Think like a child; design like a pro

Recently I had a client send a mockup/wireframe of her idea of what her new site should be like. Most of the time I get offended when clients send me stuff like this because I feel it’s my job to do, not theirs. I came from the school of thought that we the designers were here to solve the problems of our clients – problems being anything from needing a website to increasing the usability and experience of one that already exists. And I enjoy solving these types of problems. However, this particular mockup I received wasn’t like the others. Unlike others, this one wasn’t trying to do anything but express an idea (as opposed to dictating or setting a baseline). I appreciated the mockup so much that it, instead of filing it away in the client folder I actually sat down and examined it a bit.

I’d consider myself an advanced web user. I know the ins and outs, the ups and downs and the insides and outsides of how it works. I can plan, prototype, design and develop so I feel I have a fairly well-rounded understanding of the web. I’m also a user. I use sites, navigation, I explore images, make payments, send messages, update content… write blogs… You get the picture. But this mockup opened my eyes to something new. And here’s why: this client, as brilliant as she is, doesn’t have the same technical knowledge of the web. She just knows if something works or not and how easy it is to use or conversely how confusing something is. Her mockup wasn’t done by a professional; it was done by someone with the mind of an innocent child – with a fresh, open, user-focused approach. And it was refreshing.

We all have instincts and we all listen to them on some level. When it comes to the web and usability, it’s our instinct that is usually the thing we should listen to. In this case, my client sent me a mockup of a site based solely on her instincts of where things should be. While it was far from perfect, it was interesting to see how she was thinking. She placed buttons where she thought they should be based on how she would use the application. She placed the navigation where she thought it would be most beneficial to her. And so on.

I believe that as one who practices best usability practices, it’s good to cater not only to our trained, experienced and honed instincts, we should also consider and cater to the instincts of our users. The innocent, child-like approach they take just might surprise you.