That profound moment of epiphany
Wow, thank you, of course... it all makes sense!
Context: I recently came across some old notes on design from over a decade ago, while rummaging around my various online notebooks in Evernote, Google Docs, Dropbox, etc. I was perhaps in a certain state of mind at the time, set upon by some particular projects (most likely at Citrix) that drove my thinking. Upon re-reading I realized these points still resonate, and offer value for others…
You know a design has hit that mark of achievement, not when it’s bestowed an industry award or found a spot in a museum, but when the product’s user — the actual person interacting with it in their daily lived context — has a profound moment of epiphany. The value is strongly registered physically, cognitively, and emotionally, as echoed in Don Norman’s Emotional Design. There’s a certain pleasant surprise which may be expressed as three simple phrases uttered in this sequence:
😳 “Wow!” — The design demonstrates its immediate value in an unexpected or dramatically different manner from prior alternatives, that is stimulating or compelling in a highly sensorial way: visually, aurally, behaviorally, etc. The user feels compelled to exclaim, “wow!” …or maybe even “whoa”.
🙏🏽 “Thank you.” — The design provides a meaningful convenience, removing a real pain felt from prior encounters with clumsier solutions. There’s a veritable sense of gratitude for saving time, money, effort (or avoiding frustration), all towards helping someone pursue their task and achieve their goal smoothly, easily. Instead of the opposite, whereby the design makes them feel like they are fighting constantly and then sadly defeated by the design thwarting their goal.
✔️ “Of course…” — The design helps someone achieve their goal in such a way that, in retrospect, wasn’t all that wild or radical. Indeed, the solution just feels like common sense with a proper, natural way to support completing the goal. It all nicely feels sensible and appropriate. It just fits. Duh. Why would anyone design it any other way? 🙃
If you can prompt your customer to say these three phrases, either verbally out loud or silently to themselves, while reflecting genuine emotional & thoughtful engagement, then it’s probably fair to say the design has hit the mark! 🙌🏽