"Boring, Boring, Boring" Equals "Good, Good, Good" for Web Sites, According to Usability Psychologist Susan Weinschenk; "Cutting Edge" Means "Ouch" for Users

Who would want to be boring? For a person, it's an insult. For a book, it's a death sentence. For software or a Web site, it's often a sign that the technology is accomplishing its purpose, says Susan Weinschenk, Ph.D., a psychologist who studies how people respond to technology.

For: Weinschenk Consulting, PO Box 226, Edgar, WI 54426. Contact: Susan Weinschenk, (PRWEB) August 16, 2002 -2599, susan@weinschenk.com.

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"Boring, Boring, Boring" Equals "Good, Good, Good" for Web Sites, According to Usability Psychologist Susan Weinschenk; "Cutting Edge" Means "Ouch" for Users

Edgar, WI - Who would want to be boring? For a person, it's an insult. For a book, it's a death sentence. For software or a Web site, it's often a sign that the technology is accomplishing its purpose, says Susan Weinschenk, Ph.D., a psychologist who studies how people respond to technology.

"By 'boring' I mean that something is so simple you don't notice it and don't have to think about it," explains Weinschenk, who heads the Weinschenk Consulting Group (www.weinschenk.com) and has been studying the usability of technology for 25 years. "When we want to make a phone call, we don't want to have to figure out how the phone works. When we want to order office supplies over the Web, we don't want to see staples flying around the screen. If we can place the order in a quick and boring fashion, we're happy."

Pressure for attention-getting and cutting-edge Web interfaces comes from visionaries and so-called "early adopters," who tend to forget that they shouldn't design for people like themselves, says Weinschenk. "Mainstream users may try cutting edge, but they'll give it up just as fast. Then, when the cutting-edge advocates see that exciting and unusual doesn't work, it's a big loss of face to pull back and accept being boring."

While technology works best when it's boring, that doesn't restrict the creativity and excitement of the content communicated through technology, Weinschenk points out. "The phone should be totally boring, but the conversation interesting. A movie's delivery system - videotape, reel to reel, DVD - should be invisible to the user so that the movie images can be engaging and enjoyable."

Once technology becomes dependably boring, designers can fiddle with some elements that don't affect functionality, Weinschenk says. "Cars all work in the same boring way - insert a key, step on the gas pedal, turn the wheel, etc. - so that the shape and colors can become interesting. Make the wiper controls too creative, though, and people can't drive safely. Likewise, Apple computer has made some interesting-looking machines but fortunately they work in the same boring way as the squared-off beige boxes."

Weinschenk Consulting offers free Return on Investment calculators at http://www.weinschenk.com/tools/roi.asp, that enable companies considering investing in making their sites boring, to compute the savings they'll recoup from increasing user productivity, decreasing user support costs, and improving the conversion rate of Web site visitors into customers.