When you really think about the different applications we build they can mostly be grouped into a small selection. Honestly, think about it, what is are we really building? Ignore the fancier features and nice design elements, and really look at what is being built.
After doing that you’ll clearly see the types of applications we build are quite slim. The small selection includes forms for interactivity, text to convey messages, and media(video, images, audio, etc.) to maintain attention for long periods of time. After the thought you just did, there really shouldn’t be too much deviation from this selection. Now begins the question of the hour, how does knowing any of this help me in the slightest? Well, let’s see, shall we!
Strealine Your Thoughts
Having options is a privilege not everyone is fortunate to have in their life. For those lucky enough to experience this, they know the more options they have the more scattered their decision process is. Look at food selection as a great example.
A person that lives in an area where there is an abundance of food options to choose from, and the means to make whatever choice you choose, it’s difficult. Hence the concept of choosing what to eat is so difficult is justified. On the opposite end, imagine being in a less fortunate country where you only have two or three realistic options. Here you’re not eating as a luxury, it’s for simple survival.
This is where my bringing this concept to your attention fits in beautifully. Having this understanding allows for clearer and more focused thought. Allowing for more focused time planning interactions, displaying content, and providing engaging media.
Cleaner And Richer Interactions
As mentioned, streamlining your thoughts allows for better context on the actual tasks you’re attempting. With that context, you can apply it to building out your UX more effectively. The majority of fog we cloud our heads with about an interaction shows itself in an end user’s inability to accomplish the desired task. Having clear tasks in our applications comes from a clear understanding of the actual tasks in an application.
Concise User Stories
Everything we’ve touched on all leads to this point. User stories across the board in tech have a consistent problem everywhere you go. This being that they are rarely ever straightforward or clear in the initial phases, and takes multiple 1 hour+ meetings to trim them down to an actual usable set of actions. If we’re lucky!
Most of the time in these meetings is spent focusing on exactly getting to the thought process we’ve already established. Streamlining the interactions between the starting point and then the desired end goal. Turning the middle into the text to display information, forms for interactivity and media to garner attention and better explain where words are more difficult to get the point across.
In Closing
Being honest with yourself is always the first step into growing. In the software space, that honest understanding comes from really looking at what it is we’re building. No matter how fancy or technically challenging the tool or application is, it boils down to the three categories we outlined. No exceptions!
With that understanding take this information, not to belittle what you do, but to enhance it by thinking of it more so at the micro-level first. As they say, the best place to see all options and possibilities is from the smallest footing.