I was having an interesting conversation with my girlfriend last night. She’s notoriously anti-technology and I was curious why she felt this way. She kept going back to “I don’t like it when things tell me what to do.”
It’s a powerful concept. When software, websites and user interfaces are difficult to use your users might be feeling like the computer is telling them what to do. When something is properly designed and genuinely useful, users feel like they are telling the computer what to do.
If your software has a steep learning curve and is cluttered with instructions or multiple steps, ask yourself how you can simplify. These are the times when users can get most frustrated. But, when user interfaces are intuitive and feel natural, it makes us feel powerful and in-control.
Who doesn’t like feeling powerful and in-control?