Joel Spolsky Asks: Cotton Candy or Vegetables, What Do You Want? : A Review of the CFUNITED Keynote Address on Thursday, June 30th
By Matt Abraham, Dinowitz & Associates
What would you like to eat? Would you prefer the palate-pleasing taste of Cotton Candy, or would you prefer the more healthy and, at least on the surface, not so eye-catching plate of steamed vegetables? This was the subject of Joel Spolsky's very entertaining, yet informative presentation.
Pitting popular icons like Brad and Jennifer against second-tier celebrities and comparing the Apple iPod to off-brand MPEG players gave Joel the material to explore the three characteristics that define the blue-chip commodity: Make People Happy, Think About Emotions and Obsess on Aesthetics.
Joel posited that when you allow people to control their actions rather than forcing behavior, people will be happier. He compared the Abercrombie & Fitch shopping experience to the Amazon adventure. While the A&F shopping cart forces the purchaser to go through a rigid series of steps to complete a purchase, Amazon allows the user to select any number of actions prior to purchase finalization. Joel felt that the Amazon experience gives the consumer a better feeling because the user is more in control.
Another aspect of control that Joel touched on was Learned Helplessness. The tight control many applications maintain over user actions may engender a feeling of helplessness when confronted by a software problem. He brought the audience to laughter by satirizing the MicroSoft habit of providing more and more terrifying messages, yet not allowing the user to do anything about them -- except hit "OK". Many attendees nodded their heads in agreement at the frustration brought about by these obtuse and unhelpful messages. He offered an antidote to learned helplessness in structuring tasks such that small parts are easily accomplished, thus creating a virtuous cycle of success built upon success.
To paraphrase the Beatles - Happiness is a Warm UI ...
Playing on emotions is also an important factor of user satisfaction. Although, statistically, passengers in an SUV are more likely to suffer death and/or injury than passengers in a Camry, the perception of safety plays an important role in the minds of the purchases. Being high-up, soft and round evokes strong emotions and memories of being in a mother's arms. This factor can strongly influence the decision to purchase or not to purchase. By the same token, a highly charged, emotional user interface will stay with the user while a dull, but otherwise just as informative, interface is forgettable.
The upshot of the presentation was: When presenting software for review by non-technical people, put on your lipstick and strut your stuff. That's what will sell your product. The guts, the vegetables, are great for making it go. But Cotton Candy sells!
