Interaction design should equal positive ROI
We create every day.
Every time we have an interaction with another person we are creating a unique exchange that lives outside of the space that those individuals inhabit. When we have a choice about who we create with (meaning, they aren’t our blood relatives) we choose the people who provide us something good; something that makes our life more pleasurable or easier than it would be without the exchange.
We seek interactions with people who:
Make us feel good by offering love, companionship or jokes
Improve our lives through connecting us to resources
Make our lives easier — not harder
The time required to interact with a person is an investment. If that investment never yields a positive return we eventually stop. Unless we love losing. Which is true for some people. But not most.
Investing in things (products) is the same.
A new product should provide a positive return to someone who interacts with it. If it doesn’t — they won’t interact. And if they do, it won’t last long.
That return could be:
Making someone feel good (Every Social Network — except when they make you feel bad.)
Connecting people to something (Wikipedia & Craiglist continue to exist not because they are beautiful but because they connect people quickly to what they are looking for.)
Making their lives easier (Uber makes it easier to get a ride than a Minneapolis cab company does.)
When designing a new thing and asking people to invest time in it you have to compete with all of the other things they could be doing:
Sleeping
Playing with their kids
Every Social Network
It’s hard to compete.
Just like it’s hard to make time for new friends, it’s hard to get people to spend time with a new product — especially long term. They might be willing to have a conversation at the cocktail party but will they call a week later to see how you are doing? Will they invest?
So we should ask ourselves — every time we are creating something new — what’s the ROI on this? How much am I asking for in terms of time and energy from the user of this product and how am I paying them back?
If you aren’t offering something to that person that is greater than the investment (time) they are putting in, your relationship probably won’t last long.
So what?
Well, it’s as simple as this. When you think about the product you have created, think about the relationship between the person and product. Think of it as you would any human relationship — it’s a give and a give back. An exchange. If you can truly see the positive ROI you are delivering to that person — proceed. If you can’t — stop. And think again.