Chapter 1: Design for behaviour, not screens, lesson 1 of 6

See what a product does, not how it looks

What if every screen of an app you like went blank, but the app kept working? What would you still get? This free UX lesson starts with that question.

By 5 min read, 12 min of exercises

Think of an app you use and like. Now imagine all its screens go blank. The app still works. It just shows you nothing.

Here is the first question of this course. Answer it before you read on. There is no wrong answer. My own first answer changed after one more question.

Think first

Pick an app you think is well designed. Its screens go blank, but it keeps working. What do you still get from it?

You

Which of these is closest to your answer?

Shirish

That was my first answer too. But you can know what’s happening without a screen. Think of a lift. It has no real screen. Still, you know when it arrives. It stops, it beeps, and the doors open.

So when you called the app well designed, what were you praising? Its screens, or what it does for you?

Shirish

Good. Now name that job. Say what the app does, not what it is. It’s a good mailbox is not enough. A paper mailbox is a mailbox too, and nobody calls it well designed.

What does your app do for you? What would you miss first if it stopped?

Shirish

That can be true. The end of this lesson looks at that case. But test it first. Imagine a friend did the app’s main job for you by text message, with no app at all. Would you still get what you need?

If yes, what were the screens for?

You

What this means

If you picked the screens, you’re not alone. I did too. Screens are the part we can see.

If you said the app still does its job, you already have the main idea of this course:

A product is what it does for people. The screen is only one way it does that.

The rest of this lesson shows why. It also shows one case where it isn’t true.

Gmail’s attachment check: help you never see

When someone asked me this question, this is the feature I picked.

Shirishfrom my inbox

Gmail stopped me from sending an email without its file

I often write the file is attached below. Then I forget to attach the file. When I press Send, Gmail stops me. It asks if I meant to attach a file.

This has saved me many times. It saves more than the email. It saves me from looking unprofessional in front of the person I’m writing to.

This is the moment I mean:

  • The email says the file is attached.
  • But no file is attached.
  • The app asks only when 1 and 2 are both true.
We rebuilt this in a simple mail window. It is not a screenshot. Gmail asks the same question.

Look at where the help comes from. You almost never see this check. It only appears when you are about to make a mistake. And what it protects isn’t on any screen. It protects how other people see you.

Frustration, motivation, aspiration: why people use a product

People keep using a product for three reasons. This course calls them frustration, motivation and aspiration. You will see them in every lesson.

If you can name all three, you can explain why people start, why they finish, and why they come back.

Gmail's attachment check, in three parts

Frustration

What goes wrong for them today

I meant to attach the file, but I forgot.

Motivation

What gets them to finish the task

I want to send the email and get a reply.

Aspiration

Why they come back

I want to look professional to the people I write to.

People mix up motivation and aspiration the most. Motivation gets someone through today’s task. Aspiration is who they want to be. It is why they come back tomorrow. Try it.

Practice

Is each one a frustration, a motivation or an aspiration?

  1. I want clients to see me as someone they can rely on.

    Right, it's aspiration. It's about who they want to be. That brings them back every day.

    Not quite. It's aspiration. It's about who they want to be. That brings them back every day.

  2. I wrote “attached” and forgot the file, again.

    Right, it's frustration. It's a mistake that costs them today. A product can remove it.

    Not quite. It's frustration. It's a mistake that costs them today. A product can remove it.

  3. I want to clear my inbox before lunch.

    Right, it's motivation. It sounds like an aspiration, but it's a goal for today. After lunch, it's done.

    Not quite. It's motivation. It sounds like an aspiration, but it's a goal for today. After lunch, it's done.

  4. Finding last month's invoice takes ten minutes of scrolling.

    Right, it's frustration. It costs them time, again and again.

    Not quite. It's frustration. It costs them time, again and again.

  5. I like being the colleague whose emails never need a follow-up.

    Right, it's aspiration. It's who they want to be at work. That keeps them coming back.

    Not quite. It's aspiration. It's who they want to be at work. That keeps them coming back.

  6. I need a reply from the client by Friday.

    Right, it's motivation. It gets them through this task. Once the reply comes, it's done.

    Not quite. It's motivation. It gets them through this task. Once the reply comes, it's done.

Your turn

Now think about the app you picked at the start. What are its frustration, motivation and aspiration for you? One line each is enough.

These stay in this browser. They start your behaviour brief at the end of the chapter.

