Most of our products seek to make a profit from the products and features we make. Profiting isn't a bad thing. The problem for UX comes when the business wants to make and increase profits by maximizing or increasing circumstances that are bad for people. And usually, that means we limit the apparent choices available to people.
In UX we often arrange the UX so that the person using it has a single, obvious path to go down. That UX then “feels intuitive” while it reduces cognitive load. When we see the analytics that show thousands of millions of people following these paths we prescribed, we congratulate each other: we've done a great job!
For signing in, sure. Buying something. Making a video call. These seem innocuous enough. There's a point at which it's not innocent, though. A point at which these “nudges” we create can be used to reduce people's choices in ways that are bad for them and their communities. A point at which people don’t know how to behave when faced with choices, because they haven’t practiced.
“We are what we repeatedly do” wrote Will Durant. With the power we wield to reduce choice-making inside everyday user experiences, who are we UXers nudging our users to become?
I want to nudge our users (and humans in general) to become their best selves, whoever they are. That means I give them choices, and make sure they’re aware that they’re making choices. To do it well, I need to build their trust in the experience and the accurate information within it, so they can understand about the effect of those choices.
As you make choices today, whether or not you’re a voter in the US, I hope you choose accurate information, and consider the effects of your choice. Even when we disagree, we are all better off when people have practice with deliberate decision making.
