I think one of the most important elements of a smooth user experience is simplicity. Removing unnecessary steps gets a user from their goal to a result more quickly.
It makes the experience more enjoyable when the process is transparent.

The more options thrown at the user, although making it customizable and flexible, has the negative effect of increasing complexity. I shouldn't generalize, but in my experience complexity usually is exactly proportional to frustration of using.

Take the microwave above for example. For the most part, it looks like a regular microwave and has the same purpose: heating food. But if it's purpose is so basic, why does it present the user with dozens of different buttons and settings. I've stood in front of it for minutes trying to figure out the illogical procedure to make it work.

There are also many preset functions. My guess is that it's creators are attempting to make heating specific foods easier. The result, in my experience with it, is that I end up ignoring those preset functions entirely because they don't perform as expected. Instead I end up doing it manually which, because of such a cluttered panel, is actually quite cumbersome. The variety of options get in the way of alternate methods of use because they clutter the menu. Additionally, all these options make first use confusing and difficult. Understanding the features may not even be possible without consulting the manual, which really isn't acceptable.

Look at this basic microwave control panel. It might look cheap because it lacks features, but I enjoy using it infinitely more. Even when I first used it I quickly figured out that I need to set the temperature level, the time, and then press start. It's actually much easier for me to set the heat manually, given my extensive experience with microwaves, than to figure out the effect a preset has on a certain food. The simplicity of this microwave makes it more accessible to first time users.

I've found this kind of thinking actually applies quite easily to web design. As I evolve as a web oriented designer, I have become more aware of how small things affect content, functionality, and experience on websites. In all my work, I've tried to remain focused on simplicity while balancing the needs of functionality. It's a tough juggle, but concentrating on an intuitive interface focused on user goals makes it less likely to suck.

The "fancy" microwave fails, even though the presets are supposed to make it easier for me to heat food, because it takes me so long to figure out how to use them and become accustomed to the results it's actually a worse experience. I still have to press a combination of buttons to start it and the results aren't predictable. It defeats it's own purpose.

The simple microwave is much more successful in creating a consistent and accessible experience. Because of it's simplicity, a regular user could become quite proficient at using it. The buttons are big and easy to read and understand. There are tweaks that would make the experience even better though: because the power level must be selected before the time, placing those buttons above time would make it more intuitive and mean less unnecessary hand movement. Or get rid of the specific order of presses all together.

Using my experiences with devices like these microwaves, I've tried to improve a web project I’ve been working on. For the past few months I've been experimenting with different ways to make small tasks more efficient.

The project I worked on required a way to setup and activate "widgets", such as a Twitter feed or a Youtube video. A simple task that shouldn't require much effort. And yet the process was overly tedious because there were...

Too Many Steps.

The old system had a number of issues. Worst of all, it took 9 clicks to install and setup a widget such as a text box. The steps above might not seem that difficult, but consider doing this 5 or 10 times to add all the widgets you want. That's when small problems with a process become apparent and annoying. A microwave might get used several times a day, every single day. If heating up your favorite foods requires too much effort, it takes away the enjoyment of eating them. Consider reading this article about drop down usability and this one about making a long drop down list easier to use.

Those 9 clicks is just way too much effort (in computer terms) for a basic task. The button to add a widget was hidden inside a paragraph of instructions. Even just starting the process (finding that button) required unnecassary cerebral effort. Those instructions shouldn't even exist because the process should be simple and intuitive. Lastly, there was too much hand and eye movement because sequential steps in the process were never in the same place on the screen.

Messing up the layout and not making the process efficient can make even simple tasks, like making microwave popcorn, overly complicated and frustrating. Considering the user experience and analyzing the process, down to every last detail, can make anything...

A Better Experience.

There are so many things in the world that are clumsy or confusing, from microwaves to websites. Too often the process or functionality isn’t planned well enough. I encounter it all the time on the web when trying to make a purchase or register or search for something. Small problems or oversights eventually begin to add up and it makes using the web a real struggle. Although with continued use proficiency with a process may develop, why should designers force that learning curve on users to begin with?

The old system may have worked just fine, but it wasn’t as easy to use as it should have been. In my redesign of this widget system, I considered every user action so that the process could be more carefully planned and simplified.

• Tweet

Hello,

My name is Marc Kimmel.
I'm a web designer.