Desiging digital products through the wrong reality

Monday thoughts.

Yes, I do sometimes think on a Monday evening. 😁 ✍ 👻  

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗶𝗳 𝘄𝗲’𝗿𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗱𝗶𝗴𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆?

Something has been bothering me for a long time when I look at how we design digital experiences.

We often try to 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗵𝘆𝘀𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱.

We map familiar gestures onto interfaces.

𝗪𝗲 𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗱𝗶𝗴𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗽𝗵𝘆𝘀𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗼𝗯𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁𝘀.

We use metaphors from the real world to explain how a product works.

• A folder.

• A bin.

• A book.

• A shopping cart.

• A page we turn.

And it makes sense, I think. 🤔

When digital was new, we needed familiar references to help people build mental models.

𝗘𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗡𝗶𝗲𝗹𝘀𝗲𝗻'𝘀 𝗵𝗲𝘂𝗿𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗰𝘀 𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝘂𝘀 𝘁𝗼 "𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱."

But I sometimes wonder if we have interpreted this too literally.

Matching the real world doesn't necessarily mean reproducing it. A digital product doesn't have to behave like a physical object just because the metaphor is familiar.

• A screen has no physical constraints.

• It can search instantly.

• It can remember.

• It can adapt.

• It can predict.

• It can generate.

• It can respond to context.

I feel digital has its own physics. 😅 And yet, we sometimes design it through the lens of the physical world. This is where I think we can limit ourselves as designers.

Instead of asking:"What physical gesture can we reproduce?"

Maybe we should also ask:"What would a human naturally do in this environment?"

That's a subtle but important difference.The first question is about mapping reality onto digital.The second is about understanding human behaviour within a digital reality.

And with AI, this becomes even more interesting.I feel that a lot of product team & designers don't think about it. They don't challenge the experience.

For years, we designed around:

𝗔𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 → 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗮𝗰𝗲 → 𝗢𝘂𝘁𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲

Now we're increasingly moving towards:

𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁 → 𝗦𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗺 → 𝗢𝘂𝘁𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲

If I can simply express what I want, why should I necessarily reproduce the sequence of actions I would have taken in the physical world?Maybe the next step in experience design isn't to make digital feel more like the real world.Maybe it's to understand that digital is a world of its own.And design for the behaviours that emerge there.That's probably one of the reasons I find Behavioral Design so fascinating.What do you think?Are we sometimes too focused on making digital familiar, when we should be making it natural?#experience #conception #experiencedesign #heuristique

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