As a designer, I cannot help but feel a sense of sadness when I read article after article about how negatively the design of social media interfaces have impacted our world. As I read, I think to myself, “I never want to be associated with working for any of these big-time social platforms.” The guilt factor would just be too high. This is a similar notion to Facebook’s former vice president of user growth, Chamath Palihapitiy.While he understands the good of Facebook, he also recognizes the negatives. He now says he attempts to resolve his guilt by investing money in diabetes, education and climate-change research.
So, if I don’t want to work for leading companies like Facebook, Instagram, or Snapchat, then who doI want to design for? I find myself easily putting user experience (UX) design in a social media silo. Even within my blog writing, I see myself focusing in on one industry. The reality is that there are so many possibilities within the UX design field and today I am going to switch gears and put a spotlight on the positive.
Lately when I think about UX design I have been trying to disconnect from examples of social networking, and instead look to interactive tools that have been designed to make life easier. The first example that comes to mind is Google Maps. Google Maps is a reliable interface that I use often. It helps me to get where I need to be, has the ability to detect traffic, allows me to shift between transportation modes, includes ETA, and more. This is an app that saves me time instead of eating it up.
My husband is currently an active duty service member stationed in North Carolina. Over the past four years I have made a multitude of long rides down south. I have been able to rely on this one app to get me there as quickly as possible in times when even an extra 15 minutes means everything. Its design allows me to easily see when the speed of traffic changes and then tells me that I am either still on the fastest route, or if something more efficient is available.
Google understands that their users are drivers and that means simplicity and ease is key in the Google Maps design. Cluttered screens and maps would create a distracted driver.
Sleep Cycle is another app that has been created and used to benefit the user. In short, Sleep Cycle is an app that uses your phone’s microphone to track your movement during sleep, which in turn will unlock greater information about your sleep quality and even your overall health. Sleep Cycle will also detect when you are in your lightest sleep and softly wake you within a half-hour frame you allot the app.
The Sleep Cycle interface is a great design because it doesn’t rely on movement to track sleep, which would make it necessary for you to keep your phone in bed with you. Sleeping without your phone in your bed is not only a healthier choice,but it also allows for a better chance at waking you up when your Sleep Cycle alarm goes off due to less muffled sound and no chance of it getting lost in your sheets.
This app also keeps a record of your sleep patterns so that you can look back on your records and compare. These records are displayed in simple graphs that allow you to easily detect an irregular or regular sleep pattern.
Clive Thompson writes, “We have to learn to enjoy what’s powerful and delightful about online tools, but to resist their casino-like seductions into the here and now…how about forms of social media that don’t focus so narrowly on what’s happening right this instant?” His words address not only the issues that come with social media platforms, but also what those design efforts should be used for in its place. We have amazing capabilities in today’s advanced world that should not be underutilized, but we must remember to assess how much of that technology is being used to enhance and add efficiency to our lives versus the opposite.
Samantha Mantiglia 