Creating User-Friendly Interfaces For Non-Developers

AI thinks it has a model problem, but it really has a UI problem. Take ChatGPT's model drop-down. Why should the user—an everyday person, probably non-technical—have to choose from 8 model options, each with esoteric and confusing names? When users are already skeptical of adopting a new technology, your interface better be top notch. We need AI products that are elegant, simple, intuitive—products that give people comfort and peace of mind, packaging powerful new capabilities in an approachable interface. Last year we wrote about "The Egg Theory." When instant cake mixes came out, they sold poorly. Making a cake was too quick and easy. People felt guilty about not contributing to the baking. So companies started requiring you to add an egg, which made people *feel* like they contributed. Sales soared. This principle extends to AI product design: most AI products shouldn’t complete remove the human from the loop; people like control, or at least the semblance of control. This week's Digital Native looks at 5 other phenomena in consumer psychology, and how they can apply to AI product design: ➡️ The IKEA Effect: The IKEA Effect is related to the egg theory. The basic idea is that people value things more highly if they’ve had a hand in creating them, even if the effort is minimal. For me, when it comes to AI product design, this means personalization. We all like things that we help mold—including our copilots and agents and chatbots. E.g., an email agent lets me customize it before I let it run loose in my inbox. ➡️ The Paradox of Choice: Too many choices leads to paralysis. The famous study here looks at jam in grocery stores. Having 24 types of jam attracts more consumers—but only 3% buy a jar of jam. Yet with 6 types of jam, 30% of consumers make a purchase. AI products are overrun with complexity. Gemini gives you 7 model options. We need products that pick the appropriate model *for* you. The less the user is involved in the messy inner-workings of AI, the better. Products that nail simplicity include Midjourney and Granola. ➡️ The Foot-in-the-Door Technique: In the famous study here, researchers asked homeowners to put a small sign in their yard that read “Drive Carefully.” The sign was unobtrusive, easy to agree to. Two weeks later, the same homeowners were asked to place a larger & more intrusive billboard in their yard. Naturally, those who had agreed to the first sign were more likely to put up the billboard. This extends to AI capabilities. Users should first be exposed to an easy-to-understand, low-stakes feature. Only then should the product reveal more powerful capabilities. An example: an AI legal tool that first only helps with contract review, then later helps draft discovery documents. -- The full piece digs into the two other effects, The Endowment Effect & The Bandwagon Effect, and goes deeper on AI product design. Full Digital Native here: https://lnkd.in/eyrCrXdn

The million-dollar product dilemma: Too simple to be useful, or too useful to be simple? 🤔 As most products try to please more people, they add more features. These features then lead to more buttons, more tutorials, more tooltips, and, consequently, more complexity. Still, that's not a natural law. It's not as if "software was good and more features corrupted it". It's definitely possible to create software that's both simple and flexible - it's just really difficult. It's way easier to just add a bunch of buttons to yet another screen, rather than to rethink your abstractions so that these many buttons are not needed in the first place. At Briefer (YC S23), we've had to do a lot of that. So here are four simple principles that helped us design software that's powerful enough for data people to use, but easy enough to understand for non-technical stakeholders to understand: 1. Different personas view different UIs. There's no point in showing a bunch of code blocks and buttons to non-technical stakeholders, for example. These people want to see results, tables, and graphs, so we give them that. 2. Show buttons and options only when they're relevant. If you're writing code within a Python block, you don't need to see the control buttons for all the other blocks around it. Similarly, if you've just logged in and don't have any data sources connected, there's not much point in showing you anything besides the "add data sources" button. 3. The more you use it, the more prominent it should be. Users don't need to see their environment's details or settings all the time, but they do need to run code, write queries, and do visualizations very often. That's why the buttons to do all these things are very prominent and easy to find, while the environment settings are a small button on the bottom left of your editor. 4. Always ask yourself: "Can we rethink our abstractions so we don't need more UI?" As engineers, we know that the fastest piece of code is that which has never been written, and we apply that same principle to our UI. Whenever we can rethink the way our software works and avoid adding yet another dropdown menu, button, or configuration setting, we do it. (by the way, this approach is called "cutting the Gordian knot" - its Wikipedia page is great) Anyway, I hope you found these four principles useful, no matter your role. It's everyone's job to fight complexity as they add features to their product.

Ever wondered why some systems make users feel like they need a PhD to operate them? Let's fix that. Many tech leaders think they know what users want, but often, they're missing the mark. It's time to stop designing for awards and start designing for your users. Here's how to create a truly user-friendly system: 1. Easy-to-Navigate Streets 🏙️ Imagine your software as a bustling city. A good city has clear street signs, and your software should too. Users shouldn't need GPS to find what they need. Make navigation intuitive. A well-planned grid beats a confusing tangle of alleys any day. Engagement ROI: Investing $1 in UX design can yield a $100 return. That's a 9,900% ROI! (Source: Forrester) 2. Efficient Public Transit 🚇 In cities and software, quick travel matters. Your system should be as fast as an express train. Make it run faster and simpler. Let users complete tasks before their coffee goes cold. 3. Helpful City Services 🏥 Every city faces issues. In software, they're bugs and errors. Handle them like a responsive city hall. Don't just say "Road Closed." Explain the detour and when it'll be fixed. Be the helpful mayor, not the grumpy bureaucrat. Cost Savings: Fixing design issues in development is 100x more expensive than addressing them during design. (Source: IBM) 4. Customizable Neighborhoods 🏘️ Some folks prefer downtown, others the suburbs. Let users customize their experience. It's like letting them choose their ideal neighborhood in your digital city. They'll feel more at home and stay longer. 5. Listen to the Locals 👥 Residents know their city best. Your users are the locals of your software city. Watch how they navigate. Listen to their feedback. Use their input to build a better user experience. Conversion Boost: A well-designed UI can boost website conversion rates by up to 200%, with UX improvements driving increases up to 400%. (Source: Forrester) Continuous Urban Planning 🏗️ Great cities evolve. So should your software. Keep refining based on user feedback. It's like urban renewal – consistent improvements lead to a thriving cityscape. Your goal isn't to build the tallest skyscraper. It's to create a place where users feel at home. When they can navigate your system as easily as their favorite city block, you've succeeded. Next time you're designing a system, think like an urban planner. Would YOU enjoy living in this digital city? If not, it might be time to revise those blueprints. What's your take on creating user-friendly systems? Share your best 'user-friendly' experience in the comments below. Think about a system you use regularly. What one change would make it significantly more user-friendly for you?