A UX conversation about what we can learn from simplicity
There’s a lot to appreciate about simple applications. Perhaps we enjoy how easy for us, as users, it is to get from start to finish. For us workaholics, simplicity may be the factor that determines whether our tasks take us five minutes or five hours. In this case study, I decided to evaluate a project called chaosMachine. Simply put — pun intended, chaosMachine is a one-page, one-function, simple graphics generator that does exactly what it is meant to do: generate a graphic with a customizable text that you can download to your local computer.
Based on my personal experience with my product, I conducted a basic usability evaluation based on the LEMErS heuristic:
In retrospect, I am not at all displeased nor would I change my answers now in regards to scoring. chaosMachine was a great product that provided a simple tool for a variety of situations. As someone who is an avid Microsoft Powerpoint user, I found myself playing with the random generator much longer than I anticipated. However, I decided to get some insights from some other users through formal usability testing. I wanted to see how the functionality of chaosMachine would fit into the lives of other potential users.
What I found was very insightful and reflected the experience that I had when I stumbled this product. The users who tested chaosMachine provided that the primary function of chaosMachine was intriguing but lacked customization. In the realms of presentations, marketing, and engagement, my users let me know that being able to customize designs and backgrounds would prove to be more useful. Additionally, one user pointed out that after hitting the “generate new” button over and over again, in hopes of finding a great design theme, he realized that he could not save the generated design for future use.
This created the ultimate issue for presentation makers: designs that do not match the theme of the presentation! As the journey map supports, the function and look of the website are simple and easy for users to understand, but simplicity in customization leads to the users hungry for more. By adding in more options, the ability to start from where one left off previously can solve some of the UX issues surrounding chaosMachine.
Though this case study is a tad bit short, it provides that simple functionality and design, as well as additional features, are not mutually exclusive. By following through with the recommendations and experiences through observing usability tests, we can strive to improve even our most simplistic products and concepts.
