User experience designers all agree on the importance of user interface simplicity, consistency, and performance as keys to successful application design. This is particularly relevant for enterprise SaaS and RIA applications where expectations for "use without training" have been set high by consumer SaaS applications.
But one often overlooked attribute of good user experience design is perceived control. This is surprising because in many ways, a user's feeling of being in control is what defines their perception of simplicity, consistency, performance and even innovation.
Perceived control is a fundamental concept but rarely discussed and even more rarely do I see it implemented as a specific goal in SaaS application design. The basic idea is simple: the more a user feels in control of their software environment, the more satisfied they feel and the more likely they will become loyal repeat users. On the flip side, the more a user feels that they cannot control the software (because of a poorly designed or poorly validated UI), the more likely they will blame it on a "bad" application and seek alternatives.
Predictability, Simplicity, Performance, & Innovation
Designing for consistency is in large part just a way of creating predictability. Predictability is about controlling your environment. The user knows what will happen when they do something - even for the first time. It gives them a feeling of mastery and control, which is critically important to product use and loyalty.
Designing for simplicity is similarly about designing for control. Software feels simple, intuitive and easy to use when it matches a users conceptual model of the world.
Perceived performance is how responsive the computer feels to your actions. When an application forces you to wait for it to catch up (e.g. a spinning clock), you feel like you no longer have immediate control over the application and your environment. Low perceived performance can lead to low satisfaction and high customer churn, High perceived performance makes you feel in control and will result in high customer satisfaction and stability.
Innovation in UI is often in the form of discovering how to increase perceived control. Truly innovative software makes previously difficult tasks, easier to manage and complete.
Examples of applications/products that offer little perceived control: a Comcast digital remote control, Microsoft Word.
Examples of applications/products that offer high perceived control: the iPhone, Google search, many video games.
Design for Perceived Control from the Start
Levels of perceived control of course change as users gain experience with an application. But with SaaS, where it is easy for users to switch to a different service, a UI that creates the perception of control, right from the start, can reduce churn and keep customers coming back month after month.
At Catalyst we spend much of our initial design sprint developing and validating the right conceptual models that make software feel simple. We use RIAs in a way that we can optimize perceived performance. And as a company, we are uniquely focused on designing modular reusable UI which deliver consistency (as well as cutting development costs!). We recognize that perceived control is an essentail factor in user experience design and we regularly assess it in usability and user validation testing, quickly iterating to correct perceived "lack of control".
Categories: RIA, User Experience