change.

Perhaps some people would say not to have their own design style? I think that before you have designed a product like micro-letter, it is best to first stones good, otherwise you will buddha the river. Of course, I am not opposed to the spirit of innovation, after all, the internet industry has been changing, maybe another jobs, before he had no one designed the apple phone, there is still a doorway to explore.

Most of the time, good product design is consistent with user habits, the boundaries of the two are inherently vague, only in the specific issues to weigh. A product's success or failure is not just in the user's habit of this place, but also to think about other aspects, even in this respect and peers as bad, can not hurt the user's habit of the place than the competitor better.