Monday

Disruptive design and usability

In this post by Patricia McDonald, she writes:

“…design in the digital space has become so seamless, effortless and professional that it’s arguably all getting a bit predictable.”

In so doing, she also provides a good overview of the tension between disruptive design and standard usability practice. However, in insinuating that predictability in interface design is boring, she understandably caught flak from several readers who thought she overstated her point. Agreeing with them, I think that we have a long ways to go before we can suggest that we’ve become so good at designing excellent user experiences that we need to move on to the next challenge. Instead, the challenge remains the same, and she describes it well in a subsequent comment when she writes that:

“… disrupting a familiar pattern in some way can surprise and engage, perhaps followed by or segueing into a more familiar experience.”

Disruptive design can irritate or delight. When it irritates by interfering with a user’s goals, it destroys any buildup of flow or telepresence. When it delights, it extends these feelings. The best interfaces continue to be those that are compelling in design and eminently usable.