Eric Meyer has been speaking on the subject of making our designs more human and more robust for a number of years now, through discussions about designing for crisis. This year his talk was about Design for Real Life. He co-authored a book with the same name with Sara Wachter-Bettcher, and it stands as one of the most important books in the field of User Experience Design.
An Event Apart Seattle 2017 Design for Real Life by Eric Meyer (pdf)
.@meyerweb kicks off after lunch with Design for Real Life and 20,000 pages of the Code of Federal Regulations in the US #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 4, 2017
200,000 pages (80 linear feet of shelf space), a printout is 80 feet tall. #AEASEA That’s a lot!
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 4, 2017
The Windows 10 source code is 40,000,000 lines of code, that’s 267 feet of printout, or roughly 2-3x bigger than the legal code #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 4, 2017
Google has estimated that their entire app suite is 2 billion lines of code. 2.5 miles (4km tall) of paper stacked #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 4, 2017
The entire web is unestimated – but the legal code is tiny in comparison (and we think of it as big!) #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 4, 2017
The systems we work on are unimaginably complex and we unleash them on our users often w/o forethought #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 4, 2017
What do unit tests for new laws look like? #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 4, 2017
Even without unit tests, there’s a lot of back and forth between gov’t entities, citizens, etc. #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 4, 2017
We often design what is easiest or what seems like a good idea at the time #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 4, 2017
The AWS S3 outage in February was a code change 1 person pushed. #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 4, 2017
What’s the level of responsibility there, when something is fragile or we cause harm? #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 4, 2017
What’s the level of responsibility there, when something is fragile or we cause harm? #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 4, 2017
This isn’t just infrastructure, it’s also design. “On this day” shows memories from previous years on the same day on Facebook #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 4, 2017
In 2014 their interaction was very bad because it wasn’t thought through – hurt a lot of people #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 4, 2017
Now they offer ability to filter out people or time frames, but it’s very difficult to find #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 4, 2017
A potentially disasterous decision they’ve made: Any “memory” is any post where anyone is tagged even if it wasn’t their post #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 4, 2017
Facebook doesn’t seem to have thought about how labeling someone else’s post as a memory of yours #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 4, 2017
We tend to think of our users as an undifferentiated mass. #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 4, 2017
We tend to think of our users as an undifferentiated mass. #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 4, 2017
Our users are individuals. Not a homogeneous group. @meyerweb #aeasea
— jared bishop (@bishopart) April 4, 2017
We tend to think of our users are being a whole crowd just like us, which they aren’t. But we don’t internalize that fact #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 4, 2017
Human brains take shortcuts whenever they can, so we have to be cognizant of cognitive limitations #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 4, 2017
Human brains take shortcuts whenever they can, so we have to be cognizant of cognitive limitations #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 4, 2017
Human brains take shortcuts whenever they can, so we have to be cognizant of cognitive limitations #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 4, 2017
It is not an easy task to push past it. We want a reward like donuts. Unless we have celiac, then donuts are frustration and pain #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 4, 2017
Don’t try to understand hating the taste of chocolate. Try to understand that some people feel different from you and that’s OK #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 4, 2017
Don’t feel pity because someone doesn’t like chocolate. It’s not a problem to be fixed. It’s an example of diversity #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 4, 2017
(A lot of what @meyerweb is saying is true of disability — it’s not a problem to fix, it’s a life different from yours!) #AEASEA #a11y
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 4, 2017
It's important to realize how incredibly diverse humans are & it's ok to not like things that others like. #aeasea
— Stephanie 🔮 Web Witch (@seaotta) April 4, 2017
Mother’s Day is coming soon. Facebook advertises it. It’s a very difficult holiday for many people #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 4, 2017
All that spam about the holiday someone hates is incredibly painful. We know how to filter it out – most people don’t #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 4, 2017
“Brands, please stop.” You don’t have to shove something potentially painful in someone’s face AS A BANK. #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 4, 2017
The paradox: we can’t pretend that the universe revolves around us. users absolutely feel like the universe revolves around them #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 4, 2017
The paradox: we can’t pretend that the universe revolves around us. users absolutely feel like the universe revolves around them #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 4, 2017
“We design for millions, but every one of those actions are intensely personal.” – @meyerweb #aeasea
— Josh “Yoshi” Vickerson (@joshvickerson) April 4, 2017
https://twitter.com/caughtexception/status/849375640948264962
We’re partially responsible for this feeling of personal immediacy. People are a large amount of commonality & a mass of difference #aeasea
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 4, 2017
Fundamental collision is technology vs human psychology. The past decade has changed it #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 4, 2017
Our users are bringing entire worlds into unguarded spaces #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 4, 2017
We are shaping lives in ways small and large #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 4, 2017
This is a lot harder than the job we thought we signed up to do. But it’s the job now. #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 4, 2017
We have a responsibility to make good choices about design through technology and not cause harm #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 4, 2017
All of your design decisions will not be perfect. That's not human. #aeasea
— Stephanie 🔮 Web Witch (@seaotta) April 4, 2017
Unknowns we work in. #aeasea pic.twitter.com/JogcYmeMaJ
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 4, 2017
We can’t make the promise to provide tools that are totally harmless. But we have to try #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 4, 2017
Maybe you fly JetBlue a few times and then have a really bad flight – you probably don’t abandon forever #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 4, 2017
Build up goodwill so when you stumble, your users are more likely to be forgiving #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 4, 2017
Stress-testing your work will make it stronger #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 4, 2017
Look at the designs through the eyes of someone in crisis. (Look up @meyerweb’s talks from last year if you didn’t see.) #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 4, 2017
Here’s one of them:
“I don’t have users in crisis, how does this apply to me?” #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 4, 2017
“Most users trying to adopt a pet aren’t doing it in crisis”.