A game: two ways to stop a mistake

Gmail stops me, and I’m glad. Other apps stop me, and I click past without reading. Why? Play this first.

Game

Two ways to stop a mistake

Two email apps try to stop you from sending a mistake.

  • App A asks Are you sure? every time you send.
  • App B asks only when something looks wrong.
Before you play: which app catches more mistakes?

Round 1 of 2: your situation

  • You're using App A.
  • Your meeting starts in 2 minutes.
  • 5 emails are waiting to be sent.

Your task: send all 5 before you go.

This game needs JavaScript. In short: an app that asks Are you sure? every time gets clicked past, even on the email that says attached but has no file. An app that asks only when it sees that problem asks once, at the right moment.

These emails are made up for this course. Nothing is sent.

Keep this question in mind for the whole course. I call it the check or the pop-up.

  • Does the app stop you because something looks wrong? That’s a check.
  • Does it stop you every time, no matter what? That’s a pop-up.

Most Are you sure? boxes are pop-ups. The ones you were thankful for were checks.

My food delivery app: nice screens, failed product

Here’s the opposite mistake. My team made it.

Shirishfrom my early work

People liked how my food delivery app looked, but didn't use it

Early in my career, I designed a food delivery app. It looked clean. The animations were smooth. The restaurant photos looked tasty. In testing, people said they liked how it looked.

After launch, very few people used it regularly. They liked browsing restaurants. But ordering didn’t work well. We had designed it around how we thought people should order food. We never checked how they really order.

The screens tested well, but the product failed. We polished what people could see. We guessed at the part that made them come back.

What user experience means

Experts define it the same way.

Published case: Nielsen Norman Group

The definition of user experience

Don Norman made up the term “user experience” at Apple in the 1990s. He felt the older terms were too narrow. Later, he and Jakob Nielsen defined it like this:

User experience encompasses all aspects of the end-user’s interaction with the company, its services, and its products.

In plain words: user experience is everything a person goes through with a company. Not just its screens.

The experience is more than the screens Four circles, one inside the other. In the middle: the screens. Around them: the service, which is what the product does. Around that: delivery and support. On the outside: the company. The company Delivery, support The service Screens
The screens are in the middle. But the experience is everything around them too.

Think of a delivery that comes late, or a refund that takes a week. Or a check that stops a careless email. These are all part of the experience. None of them is a screen.

The exception: when the screen is the product

Against this idea

Drawing apps: here the screen is the product

Some products really are the screen. Think of a drawing app, a game or a music app. Here, what happens on the screen is the whole point. Think of the line under your finger, the jump in a game, or the note you play. Take away the screen, and nothing is left.

But listen to what people praise, even here. Nobody loves a drawing app for its toolbar. They love it because the line comes out the way they wanted.

So the screen is the product when using the screen is the goal. Most of the time, the screen is just the way to reach a goal.

Words from this lesson

These words come back in every lesson. Here they are in one place.

User experience
All the things a person does, feels and remembers when they use a product. In this lessonA lift beeps when it arrives. There is no screen, but it is part of the experience.
Behaviour
Something a person does that you can see. Doing nothing, or leaving, counts too. In this lessonPressing Send without reading the question.
Frustration
What goes wrong for people today. It costs them time, money or effort. In this lessonForgetting to attach the file.
Motivation
What gets people through today’s task, until they can say “it worked”. In this lessonSending the email and getting a reply.
Aspiration
Who people want to be. The product helps them get there, so they come back. In this lessonLooking professional to the people you write to.

Back to your first answer

Your first answer

Your answer

Your answer will show here after you write one at the top of this page.

You've read the lesson. Would you change your answer?
Good. Which part of this lesson backs your answer?

Your bet: how did Gmail’s team find out?

Your bet

Nobody asks for this in a survey. Nobody writes stop me when I forget attachments. People don’t report mistakes they don’t notice. So how did Gmail’s team find out?

Make your bet, and say how sure you are.

Your guess
How sure are you?

You'll find the answer in Lesson 2: Find the problems people don't report.

Try this during the week: notice a time an app stopped you from making a mistake. What did it know that made it stop you then, and not every time?

Sources

Portrait of Shirish Shikhrakar

Written by

Shirish Shikhrakar

Shirish is a Google-certified UX designer and UX engineer based in Kathmandu, Nepal. He started as a software developer, moved into product design for Silicon Valley startups, and has taught UX foundations to hundreds of designers since 2019.

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