UX design involves conducting user research, creating user personas, designing user flows, and iterating on prototypes to ensure a seamless and intuitive user journey. Design is an integral part of the overall user experience, and its impact can be seen in user engagement, satisfaction, brand perception, and, ultimately, in the product’s monetization potential. While aesthetics is essential to UX design, user experience design goes beyond visual elements. It encompasses understanding user needs, behaviors, and preferences to create designs that are not only visually appealing but also functional and user-friendly.
Design decisions are driven by a deep understanding of users, their goals, and the context in which they interact with the product. Addressing user pain points and providing solutions that align with their needs, UX designers contribute to a product’s overall success and effectiveness.
GS Lab | GAVS recently conducted a webinar, ‘Everything Products Episode 8: Invisible Design – Secrets of Intuitive Usable Products’. Mr. Omkar Chogale, Lead UX Designer at GS Lab | GAVS and Mr. Akshay Potnis, Head of Design, MessageBird empaneled the webinar. Mr. Mandar Gadre, Director – Engineering, Healthcare and Manufacturing at GS Lab | GAVS, moderated the session.
What is invisible Design?
Invisible design involves unpacking the hidden layers between humans and products to bring them closer together. The goal is to move beyond creating a minimum viable product to crafting a minimum lovable product. This concept emerged from recognizing that product design should consider the nuanced aspects of human behavior and culture that may not be immediately apparent. For instance, the invisible design of roads in the United States, where small ridges on the side create a loud sound if a driver starts drifting into another lane. This simple yet effective design prevents accidents and saves lives by addressing human behavior.
Empathy and Design Process
When it comes to the design process, designers must take a route that intersects business requirements and human factors, categorizing essential human factors as ‘must’ considerations and additional factors as those that can enhance the product further. To that end, simplifying user flows is an essential driving factor in the user journey. However, simplification doesn’t always mean reducing steps but modifying them based on user context. The power of simplified interfaces gives users greater control.
In recent times, design is moving away from the sole focus on technicalities towards more focus on understanding the human aspects of the problem. The shift involves looking at users as individuals with specific needs, behaviors, and cultural contexts rather than as just product consumers. Considering user demographics, such as age, gender, income and education levels, geographic location, etc. is critical.
This shift has led to a more user-centric design approach, where the goal is to create products that meet technical specifications and more importantly, resonate with users on a personal level. The transition from a technical-centric approach to a human-centric one has brought about a deeper connection between users and the products being designed. Users feel understood and valued, creating a stronger affinity for the products. The ‘minimum lovable product’ concept reflects this shift, emphasizing users’ emotional connection and positive experience with a product beyond its basic functionality.
Invisible Design Process
The framework considers human nature, behavior, and culture in design to create products that resonate with users. The layers, including nature, nurture (behavioral and altruism connection), and culture, contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of user needs.
The first layer to unpack is the ‘nature’ layer, which encompasses biological and psychological factors inherent to individuals, such as eye color and cognitive load. Adding color to the interface immediately enhances its accessibility and user-friendliness. Invisible design goes beyond surface-level features, delving into the deeper layers of human cognition and behavior to create more intuitive and user-friendly products.
The ‘nurture’ part consists of behavioral aspects that are not innate but have evolved over time. There are two sections – behavioral traits and the connection to altruism. The behavioral section addresses the fear of the unknown, a common human trait, using examples like joining a new job or exploring an unfamiliar AI interface. By providing users with familiar starting points, such as prompts for email content, the design alleviates the fear of the unknown and facilitates user engagement.
The second aspect, the altruism connection, taps into the human tendency to feel good when helping others. In the context of AI, which is often perceived as a threat, creating opportunities for users to contribute and help the system improve the connection between humans and the technology. Adding prompts like “Help us get better” fosters collaboration, breaking down the perceived barrier between humans and AI. This illustrates how incorporating human behavioral traits into design can enhance user experience and build a positive relationship between users and the system.
The third part is the ‘cultural’ layer. Geographical locations, countries, histories, and cultural nuances significantly impact how people use products. Cultural factors, such as privacy concerns and attitudes toward technology, also shape user behavior and preferences. Language is also a crucial cultural element, and providing language options allows users to express themselves comfortably in their preferred language.
This blog offers only a high-level gist of the webinar. Here, you can watch the entire discussion, where industry leaders share valuable insights. For more such videos, you can visit https://www.gslab.com/webinars/ and https://www.gavstech.com/videos/.
The UNBOX team is the UX COE at GS Lab | GAVS. The team focuses on the big picture while staying tuned to evolving trends, technologies, and human behavior. With about two decades of product engineering expertise, GS Lab | GAVS delivers best-in-class user experiences that drive product acceptance. To learn more about our User Experience Design services, please visit https://www.gslab.com/user-experience-design/.
