Keep in mind that ignoring human needs is Maslow’s approach to identifying human

not a history needs can help

we are doomed to repeat. Through our us understand our goals when designing
designs, we can see interfaces. We could
and connect with other human beings. certainly live contented lives meeting only
So where do we start? Well, like any good the bottom three
user experience strata of the needs pyramid—physiological
designer, we begin by understanding the comfort, safety,
needs of the people and belonging. But it’s in that top layer that
we’re designing for. we can live a truly
HELLO, MASLOW fulfilled life.
In the 1950s and 60s, the American Interface design is design for humans. What
psychologist Abraham if we translated
Maslow discovered something that we all Maslow’s model of human needs into the
knew but had yet to needs of our
put into words: no matter our age, gender, users? It might look something like this (fig
race, or station in 1.3):
usable
life, we all have basic needs that must be met. pleasurable
Maslow illustrated missing
his ideas in a pyramid he called the Hierarchy reliable
of Needs functional
(fig 1.2). Fig 1.3: We can remap Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs to
the needs of our users.
selfactualization
esteem GETTING THE BASICS RIGHT
For a user’s needs to be met, an interface
love/belonging must be functional.
safetyMaslow stressed that the physiological If the user can’t complete a task, they
needs at the base certainly won’t spend
of this hierarchy must be met first. The need much time with an application. Remember
to breathe, eat, when Apple released
sleep, and answer the call of nature trump all Ping? It was their attempt at building a social
other needs in network
our life. From there, we need a sense of around your iTunes music library. It was a
safety. We can’t be pretty big flop, in
happy if we fear bodily harm, loss of family, part because you couldn’t share a song with
property, or a friends on Twitter
job. Next, we need a sense of belonging. We or Facebook. After users learned that the
need to feel loved new system lacked
and intimately connected to other humans. basic features, most didn’t return.
This helps us get The interface must be reliable. There was a
to the next level: a sense of self, a respect for stretch of time
others, and the when early Twitter adopters learned to hate
confidence we need to excel in life. At the top the “fail whale,”
of Maslow’s shown when the server was down or over
pyramid is a broad, but important category— capacity. If the web
self-actualization. server drops out intermittently, or the
Once all other needs are met, we can fulfill service is otherwise
our need to be creative, unreliable, a user will leave.
to solve problems, and to follow a moral code An interface must be usable. It should be
to serve relatively easy to
others.
learn to perform basic tasks quickly, without
a lot of relearning.
Ever tried to book a flight online? If you have,
I’d bet a
five spot that expletives tripped across your
tongue while each
page loaded. You’re not alone. Fortunately,
Hipmunk (http://
hipmunk.com) is setting a new bar for online
travel booking.
Historically, usability has been the zenith of
interface
design. Isn’t that a bit depressing? If you can
make a usable
interface, you’re doing well in our industry.
Imagine if we
used that stick to measure success in the auto
industry. By that
standard, we’d be swooning over the 1978
AMC Pacer.
Many websites and applications are creating
an even better
experience. They’re redrawing the hierarchy
of needs to include
a new top tier with pleasure, fun, joy, and
delight. What
if an interface could help you complete a
critical task and put
a smile on your face? Well, that would be
powerful indeed!
That would be an experience you’d
recommend to a friend;
that would be an idea worth spreading.
We need a new yardstick to measure the
success of our designs.
We can transcend usability to create truly
extraordinary
experiences.