But what if you’re giving up a pet? That’s crisis-like #AEASEA— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 4, 2017
Adding friction to weed out low value leads? Be careful, your desired audience may also get weeded out – @meyerweb #aeasea pic.twitter.com/dkfCd0aWKU
— Krystal Higgins (@kryshiggins) April 4, 2017
The 75-step form someone needs to fill out to give up a pet might actually be in a family crisis. The form becomes a filter #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 4, 2017
Is it easier to abandon an animal than fill out your form? #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 4, 2017
“Crisis” doesn’t necessarily mean life-or-death, it can be a layoff, or something else going on. Might not involve a site they’re on #aeasea
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 4, 2017
Crises: lawyers in ethical crisis, student a credit short from graduating, many other examples #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 4, 2017
“Your stuff expands to fill your available space” – human psychology feels the same way. Your biggest stress is the biggest stress #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 4, 2017
WordPress has an error message, “Cheatin’ uh?”. That’s it. How… helpful. #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 4, 2017
It’s uncommon for ppl to get it, has to do with permissions, and has spawned 7 years of discussion #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 4, 2017
This bug is still open. It did lead to a change, with a tiny bit of more data. #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 4, 2017
“It never ceases to annoy me to be unjustly accused of something I’m not doing.” Don’t burn users’ goodwill. #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 4, 2017
At the bottom of every https://t.co/gjhZ8Q5S7g page is their motto: code is poetry. This doesn’t feel poetic. #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 4, 2017
A designated dissenter to question assumptions – what are we assuming and what if it’s wrong – can help #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 4, 2017
More about the Designated Dissenter and a bunch of other concepts from their book are explained in Sara and Eric’s article on A List Apart, Design for Real Life.
Can we think about how this design decision might backfire in certain contexts and can we make it better? #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 4, 2017
The role of designers is to ask: Have we thought about this, what are we assuming? Have we thought about the design backfiring? #aeasea
— Stephanie 🔮 Web Witch (@seaotta) April 4, 2017
Pokémon Go: uses cultural touchstones as pokestops. History: good. National borders: ugh. Minefields: bad! #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 4, 2017
Pokémon Go has a ton of pop ups of warnings. How much responsibility to the designers have for their players behavior? #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 4, 2017
Not legal responsibility. Personal ethical responsibility. It’s not enough to be checking legal responsibility #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 4, 2017
Twitter puts hashflags (icons next to hashtags) on terms. How can they go wrong? #aeasea
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 4, 2017
Copy design to try to prevent yourself from embarrassing yourself or your users when your assumptions are wrong can save you #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 4, 2017
Microsoft has a great series of pdfs activities and things for inclusive design. How do we make x-box gaming available to everyone? #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 4, 2017
Designing for the real world – check your assumptions at the door. Embrace inclusive design. @meyerweb #aeasea https://t.co/Yur10MBxqJ
— Rebecca Watson (@RVivusArtDesign) April 4, 2017
If your only connection to the rest of the world is through gaming and you’re a quadriplegic, Microsoft wants to make that possible #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 4, 2017
We have a responsibility to be aware and act on the effects our designs have on people #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 4, 2017
Our system design decisions, copy, visual design, experience design all together. We change lives #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 4, 2017
“You never know what seemingly trivial interaction will be anything but trivial.” – @meyerweb #aeasea
— Josh “Yoshi” Vickerson (@joshvickerson) April 4, 2017
It may be trivial to most, but the change can be anything but trivial for one person. We want those to be profound positive changes #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 4, 2017
The internet is a road. We’re not building roads. We’re designing communities around the roads #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 4, 2017
“I have yet to enter a city where there were no traffic laws.“ Different rules in different zones. We’re defining the structures #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 4, 2017
A crisis moment I think about working in the auto & dealer industry is those who just want a vehicle after a car accident @meyerweb #aeasea
— Laura Steele (@laurabsteele) April 4, 2017
Build wisely because we can help each other or hurt each other because helping is the much better approach #AEASEA
— Anne Gibson (@perpendicularme) April 4, 2017
Sketchnotes from @meyerweb's talk "Design for Real Life" #aeasea – https://t.co/CP0jZUZ6fU
— Krystal Higgins (@kryshiggins) April 4, 2017