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UX Poll - Users Want Speed over Social Features

17 points by trustfundbaby 16y ago

f1gm3nt 16y ago
"We received 148 responses before we closed the poll." This doesn't seem like a good sample size.
- wdewind 16y ago
  Not only that, the pie chart (http://www.softwareadvice.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/UI-Pie-Chart.001-001.png http://www.softwareadvice.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/20...) is such a disgrace to design in general I have to question if these people actually have eyes or not.
  - j_baker 16y ago
    Maybe that's a plus. It might not be as accessible to the rest of us, but I guarantee you their sites would be plenty accessible to the blind.
martian 16y ago
This pie chart is illegible (four shades of gray?). A bar chart would have been much better.
zachallaun 16y ago
These results are not very actionable. First, 148 responses is largely inadequate, especially considering the sheer number of possible choices. 148/10 = 14.8 votes, on average, per choice. Hardly accurate enough to make a reasonable judgement. Second, the responses are unquestionably biased. To my knowledge, the poll was hosted only on UX Movement. More likely than not, respondents were voting based upon what they believe to be "best practices," as opposed to true desires: "I recently revamped a website to include fewer screens, and people seemed to like it." So, let me clarify. These results aren't actionable unless you're building for UX enthusiasts, which, given the pie chart displayed, UX Movement is not.
StavrosK 16y ago
This is a bit off topic, but what's a better way to represent fractional data than a pie chart? I'd say bar chart, but that doesn't immediately show that the data sums to 1.
- zachallaun 16y ago
  While a pie chart may be the best way to represent fractional data, a pie chart with 10 segments and four shades of grey is not. A better method would have been to include only significant results, coupled with an "Other" category, in the chart. A separate data table could then inform those interested in delving deeper into the results.
  - StavrosK 16y ago
    Well, pie charts aren't a very good way to represent fractional data because humans aren't great at judging angles.
puns 16y ago
Random people voting for what would be a good feature in nonexistent business apps? A very useful survey...
- BoppreH 16y ago
  Actually, "random" people would be better than the biased voters it currently has.
jwecker 16y ago
... "for business applications". (and according to a low sample rate). No insights to glean here, in my opinion.
j_baker 16y ago
Surprisingly, the social media functions we suggested did not rank as well. Although Facebook and Twitter are wildly popular with consumers, respondents didn’t seem too concerned with incorporating these UI paradigms into their business apps. We suspect this will change over time. I hate to break it to the people that wrote this, but just because social media is useful to consumers doesn't mean it's useful for businesses. The emphasis should be on "Business users want their UIs to be easier to navigate and more responsive? How can we make that happen?" Instead, it seems to be "Business users want their UIs to be easier to navigate and more responsive but don't want social features? They're just behind the times. They want social features. They just don't know it." This is a classic case of putting the horse before the cart.
ericmsimons 16y ago
I feel like companies are over using social features in products. Sometimes it's a nice addition, but most of the time it's just a distraction from what your product actually does. The best product is one that assists you in completing a certain task painlessly and quickly. Socializing is a time waster. On top of that, if you're going to socialize, which product will you do it on? (insert product name here) or Facebook?

17 points by trustfundbaby 16y ago

f1gm3nt 16y ago

"We received 148 responses before we closed the poll." This doesn't seem like a good sample size.

wdewind 16y ago
Not only that, the pie chart (http://www.softwareadvice.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/UI-Pie-Chart.001-001.png http://www.softwareadvice.com/articles/wp-content/uploads/20...) is such a disgrace to design in general I have to question if these people actually have eyes or not.
- j_baker 16y ago
  Maybe that's a plus. It might not be as accessible to the rest of us, but I guarantee you their sites would be plenty accessible to the blind.

martian 16y ago

This pie chart is illegible (four shades of gray?). A bar chart would have been much better.

zachallaun 16y ago

These results are not very actionable. First, 148 responses is largely inadequate, especially considering the sheer number of possible choices. 148/10 = 14.8 votes, on average, per choice. Hardly accurate enough to make a reasonable judgement. Second, the responses are unquestionably biased. To my knowledge, the poll was hosted only on UX Movement. More likely than not, respondents were voting based upon what they believe to be "best practices," as opposed to true desires: "I recently revamped a website to include fewer screens, and people seemed to like it." So, let me clarify. These results aren't actionable unless you're building for UX enthusiasts, which, given the pie chart displayed, UX Movement is not.

StavrosK 16y ago

This is a bit off topic, but what's a better way to represent fractional data than a pie chart? I'd say bar chart, but that doesn't immediately show that the data sums to 1.

zachallaun 16y ago
While a pie chart may be the best way to represent fractional data, a pie chart with 10 segments and four shades of grey is not. A better method would have been to include only significant results, coupled with an "Other" category, in the chart. A separate data table could then inform those interested in delving deeper into the results.
- StavrosK 16y ago
  Well, pie charts aren't a very good way to represent fractional data because humans aren't great at judging angles.

puns 16y ago

Random people voting for what would be a good feature in nonexistent business apps? A very useful survey...

BoppreH 16y ago
Actually, "random" people would be better than the biased voters it currently has.

jwecker 16y ago

... "for business applications". (and according to a low sample rate). No insights to glean here, in my opinion.

j_baker 16y ago

Surprisingly, the social media functions we suggested did not rank as well. Although Facebook and Twitter are wildly popular with consumers, respondents didn’t seem too concerned with incorporating these UI paradigms into their business apps. We suspect this will change over time. I hate to break it to the people that wrote this, but just because social media is useful to consumers doesn't mean it's useful for businesses. The emphasis should be on "Business users want their UIs to be easier to navigate and more responsive? How can we make that happen?" Instead, it seems to be "Business users want their UIs to be easier to navigate and more responsive but don't want social features? They're just behind the times. They want social features. They just don't know it." This is a classic case of putting the horse before the cart.

ericmsimons 16y ago

I feel like companies are over using social features in products. Sometimes it's a nice addition, but most of the time it's just a distraction from what your product actually does. The best product is one that assists you in completing a certain task painlessly and quickly. Socializing is a time waster. On top of that, if you're going to socialize, which product will you do it on? (insert product name here) or Facebook?