Still on bad UIs, especially with project and operational tools. It’s like when you’re scrolling on Instagram, and you see an ad, and then it redirects you somewhere, but it just has a QR code. There aren’t many details on the ad, just a QR code. You’re looking at this on your phone. It doesn’t really make a lot of sense for the QR code to be there because you’re not just going to scan a random code, which a lot of people do not do. You don’t want to do something or create a situation where there is so much friction. I’ve talked about having just the right amount of friction that is going to enable, or maybe encourage, people to input the right information and make them check their entries over and over again to make sure they’re correct.
But when you create friction that is so monumental like this, it defeats the whole purpose. It makes it difficult to use, and then your people don’t want to use it at all. They’re not looking forward to using it. No matter how much you train them, no matter the number of champions you pick from different teams, it’s not going to work out. The lesson here is simple: think about the context in which someone is interacting with your tool or your content. If they’re on a phone, don’t ask them to scan something with another device. If they’re on a desktop, don’t make them pull out their phone. Meet people where they are.