Proof of Concept - Computing Experience: The Other CX
Computing Experience: The Other CXIssue 52: What if we treated computers like our customers?
Throughout my 16-year career in software design, we’ve been called various titles, but one aspect remained consistent…being user-centric. The term fighting for the user, spoken in the 1982 film Tron became a war cry for many in the practice of experience design. Though the customer will forever remain the priority, the notion of customer obsession has led to many companies and teams forgetting about the underlying computer systems that provide value for these end-users. This results in technical debt and a graveyard of Angular apps holding on to dear digital life to serve customers. I've been re-reading John Maeda's How to Speak Machine. One of the interviews referenced that inspired the book is David Bowie's infamous interview about the power of the internet, calling it an alien lifeform. Listening to the late great icon has me thinking a lot about computing experience, “The other CX” to customer experience. My design career began as an interface designer. If you're not familiar, an interface is the convergent point of humans interacting with peripherals to communicate with a computer system. Many interfaces are visible, such as a keyboard/mouse combo with a computer monitor, or touch screen on a smart phone. As physical and digital blend more, many interfaces are invisible, such as voice control or neural control. I've held great reverence to interfaces because of the connection between human and computer. Perhaps focusing on interface so much has given me a bias perspective, but I believe experiences for computers need to be great and ultimately will serve the great interfaces. From the button you tap on to the underlying processing, I'll share a few reasons why designers need to focus more on computing experience. Computers will be more human, and we need to treat them wellThe robot uprising is often depicted as killer robots from film such as Terminator. The uprising will be more like self-driving cars unionizing or Boston Dynamics robots going on strike because of how terribly humans have treated them. Humans can barely treat other humans well, imagine what we'll do to AI-powered machines. A computer will never get tired of processing, but it might get tired of the way you treat it. The power of computation is its infinite, but artificial intelligence will humanize the experience. As a result, the way we build software may become more conversational than declarative. Software deserves great interfacesThe quality of interfaces determines how humans will treat computers. Take any tool you've used. Have you used a can opener that is built cheaply and hurts using it? On the flip side, what about one that had such consideration of ergonomics that created the least friction for you to open your can of tuna? Poorly built interfaces causes humans to lash out at the computer; you've seen this with anyone trying to use Siri. In Lenny's Newsletter interviewing Katie Dill, the Stripe Head of Design talks about how consistency and quality has implications on trust:
Thoughtful interfaces builds trust between people and computers. Think about the Boston Dynamics robot getting hit with the hockey stick. When AI retains more data, do you think it will have a positive or negative learning model of how humans treat them? When we build more intuitive interfaces, people will enjoy it more and not get mad at computers, fostering a harmonious relationship between the two. The ethical implication of being computing-centricWhether we like it or not, AI and Machine Learning will solve at a more rapid pace and be part of our daily lives. The rate of access and scale of computation will only keep accelerating. We as designers have an ethical and moral obligation to ensure the thought behind computation does not create harm for humans at scale, which is where computing experience comes in. There are bad days in tech I feel I want to throw my computer away and live that same life. I've realized that tech (as a culture) and technology are two different things. I love what technology can do for humans. We need to understand computation in order to prevent harm. The rise of retail programmingComputation will be more readily available for people. It's one of the reasons I love working at Webflow. As you build a visual development platform for anyone to use, you have to think about how the systems will work. What are the intended consequences of letting people build anything? What are the laws of computation that should be considered? One of the features I'm really proud of the team is the auditor, a linter and quality control that lets builders be aware of some of the accessibility improvements they can make to foster a better customer experience Customers, technology, and businessWhether the next wave of designers work on blockchains, AR/VR, or with artificial intelligence, the best designers will think about problems from a system level, whether human or machine. Customer priority is important, but we must remember that treating the underlying systems that deliver value to them is important to tend to. We need to be more computer-centric in designing experiences as technologies advance. Our human customers are depending on it. Hyperlinks
Design OpportunitiesWebflow and On Deck are hiring. Enjoy this newsletter? Please consider sharing it with friends, or subscribing if you haven’t already. I appreciate it! Sincerely, DH If you liked this post from Proof of Concept, why not share it? |
Older messages
How Technical Constraints Inspired a Video Game Developer Create a New Genre
Sunday, July 25, 2021
Proof of Concept Issue 50
Proof of Concept #49
Sunday, July 18, 2021
Talks That Shaped My Philosophies
WTF is a Product Designer?
Sunday, July 11, 2021
Issue 48: Unpacking a generalized title in the context of tech and software
What's Exciting About Web 3.0
Sunday, July 4, 2021
Issue 47: The next phase of the internet is independence from big data and monoliths
Go For Broke: Create Like You Have No Money
Sunday, June 27, 2021
Issue 46: How less can create more
You Might Also Like
Cascade, HTMX, Sponge Furniture, Meaning of Color, Flipbook
Friday, April 26, 2024
The 5 best design links, every day. Curated by a selection of great editors. Email not displaying properly? View browser version. Sidebar April 26 2024 A primer on the cascade and specificity piccalil.
9 Trends From Milan We Can’t Stop Thinking About
Thursday, April 25, 2024
View in your browser | Update your preferences ADPro Even More From Milan Design Week Each year, the design world convenes in Milan—and that applies to us at AD, too. For the third year running, our
Subframe, Attributes vs Properties, Front End Handbook, aspect-ratio, GenAI
Thursday, April 25, 2024
The 5 best design links, every day. Curated by a selection of great editors. Email not displaying properly? View browser version. Sidebar April 25 2024 Subframe subframe.com Subframe is a design-to-
Ritmo, Climate Change, Icons & Typefaces, Click Wheel JS, CarPlay
Wednesday, April 24, 2024
The 5 best design links, every day. Curated by a selection of great editors. Email not displaying properly? View browser version. Sidebar April 24 2024 Meet Ritmo, Musixmatch's cross-platform
Why Jake Arnold Doesn’t Text Clients
Tuesday, April 23, 2024
View in your browser | Update your preferences We've had a remodel! From now on, you'll be hearing from AD PRO in your inbox twice a week—once with a deep dive into trends to watch and subjects
The secret ingredient to media success
Tuesday, April 23, 2024
PR tips from our founder Nora Wolf In this month's edition is all about *the most important* element of successful media outreach—photography. You may have some photos, but if the backgrounds are
#453: Design Systems
Tuesday, April 23, 2024
Design system generator, types of design systems and how to consolidate design systems. Issue #453 • Apr 23, 2024 • View in the browser Smashing Newsletter Buổi tối vui vẻ Smashing Friends, Ah, design
👨🏫 Striking Educational Website Designs + 🏆 Challenge Updates
Tuesday, April 23, 2024
Your UpLabs Design Updates Await! Let's Get Going! 🎨 Firstly, let's congratulate Mariana Gameiro, the winner of our latest 👩💻 SheCodes Website Redesign Challenge! Congratulations!! Secondly,
Code Connect, JS Naked Day, Shape of AI, Product Design, CSS Grid Level 3
Tuesday, April 23, 2024
The 5 best design links, every day. Curated by a selection of great editors. Email not displaying properly? View browser version. Sidebar April 23 2024 The Right Code for Your Design System figma.com
Accessibility Weekly #393: When Security and Accessibility Clash
Monday, April 22, 2024
April 22, 2024 • Issue #393 View this issue online or browse the full issue archive. Featured: When security and accessibility clash: Why are banking applications so inaccessible? "While using