Readdress Success

My side projects have not made me millions. I’ve not been featured on the App Store. I have not won Site Of The Day on Awwwards, I’ve not even had an Honourable Mention. I’m now over the hill and into my 30’s. My best is past me. I’ve failed at life.

Or at least that’s how it can feel. Every day you can read articles about 20 somethings “disrupting industries” and making millions or people hitting the big time with a lucky strike. I want to be successful and what that success is has been drilled into me by countless “inspirational” stories I’ve read. I’ve lived by the “Dream Big” mentality and it hasn’t helped me. With definitions of success as grandiose as these it’s no wonder that all of my ideas and side projects have been dead before I’ve even started building them.

I’VE LIVED BY THE “DREAM BIG” MENTALITY AND IT HASN’T HELPED ME

For years I’ve planned out the game that changes the game industry; the app that changes the way you live your life; and the website that will change the world. These ideas sat and gathered dust whilst I waited for all of the correct pieces to fall into place. Where the pieces were falling from I couldn’t tell you. God maybe? The stars? Maybe the designs for one of my apps are sitting on a USB drive on the International Space Station. One day, one of the astronauts will be looking down kindly on me and they will eject the USB Drive which will somehow survive the journey back down to earth and land flat in my palm. Or maybe not.

I couldn’t start these projects as they were doomed to fail the exacting standards I’d set myself. For the ones that did manage to fight for themselves and get started an abrupt end was in store for them. My ideas crumbled under the weight of my aspirations. Finishing these projects would just confirm to me that they had failed; that my ideas were never as good as I thought; and that I was never going to be the success I hoped to be. So these half made things, full of promise got pushed aside and they too gathered dust.

MY IDEAS CRUMBLED UNDER THE WEIGHT OF MY ASPIRATIONS

Earlier this year I started working on a new idea for an app. A weather app for cyclists who commute to work, a narrow market but I knew I would definitely find it useful. I’d recently picked up Ionic, which gave me a rapid way of building and releasing iOS and Android applications using web technologies (if you’re a web developer and haven’t looked at Ionic I thoroughly recommend playing about with it). Using Ionic to solve a problem I was having felt like a great opportunity for me to learn some new skills. I didn’t worry too much about process (I spend a lot of time worrying about process in my day job), and I had gained some momentum. Instead of wireframing, designing and marketing I just coded. I wanted to get something working as soon as possible.

You may be surprised to learn that my app didn’t make me rich

And I did get it working, sort of. There were a few bugs which needed ironing out. The design needed to be improved slightly. But I had an app that was running on my own phone. It wasn’t on the app store yet but the momentum was carrying me forward. Small steps were making a big difference, and not worrying about the bigger picture meant that I was working stress free.

SMALL STEPS MAKE A BIG DIFFERENCE

The app I was building was specifically for me, but it was definitely going to make a few hundred thousand. Who doesn’t want to buy a cycling specific weather app? However, I put future riches out of my mind and continued the snowballing momentum I had. The snowball was so large that it actually smashed straight through the brick wall that is Apple’s provisioning profiles, app deployment and review process. Earlier this year I released my first app, solely created by me, which people were paying for.

I’d completed a personal project and this achievement has changed the way I approach all of my side projects now.

You may be surprised to learn that my app didn’t make me rich. It hasn’t got a shed load of 5 star reviews and apple haven’t noticed it one bit. But I feel happy nonetheless. I designed, built and released my own idea. Every time I think, “Well it’s not made any money.” I invariably start thinking, “Well at least I finished it. At least it works”. And it does work, it looks good and I’ve learnt a lot whilst creating it. I’ve navigated the labyrinth that is iOS provisioning and certifications. People can download it and use it, and some are. This is what success is for me.

I found a project I was interested in and didn’t worry about whether it would be popular, or make me rich. I ignored people telling me it wouldn’t work, or wouldn’t be popular. I focused on small steps instead of worrying about selling my idea to Google, or getting featured in the AppStore, and I found that everything became much more accomplishable. All I wanted to do was make it work. If I could get it on the AppStore then it was a success.

I don’t want to get bogged down by fear of failing and it’s not going to stop me from creating things anymore

I’ve started thinking of success as an evolving goal. At the moment success means to me, finishing and releasing the project. After the project is released I can look at what’s next for the project to be more successful, but all the while knowing that the project is already a success. I don’t want to get bogged down by fear of failing and it’s not going to stop me from creating things anymore.

I DON’T WANT TO GET BOGGED DOWN BY FEAR OF FAILING

I have already noticed a difference in my mindset. Ideas big and small seem less stressful. I have a couple of projects in the works and my primary goal is to complete and launch them. When I achieve that the projects are a success and after that everything is a plus.

So as a parting note, if you’ve ever not started something because you’re afraid of it not becoming a success, readdress what success means to you. Start small, stay small and finish it. You’ll feel a lot more successful than you do if you never finish anything.

By   Adam Hughes    - Orginal Post: https://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2017/09/readdress-success/

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When Slower UX is Better UX

When it comes to technology, faster isn’t always better. 

It’s true that 47 percent of people want web pages to load in two seconds or less (and 40 percent abandon sites that take three seconds to load). But when load times drop significantly below that two-second threshold, users start to get skeptical.

