The Best UX is No UX
These words in the title aren’t something I came up with myself. I have come across some variations of this in different forms while I was working. It is also partly inspired by Steve Jobs’ many quotes about great design and simplicity.
A product gives the best experience to a user when it does its job with minimal intervention from the user. If it works so seamlessly that they do not know of its existence until it stops working, even better. As Don Norman said, great design and a great UX is hard to recognize or pin point, its easier to know when the experience is bad.
When should this apply to a product?
· It is not part of the user’s everyday routine
· It acts as a connection or bridge between different products or platforms
· The action the user does on it can be a set and forget action, which they rarely change
· You do not make money by the users spending time on your app
When can this backfire?
· The product is important for your branding that you need it to be front and center
· It is too complicated and has too many unique situations and choices
· Users’ everyday work revolves around this app
Today with AI and smart systems being very common, it is much easier to put this principle to practice. There is enough data and processing power to be able to predict what users want accurately. The products with the best UX would leverage this to automatically perform or suggest actions the user may want, with almost nothing needed from their side. When something just works the way they want, without their doing anything, the delight it gives is unparalleled.
This principle is even more important when a product acts as a bridge. This is not something users spend their whole day on. It complements some work they do, meant to make life easier. An example I had seen closely is digital signature applications. A salesperson’s core work is to close a deal. Getting a document signed is merely a means to this goal. It should not matter to them what application is used for the signature. Being able to trigger this document from their CRM system without switching tabs would be the best experience. The app settings might have to be set up once. After that, every following document should use the same presets and get sent instantly. The app could have some commonly performed actions baked into it so it works right out of the box.
For any product person, the main takeaway is to ensure the product just works the way the user wants it to, with minimal intervention from them. Such experiences — no visible UX, with the product doing more work than the user — are the pinnacle of great product design. Actively look for opportunities to anticipate and reduce what users need to do. Like all product principles, make sure your product is the right fit to apply this, then go ahead and delight your users.