UX in another light: an eye-opening example of UX principles and how they are applied in real-life businesses.

Let's be on the same page

Before I go into details, I must include that this article is a representation of what I indeed observed as an Amala lover in Ibadan. Ibadan is a city in Nigeria by the way.

àmàlà?is a local indigenous Yoruba food, native to my?ethnic group(Yoruba). It is made out of yam and/or cassava flour, or unripe plantain flour.?Tubers of Yams are peeled, sliced, cleaned, dried, and then blended into flour, it is also called?èlùb??.?

Amala is mostly enjoyed when served with Ewedu and Gbegiri soup.

In this article, I will be talking a lot about "Mama Put" joints. These roadside restaurants or street food stalls in Nigeria.

Think about how things work in the physical world, for example, changing your favorite mama put spot from The one you have been going to eat for over a decade to a new spot that just opened some years ago because it has gotten a better look and feeling or simply put, it has a more premium feel.

Yes, that happened to me an I will tell you all about it, read on!

My side of the story

So I have been going to JointA to eat for as long as I can remember and I loved the food there but then I noticed a seemingly better place and I decided to try the place out.

I came to realize that gradually, customers from Joint A migrated to Joint B. I can not say for sure why the customers made the choice and I can't possibly test all possible decision combinations with each user. All I could do initially was make hypotheses and test them by observing and questioning as though I was carrying out actual research.

Being a customer at both places it was easy to make my observations, and the fact that I grew up ineighborhoodurhood made it easier to ask people around and also observed them( in this case I asked 4 people who also used to go to Joint A from way back and observed 3 people who were new to both Joints). I noticed some UX "stuffs" being play out and I will talk about the, below:

• Fitt's Law: The time to acquire a target is a function of the distance and the size of the target. Joint B is conveniently located near Joint A and B is also bigger and more attractive.
• Jakob's Law: The Consumers have spent most of their time at Joint A, so they have come to see everything Joint A gives out as the norm and that explains why they serve the same food as Joint A.
• Doherty Threshold: Productivity soars when the seller and the buyer operate at the same pace. Well, Joint B has uniformed helpers to attend to customers and that is something Joint A lacks.
• Competive Audit: Allows you to track your competitors, understand their approach, and figure out what your brand might be missing. The aim is to discover what works for other companies in your industry and incorporate those strategies for your brand to gain a competitive edge.

I noticed some strengths in Joint B that are the weaknesses of Joint A and they are listed below:

• Joint B runs a comfortable and attractive place and it was for easy to the customers tobe won over.
• Joint B sells drinks at her place unlike Joint A where you either have to go get it your self or start eating and then wait for someone to get it for them (That to me is unsafe, not that I'm one to talk anyways.)

Sounds nice but what how does Place B makes her profit ?

Good question, In exchange for premium feel, Joint B charges twice what Joint A charges and this helps balance it all.

Keep an eye out

There are lots of other examples of UX in real life, If I were to write all I observed, I'd have to write a multi-part book series. Te important thing to remember is that these UX processes and principles work and actually makes life's easier.

Do this

If you are ever in Ibadan and you want to try a good Mama Put out, Hit me up and do not forget to like, comment and share this article if you found it interesting.