To understand why, put yourself in the shoes of someone checking his credit score. In the past, he may have spent hours on the phone to get even one bureau’s credit report. Now, using an app, he can get all three reports in mere seconds with just a few taps.

Yes, the app is fast, and yes, from an objective perspective, it’s user-friendly. Its designers clearly did their homework. But does he trust the app’s results? Is it a scam? Did the program really gather all three reports, check them for errors, and present them in a matter of seconds?

No way, he might think. Given his past experience, he’d be perfectly reasonable in thinking that the app couldn’t possibly have done it that quickly.

WHEN SLOWER SOFTWARE WORKS

In most cases, a speedy user experience makes sense. Optimization is important, and frankly, most sites need more of it, not less.

But there are certain situations in which a slower UX can actually increase user trust and engagement. Consider slowing your software in order to:

1. CREATE SECURITY THEATER

When you fly, the Transportation Security Administration’s job isn’t just to make you safer; it’s also to make you feel safer. This same labor of illusion is what made you confident when filing your taxes with TurboTax earlier this year. Intuit created fake animated loading bars that show that it triple-checking your returns for errors even though it actually does so along the way.

Slowing down this stressful process tells users that TurboTax is working hard for them and that they can trust it with sensitive information. Facebook provides random security checks for a similar reason: By drawing attention to something that’s already happening behind the scenes, Facebook gives users confidence that their data is secure.

When, exactly, should you provide a security-show slowdown? One might be in order if the user has provided sensitive information (such as a social security number or home address), paid money to use your service, or engaged deeply with it.

For example, imagine a home-finding startup. Rather than you doing the legwork of finding the perfect home, the startup’s app handles it for you. Because it costs money and requires personal information, it’s imperative that it slow the process down. In order to build trust, the app should explain why it needs your sensitive data, how it will use that information, and assure you that it will keep your information safe. A free messaging app, on the other hand, needs no such slowdown. Its goal is merely to gain and keep its users through a seamless experience with the least number of barriers.

2. EDUCATE USERS ABOUT MODERN TECH SPEEDS

Thanks to Moore’s Law and the maturation of connected devices, many modern technology products are fast and efficient with little perceived latency. Mobile computing and network speeds are remarkably quick compared to even five years ago.

But with so many users accustomed to spotty internet service, old technologies, and buggy software, fast operating speeds can cause them to worry about whether your product is working correctly. Wells Fargo’s eye scan technology, for example, was so quick that users didn’t believe it was doing what it said it was. The developers artificially slowed the process by strategically including scanning and authenticating progress bars. 

Slowing your product to match user expectations should, however, be a stopgap solution. Look for opportunities to educate users on today’s software speeds. Within the product itself, explain how your software is faster than ever. 

Facebook, again, provides an illustrative example. Ever notice how it pushes temporary notifications into your newsfeed following a product update? Each update mentions how Facebook is constantly working hard to improve the platform’s speed.

In your own product, take it one step further and include a call to action to allow users to provide feedback. Have an FAQ ready (or, even better, live support) to respond to this feedback and help users understand what’s really happening behind the scenes of your software.

3. WORK WITHIN SYSTEM CONSTRAINTS

Keep in mind that not all devices are connected to fast internet providers. Your product’s users might be of modest means or live in rural areas, or your own server infrastructure might not be up to snuff.

Either way, progress indicators such as loading bars can remind users that your product is still working on their request. For example, FirstRand Bank Limited of South Africa baked an artificial progress bar into its web interface. Because its infrastructure is outdated and slow, information can’t be displayed as quickly as it could, say, in Wells Fargo’s app.

Again, consider the user’s experience. If you’re a FirstRand customer staring at a blank screen for 15 seconds after clicking a button, wouldn’t you try checking your connection and refreshing the request? Unfortunately, these actions only make the bottleneck worse.

A fake loading bar might not be the ideal solution, but it’s better than providing no feedback at all. Animation to show that your software is handling the user’s request provides relief for both your servers and your users.

SPEEDING UP OR SLOWING DOWN?

All this talk of slowing down software requires some historical context. System limitations and users’ past experiences may be slowing things down, but on the whole, technology is pushing toward faster user experiences.

The more time that elapses, the more long-term tech users we’ll have. The more long-term tech users become accustomed to instantaneous results, the less UX designers will need to slow down their technologies. The faster technologies work — and, importantly, work correctly — the more users will trust them. Meanwhile, younger generations without the preconceived notions of their parents will grow into adults who are accustomed to seamless technological experiences.

Older generations who aren’t comfortable with technology still exist, however, and two people of different demographics rarely have the same comfort levels with the same technologies. Today, intentionally slowing down certain product scenarios can help older users feel comfortable with what’s happening to their data.

When slow systems (by today’s standards) are gone and people are used to instantaneous results, how much systems reveal to us about their back-end operations may become a question of personal freedom. As humans, we want to feel in control. Choices are comforting.

Ultimately, speed is important, but so is matching users’ expectations. No matter how fast we move into the future, slowing down will never go out of style.

By   Mike Godlewski   - Orginal Post: https://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2017/09/when-slower-ux-is-better-ux/

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