Adam Engstrom

Are We Forgetting the Meaning in UX?

This entry is part of the “Half-Baked Ideas, Musings, and Other Ill Conceived Notions” series which is a compilation of half-thought out ideas that I have in passing. They may be bad, ill conceived, and/or wrong, but they are meant to stimulate debate and reflection.

I am an avid baker. My kitchen is full of utensils and devices. Some brand new and others older than my parents. And this got me thinking. Why do I use an old, beat up rolling pin that hurts my hands a bit to use and is falling apart a bit? Why not buy a new ergonomic and chic one that is more usable?

Because, to me, there is more than just the criterion of usability in my choice of products. The rolling pin was my grandmother’s, and it has a little bit of every dish she’s made trapped in the pores of the wood. It is an artifact that bridges decades and generations. It has meaning.

What does that have to do with UX? I’ve been hearing a lot lately about delighting users. About making things easy to use. About aesthetics and design. But I have not heard a lot about meaning.

There is a trend in UX (and design as a whole) that turns away from the artisanal and towards the assembly line. We stamp out designs because they are popular and proven to be usable. White text on an large image anyone?

We make designer bakeware with all of the bells and whistles. Automatic timers and nonstick pans. They are super usable and delight us with features. But they are devoid of meaning.

Meaning is squishy, personal, and corny, but it is what separates something I can use from something I want to use. How do you develop meaning? By going deep. Do not just be satisfied with usable and pretty. Be different and sincere.

The consequences? You will alienate users. Not everyone wants an old rolling pin. You will have rough edges. Not everything will be totally usable. This will annoy users.

But people do not use Facebook because it is usable. It is not really. They use it because it develops a deeper meaning. IMDb has one of the worst login screens. But I suffer the login every time I watch a movie because the list of all the movies I have seen possesses meaning for me.

Meaning matters. And we cannot forget it. It should be:

Usability + Delight + Meaning = Amazing UX