- What not to cut
- Find what’s core
- Kill lame features
- What if the user…?
- But our customers want it
- Features that trigger errors
- Errors
- When features don’t matter
- Will it hurt?
- Prioritizing features
- Load
- Decisions
- Distractions
- Smart defaults
- Options and preferences
- When one option is too many
- Visual clutter
- Removing words
- Simplifying sentences
- Conversation
- Cutting time
- Removing too much
- You can do it
- Focus
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
Distractions
User interfaces are full of irritating distractions. These can turn even simple tasks, such a reading a body of text, into a chore.
Hyperlinks within an article may seem like helpful extras, but each link says, “Why not stop what you’re doing and look at this instead?” They break into the user’s consciousness and undermine her concentration. Researcher Erping Zhu has found that increasing the number of hyperlinks within a document lowers readers’ comprehension—even if the reader doesn’t follow the link.
The right column of a webpage often is often set aside for even more distracting links, ads, related content, and extra data. This stuff is usually brightly colored and animated to draw the user’s attention away from the main focus of the page.
Users may well click the links, but if their journey ends in confusion, listlessness, or irritation, the distraction has been counterproductive. The best place for these extras is at the end of a page where the user has finished reading. If users aren’t reading that far, then it’s a sign that the article itself needs work.
Our devices, too, are constantly chirping for attention, sending us alerts demanding attention. We have little control over when they happen, and dealing with them can feel like a game of Whac-A-Mole. They feel stressful, not simple. Sadly, the constant interruptions and updates have an addictive quality. Our devices are alive, and maybe the next alert is important. Replacing distractions with simplicity is an important mission.
Human beings don’t interrupt each other like that. If I have a message for you but I can see that you’re busy, then I’ll wait until you take a break. If the message is really important (“Your car is being towed”) and your task is not (you’re reading the sports news), then I’ll interrupt. Humans make social judgements about when to interrupt. We recognize the value of focus.
Today, my social media apps don’t distinguish by default between important updates and unimportant ones. Yet to you and me, the distinction is obvious. The reason, of course, is that the app owners are not concerned with our peace of mind. They want to interrupt us and get our attention at any opportunity.
Before
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After
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If you’re designing simple experiences, your job is to remove distractions and let the user focus.
