How to build something that matters to real people

Can the usability of a real estate investment site affect the investment itself?

Yes, it can.

‘Usability’ refers to the ease of use, understanding, and interaction with an interface. It comes from the field of cognitive ergonomics, i.e. the study of the relationship between human and object from the point of view of mental processes. Jakob Nielsen initiated these studies by publishing Web usability in 2000, which also initiated a heated debate between the artistic ideal and the design-focused ideal of simplification.

Over the last 2 months, I’ve read 3 books that are considered the holy grail for whoever tries to find a solution to a problem through a product (that doesn’t have to be digital). What I’ve learned through these books could never be resumed in just a few lines, but I’m gonna try it anyways and insert here some of the key concepts that I consider to be the main takeaways for me and us here in the product and marketing team at Walliance.

Sprint: how to solve big problems and test new ideas in just five days

1. Avoid developing ‘concepts’ – adopt a ‘prototype mindset’, test and observe: Instead of trying to research first and then innovate, do it the other way around. Learn about a market or target by testing rapid prototypes. Based on the learning you adapt to iterate solutions to make them better. This is going to save time and give you and your team a more outcome-oriented vision instead of an output-based vision.
2. Avoid groupthink, endless debates, and decision deferral: By starting slowly and taking time to map out the problem, it’s going to be easier to agree on an initial target and discuss and vote for solutions. Maintaining the communication focused on the team’s priorities will benefit not only the outcome of the design sprint but also the relationship between your colleagues.
3. Don’t take it personally: The longer you spend time on something, the more attached you’ll become. Don’t wait too long to ask for feedback, the longer you wait, the more committed you’ll become, and the less receptive to other opinions you’ll be.

Hooked: How to build habit-forming Products

According to Nir Eyal, the author of the book, all of the most addictive products have been able to associate users’ emotions and routines to a product, to make its use become a habit.

1. Customer growth vs. engagement: Once a product has become a habit, it does not require extensive advertising (and marketing budget) to ensure usage. Habit-forming customers have several benefits like increased CLTV, more flexibility, and a greater competitive edge.
2. Vitamin or Painkiller? Habit-forming products mostly start as vitamins (feel nice to have) and morph, with repeated use, into painkillers (supply to an obvious need).
3. Reactance what? Leveraging familiar behaviors users want to do instead of having to do, could influence significantly the way products are perceived and successfully change behaviors by presenting an implicit, new, and more convenient choice.
4. Find the habit path: If you've identified your habitual users, the next step is to codify the steps they took using your product to understand what hooked them. Every product has a different set of actions that devoted users take, try to determine which of these steps is critical.
5. Behavior = Motivation + Ability + Prompt: As a person’s motivation and ability to perform the target behavior increases, the more likely it is that they will perform said behavior. If you want a behavior to take place, look for ways to boost motivation or ability (or both). Without a Prompt (Trigger, CTA, request, etc.), the target behavior will not happen. There are 3 types of Prompts, and those that design to influence behavior, should use the type that matches their target user’s context:

• Facilitator: high motivation, low ability
• Signal: high ability, high motivation
• Spark: high ability, low motivation

Map out the behavior chains you need — the user flows you want to happen. A corresponding mistake is packing too much into a Prompt. Many designers make the mistake of asking people to perform a complicated behavior right away. It's better to progressively stage what you want from users into small chunks of work, starting with small, easy tasks and building up to harder tasks. Ask yourself: what “bit of work” do users invest in your product (time, data, skill, etc.)?

The Design of everyday things

A lot of the insights and frameworks mentioned in this book are baked into how we think and talk about building and designing nowadays: how to solve the right problem and meeting human needs.

1. Human-centered design: We shouldn’t expect humans to conform to machines and/or software. Again, design for people the way they are, not the way you’d like them to be. Preventing error means understanding how humans think, and how they are motivated. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.
2. Consistency = Key: Design everything the same way so people only have to learn once. Much often perfection becomes more important than making progress in the first place. Always keep in mind that consistency leads to habits. Habits from the actions we take every day. Action leads to success.
3. Slips and capture (right goal, wrong actions): The capture slip is defined as the situation where, instead of the desired activity, a more frequently or recently performed one gets done instead: it captures the activity. Slips are typically made when users are on autopilot, and when they do not fully devote their attention resources to the task at hand. Strategies for preventing slips are centered around gently guiding users so that they stay on the right path and have fewer chances of slipping. Assist users by providing the needed level of precision, and encourage users to check for errors.

What does all this have to do with Walliance?

Clarity of exposition and transparency are the first elements that allow you to better understand the world of investments, thus making it easier to enjoy them, freeing yourself from a mental asset that is often too rigid and anchored in the past. Simplicity is a key element: it allows you to have all the main information at your fingertips or to carry out the main processes with extreme fluidity. Making a process such as investing simple, is first and foremost a challenge, facing the complex bureaucratization of the sector, but also the mindset of the investor himself.

Indeed, complexity in the investment market is often associated with the need for an equally complex instrument. How is it possible that in such a complex situation, a simple strategy prevails?

The advantages of simplicity for the investor come not so much from the simplicity itself, but from the greater ease with which they can make investment decisions and stick to them over time. A simple choice is also better understood.

This is even more evident in light of the takeaways reported in this article.

P.s. If you read till here, you can call yourself my hero.

Credits:

•  Knapp, J., Zeratsky, J., & Kowitz, B. (2016). Sprint: How to solve big problems and test new ideas in just five days. Simon and Schuster
• Eyal, N. (2014). Hooked: How to build habit-forming products. Penguin
• APA. Norman, D. A. (2013). The design of everyday things. MIT Press.
• https://www.researchaffiliates.com/content/dam/ra/documents/The%20Confounding%20Bias%20for%20Investment%20Complexity_pdf.pdf