jenniferho @ itplike a kid in a candy store

The reading discusses the 6 principles of choice architecture that work to “nudge” or influence the choices people make for the better.

1. Default Options
The reading highlights two motives that products or companies can have for defaults: helpful and self-serving. Helpful examples of default options in products are dead man switches on chain saws and lawn mowers and screensavers on computers, which make the user’s life safer and easier. Self-serving default options are automatic subscription renewal and pre-checked email opt-ins, which are annoying and require an extra move from the user to unsubscribe with a phone call or opt-out by unchecking boxes on a form. However, though its favorable to allow users the freedom to make a “required” or “mandated” choice, it comes with two caveats: choices that are difficult or complicated might be eased by a helpful default and choices are easier made when making yes-no decisions.

2. Expect Error
A well-designed system expects user error and is forgiving. The reading highlights the Paris metro as a prime example. The New York City metro is the stark opposite, in which the process of buying a card, to swiping the card, to finding the right platform and taking the right train requires literally months of skills training to master. Other examples of an error-forgiving innovations from the reading are the piece of plastic attached to gas tank caps, the beeping sound when an ATM card is left in the machine. These address what is called “postcompletion error,” the idea of which is that people forget things related to previous steps when the main task is completed. Another strategy is called the “forcing function” in which one must first complete the task before receiving the reward. An interesting example in the reading is how decisions are made in regards to addressing noncompliance in drug usage. The easiest way to remember to take medication is if it is taken every day or every week as opposed to every other day or every other week. Birth control pills are an example of using placebos to facilitate compliance for users. Gmail’s “attachment” error-catching feature is also a good example of error expectation.

3. Give Feedback
A well-designed system tells users when they are doing well and when mistakes are made. Some personal examples: the beeping sound my fridge makes when I don’t close the doors properly or the panoramic camera app on my iPhone that won’t allow me to shoot photos until my phone is perfectly vertical. The feedback from the fridge is an example of a warning, which can often be ignored when the user is inundated with so many repeated messages that it becomes a nuisance and therefore ignored. The reading also highlights the Department of Homeland Security color-coded warning system as useless as it is unclear what actions a traveler needs to take as a result.

4. Understanding “Mappings”
This deals with making clear the relationship between choices and the welfare associated with its outcomes. A well-designed system helps people improve their ability to map and select the options that best meet their needs. To do this, information can be made more comprehensible and numerical information can be translated into units as understood in applied use. For instance, telling users the size of the largest photo they can print out with the image quality offered by a digital camera instead of the megapixel count. Other examples of long, complex and unintelligible pricing schemes are those of cell phone, mortgage, and auto insurance companies. Requiring a RECAP (Record, Evaluate, and Compare Alternative Prices) plan would allow the government to regulate the way prices are disclosed to the public and create a fair marketplace that will improve the way customers select products and services.

5. Structure Complex Choices
When decisions are numerous and complex, good choice architecture provides structure that simplifies the process of making good choices. “Collaborative filtering” is the method in which recommendations provided to a user is based on the preferences of others with similar tastes. Pandora, Amazon and Netflix use this well. In choice architecture, collaborative filtering makes the task of sorting through many options easier. As a caveat, the reading notes that surprise and serendipity can be fun and a good way to branch out and to learn.

6. Incentives
Four questions: Who uses? Who chooses? Who pays? Who Profits? This deals with modifying salience in any situation that requires incentive analysis. Making costs more transparent can help sway a person to make more money-saving decisions.

Goal: Create a more helpful and informative “Null Pointer Solution” error message for Processing beginners.

Existing error message:

Our solution:

“But the [mechanical drawing] instruments are nice aren’t they?”
“Very nice. As long as we don’t have to use them.”

The opening anecdote echoes my sentiment towards antique items like old typewriters and cameras, which to me function best as items on a display shelf as opposed to functional tools. The idea of using them is nice and charming until you have to find that specific typewriter ribbon and roll of photographic film, both of which are in limited production and extremely expensive. Oh, and remember how difficult it was to undo a typo?

At play here, Norman says, are three levels of the cognitive and emotional system: visceral, behavioral and reflective. Visceral design focuses on a product’s initial appearance, touch and feel. Behavioral is about performance, function and usability. At the reflective level, the product is interpreted, understood and reasoned. While the first two are more immediate responses to the product, feelings at the reflective level are achieved over a period of time of usage or familiarity and can be a reflection of a person’s self-image. Working with all three levels can be a complex process involving tradeoffs, different demographics, etc. to which the answer is, according to Normal, “that no single product can hope to satisfy everyone” and the only way to satisfy the widest range of needs and tastes is to have a variety of products that cater to different audiences.

The discussion moves on to distinguish between needs, which are determined by tasks, versus wants, which are determined by culture, advertising and self-image. The ability to satisfy needs and social, cultural, age requirements of users, in addition to the whims, opinions and baisses of people is a challenging task. Norman uses the video game console as an example of a product that has appeal across age groups, but is designed to focus on a young male audience, therefore ignoring the market potential in other age demographics. This traditional model of the video game can be improved on the visceral, behavioral and reflective levels. Viscerally, there could be different designs for different markets. Behaviorally, emphasis needs to shift towards content and not the skill of using the device for greater enjoyment. Finally the reflective design is still rooted in the old model of gaming, an image of a sleek, inaccessible device that requires great skill to master. Not sure when this book was written, but the Wii is definitely a console that seems to have addressed all these design levels and has revolutionized who and why people play video games.

Norman states that objects play a major role in the reflective level because it implies a history of interaction, special associations, and memories. People are attached to objects, whether attractive or ugly, because of the emotions it makes us feel; emotions that stem from personal experiences and memories. An interesting point to note is that the surface appearance of an object is less important than its sentimental value.

In the section on the personality of products, a few of my favorites brands immediately came to mind. I think a company that touches on all three levels really well is kate spade, who recently underwent an impressive website and brand redesign. Their website now serves up a 50-50 ratio of product and content, whereas most e-commerce websites I’ve seen have a 90-10 ratio. Their focus on content and social media was successful in their aim to establish a more intimate relationship with customers, which in turn organically elevated trust and desire for the brand and its products.

The reading discusses how dopamine, a neuro transmitter that regulates emotions, allows us to perform deep insights through an invisible analysis. We learn simple patterns of reward when prediction neurons in our brains respond to whether certain expectations are met or not met. These patterns are then further refined through experience so that when there are deviances and discrepancies from our learned expectation, the brain generates an negative emotional response in the ACC (also known by its scientific name, the “oh, shit!” circuit.) Basically, this highlights the intelligence of our emotions that allow us to accurately identify mismatches between expectations and outcomes. These negative emotions are important in helping the brain repeatedly revise and refine its models, which can only be achieved through experience, of which failures are more beneficial than successes. This is how intuitive thinking is developed, when we evaluate situations and information based on a keen sense of feelings and emotions.