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Good UX is not just about minimizing clicks
Applying the Pareto principle to feature availability in UX design
Some of my favorite books as a kid were the “Where’s Waldo?” series. Looking at the book list, I had the first four — the blue one, the red one, the yellow one, and the Hollywood one. Seems like I gave up on ol’ Wally before I turned double digits. (Although, my love for find-the-thing eventually morphed into crossword streaks, puzzle hunts, and even co-creating a VR escape room game.)
I sense your confused face. Why exactly is Waldo relevant here?
Well, a lot of so-called modern tools these days are way too reminiscent of finding Waldo. When a user is a trying to do-a-thing, they are often presented with a countless number of places to look.
- Is it one of the dozens of clickable UI elements on this page? (tap tap tap)
- Do I have to click into an item to take action inside a deeper context level? (where aaaare you Waaaldo?)
- Is it in the overflow menu? Or the other overflow menu? Or the other one? (Marco… Waldo)
- Heck, is it even available anywhere in this area of the product? (Oh no, now we’re getting into the navigation, I’m gonna have to look through an entire “Where’s Waldo?” book just to find one Waldo!)
This might be fun for a 9-year-old.
It’s less fun for someone simply trying to do their job.
If your users feel like they’re playing “Where’s Waldo?” with your product, then this article is for you.
Reducing clicks is good…
We’ve all heard the request: “Simplify the user journey! Reduce friction! Minimize clicks!” It’s a sort of rallying cry for product managers and UX designers.
On the surface, this click-reduction strategy makes a whole lotta sense. After all, who doesn’t want a frictionless user experience?
The promises are indeed quite enticing:
- Increased user engagement, because users can immediately find and utilize the functionality they need
- Improved user satisfaction, because users can get value out of all that functionality that they…
