The unexpected relationship between UX and mindfulness
What is UX?
Put simply, User Experience (or UX) is about crafting the best possible experience for your users, which means being able to think like a user when designing.
It’s taking a journey, such as buying a product online, and identifying different user groups, and what jobs they’re looking to get done by being there.
Brands so commonly design the website from THEIR perspective (ie. we have XYZ to sell so we’ll display X, then Y, then Z), but actually their users may be looking for different information than what the brands thought to offer.
The UX boils right down to things like micro interactions, such as making sure that clicking a button gives the right visual feedback (although admittedly, this is where the UX / UI crossover gets a little murky).
It’s about crafting an experience based on data (such as from Google Analytics or User Testing), or at least from learnings from similar experiences. And about ensuring that the journey has been thoroughly thought through, before jumping into the designs.
It started with a toothbrush.
When my now-husband and I first met in Bali, he was living in a van in Australia, and I was living in London. After a few months of long-distance phone calls, I bought a one-way ticket to Australia and moved into his van.
This was a bold move that luckily paid off, but in the beginning we were still adjusting to each other’s lives.
I had just started freelancing, and was on many early morning and late night calls with new clients back in Europe, meaning that we didn’t always get up or go to bed at the same time.
I remember getting off a call one night when he was already in bed, to find that he had got my toothbrush out with toothpaste already on it. This seemingly tiny gesture really made an impact on me: it showed that he cared about me and wanted my experience to be as easy as possible.
It’s not lost on me just how lucky I am to have someone this thoughtful in my life.
These days, if I’m working late after our son is in bed, my husband will bring me out a blanket and make me a cup of tea before he goes to bed.
Likewise, if he’s up before me to go for a sunrise surf, I’ll leave a plate and knife out, along with a glass of water, to remind him to eat breakfast and stay hydrated before leaving the house.
And now, without even thinking, whoever is up first will leave fresh toothpaste on the other’s toothbrush.
Why am I telling you this?
It’s not to make you barf, or to brag about how hella cute we are.
All of these tiny gestures couldn’t help but remind me of the principle of UX. I know that sounds nerdy as hell (and yes, in a way it is) but stick with me.
The principle of UX is to consciously consider every micro-interaction that a user will make during their journey, so that you can make completing a desired task as easy (and even joyful) as possible for them.
Imagine if we took the same principle and applied it so thoughtfully to our own daily tasks, and the lives of our loved ones. Heck, to the lives of our colleagues, or even strangers. Wouldn’t these tiny gestures just make our experience of life feel… easier?
If we thought about tasks that happen regularly and thought about how to make them a little more streamlined - not to be controlling maniacs, but just to be a little more thoughtful; a little more mindful.
Redefining ‘self-care’.
The term ‘self-care’ has an almost chore-like connotation attached to it, like it’s something that we have to do but realistically, no one can really make time for it.
But what if we wilfully gave as much care and attention to the micro-experiences in our own lives as a UX designer gives to a user’s checkout journey (something that - let’s be honest - could be viewed as equally mundane as brushing your teeth)? What if we consciously created better life experiences?
Little things like making the bed, folding your pyjamas and refilling the water by your bed mean that when you return to the scene, tired, that you feel like someone took time to think about you.
Not eating the whole piece of cake at lunchtime so that ‘future me’ can have some as a snack in the afternoon makes me feel cared for.
Forcing myself to go for a run when I really can’t be bothered so that the ‘me’ of tomorrow can sigh in relief that I did it yesterday feels both proactive and lazy in equal measures, but for me, it works!
I’ve even gotten into the habit of thanking ‘past Laura’ for the thoughtful things she’s done, and for acting consciously in the moment as a gesture of love for ‘future Laura’.
Good user experiences can light you up!
Trust me - the only thing that will light up your day more than discovering that your train fare was paid for by an anonymous stranger, or finding a £1 coin on top of a shopping trolley, is being the one who left it there.
By putting as much consideration into the ‘user experience’ of life, for ourselves and those around us, we are doing what all good UX designers do: reducing friction, increasing the likelihood that the task will be completed, and even, possibly, bringing a little more joy into someone’s day.