deconstructing delight

Deconstructing Delight

Pleasure, Flow, & Meaning

Product manager

UX designer

QA testerMarketing

Development

Call center

BROKEN

EXPERIENCE

Capital One

Usable = yesDelightful = no

MeaningFlowPleasureDelight

USAToday weather

Swackett.com

Swackett.com

iPhone version of Swackett

Houdini’s birthday

Anniversary of the Eiffel Tower

Matt Groening’s birthday

Swackett extended forecast

Pleasure• Shows consideration• Anticipates users’ needs• Responsive to context• Users feel it

• Much can come through visual design

Aware of user

Bits of thoughtfulness

Sharing

Treats

TripIt.comAnticipates needs

Extra goodness

Virgin America

Virgin America in-flight entertainment system

Virgin America safety video

If I were to take care of this customer, how would I do it?

Evidence of Pleasure

✤ Smiling✤ Exclamations, “Nice!” or “Got it!” ✤ Behaving with infatuation

Cautions of Pleasure

Habituation decrease in response after repeated exposure

Distraction dividing attention

Disruption interrupting the user’s activity

Don’t force it

Pleasure

Anticipates needs and wantsProduces positive affectUses visual design and voice

word processor

...sit down and start making the clackity noise. If I make the clackity noise long enough every day, the “writing” seems to take care of itself. -- Merlin Mann

Ommwriter

Flow• Immersive• Empowering • Behavioral, automatic• Plays on mastery and

control

Flow• Subtle motivation cues • Psychological cues• Language (or lack of)• Social cues• Reinforcement

Conversation

Quora.com

Question

Answers demonstrate knowledge

Tags feed curiosity

Relatedquestions

support serendipity

People

Question

Outlets

Smooth, frictionless

Supports serendipity

Tangents are useful, meaningful

Feeds curiosity

Users demonstrate knowledge

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Quora.com

Heft. Handling. Fit for purpose.

Flow by design✤ Affordances and feedback are

clear, obvious, invisible✤ IA matches users’ mental

models✤ Perception of responsiveness✤ Clutter is minimized✤ Appropriate for context ✤ Benefit to user is clear

Evidence of Flow✤ Gratification✤ Feeling productive ✤ Focused concentration ✤ Energized ✤ Empowered✤ Stop talking✤ Key strengths tapped

Cautions of Flow

Could translate as eitherengagement or frustrationAnalytics data won’t reveal this

User control is keyTangents must be useful acts of autonomy

Assessing flowWhen you are using it, do you feel a greater awareness?

How much does it increase your ability to accomplish new things?

How much does it expand your own capabilities?

How much do you feel you have a larger perspective because of using it?

Flow

ImmersiveFrictionless, essential functionalityUses subtlety in design

Zipcar.comless waste

saving money

good for Earth

Zipcar.com

doing good

Zipcar.comhaving fun

strengthening community

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Zipcar.com

Zipcar.comattachment

responsibility

accountability

Meaning• Flourish through purpose • Connectedness• Making a difference • Belonging • Virtuousness

Meaning• Plan the emotional

effects• Plan the behavioral

effects• Clarity, simplicity,

funneling, modeling

Wardrobe Refashion

Culture of generosity

Before: Gauchos

After: Shorts

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Kiva.org

Effort confirmed

Values supported

Authenticity

✤ Effort is encouraged and confirmed

✤ Involvement subtly rewarded through support and values

✤ Site and interactions feel secure and safe

✤ Branding is authentic, built in to business model

Meaning by design

✤ Connected, yet selfless ✤ Virtuous and altruistic ✤ Compassion and empathy✤ Expansiveness, openness✤ Devoted, engaged

Evidence of Meaning

Not just a tagline: must be authentic

Must come from the business model, out

Can’t be layered on

Cautions in meaning

Meaning = EngagementGallup Customer Engagement assessment CE11

Meaning

design with purpose, from mission to fulfillment, not just touch points, but through culture

Meaning Must be genuine, from the mission, out Purpose comes through on all channelsResults in belonging, generosity

Pleasure MeaningFlow

Delight

Where does your design

fit into a beautiful day?

Where to learn more about the psychology of happiness

TED Talks: The psychology of happiness - Martin Seligman TED Talks: Play is more than fun - Stuart Brown

TED Talks : Happy design - Stefan Sagmeister

Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience, by Mihaly CsikszentmihalyiEmotional Design: Why We Love (or Hate) Everyday Things, by Donald Norman

Happiness: A History, by Darrin M. McMahon

Enchantment, by Guy Kawasaki

Where to learn more about the psychology of happiness

Anything written by all of these people:

Aaron Walter

Stephen Anderson

Nathan Shedroff

Bill Scott

Jane McGonigal

Clay Shirky

Where to learn more

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Dana’s blog: http://usabilitytestinghowto.blogspot.com/

Download templates, examples, and links to other resources from www.wiley.com/go/usabilitytesting

Thank You.

Dana Chisnell

dana@usabilityworks.net

www.usabilityworks.net

@danachis