Responding to Thoughtful Interaction Design: Examples of Product with Thoughtfully Designed User Experience

Responding to the reading, find 2 examples of a product/project that you think are good examples of thoughtfully designed user experience.

I think one of the most common user experience oriented product we use daily, is our phone. Let us take the iPhone for example, its operating system (iOS) and features. Pinch to zoom, swipe to unlock are classic examples of thoughtful designed user experience. The nature of the ‘pinch to zoom’ action is so obvious; effortless and understandable by everyone, it satisfies both the intention of the action and the expectation of the user. The ‘home button’, as the name suggests, is a self-explanatory feature that brings us to the main page of the iPhone, by a simple press. In the same line of thought, when the home button is pressed, the transition animation from an app to the home-screen, zooms out and vice versa. The transitions ease the user in and out an application and help to connect different nodes in the phone.

Even naming a feature in a product should be as intelligible as the feature so that the user can easily comprehend without going through a manual guide (tell-tale features). I think that Apple seamlessly bridges the iPhone’s digital interface with its physical features with design that is unobtrusive and human centered.

Image Source: http://www.idownloadblog.com/2013/11/12/how-steve-jobs-pushed-for-changes-in-android/

 

Another classic example of a good and thoughtfully designed user experience is the Japanese toothpick. As mundane as it can look, the function of a toothpick is very well thought. Serrated at one end, the toothpick can be broken at its tail. Doing so afford 2 additional purposes: the broken tail serves as a resting support for the used side of the toothpick (for hygienic purposes) and it can also signify that the it has been used. The experience extends beyond what the object can afford after a small alteration. Similarly, the user’s expectation about ‘what to do next’, after using the toothpick is justified by the intention of the serrated end. The design is simple yet thorough down to the details of the user’s experience.

 

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Jeremy

Product Design Enthusiast

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