Hey Content, Don’t Be That Guy [Good Design #6]

Photo credit: Carrington Vanston

You know how there’s always That Guy at the party? He’s the guy without a sense of personal space who keeps butting into other people’s conversations and derailing them with slightly inappropriate stories and way too much personal information. Well, I hate to break it to you, but your content may be That Guy.

We want our content to get noticed, but it shouldn’t ever butt in where it doesn’t belong. Do we have a good understanding of where our content doesn’t belong? No one likes the guy at the party who keeps butting into other people’s conversations, and your users resent it when your content is That Guy, too.

This is the sixth in a series of posts that discuss Dieter Rams’s 10 principles of good design and why good design is necessary for your content. In this series we explore each of the principles and what it means for content writing and technical writing.

Today we look at the fifth principle of good design:

Good design is unobtrusive. Products fulfilling a purpose are like tools. They are neither decorative objects nor works of art. Their design should therefore be both neutral and restrained, to leave room for the user’s self-expression.

Who, Me Obtrusive?

What does it mean for content to be unobtrusive? I think Dieter Rams meant that design shouldn’t be so decorative that it gets in the way of usability. That’s valuable, but I don’t think it’s often an issue for  technical content. So what does it mean for technical content to be obtrusive? Obtrusive content:

• Butts in where it isn’t wanted. This third wheel pops up (literally) out of nowhere and inserts itself where it wasn’t invited. It’s distracting, annoying, and sometimes jarring. Offenders: tips of the day, splash screens, pop-ups, Windows confirmation dialogs.
• Interrupts your work. Just when you start finding your groove, this content interrupts what you’re doing and redirects you through several pages or links you didn’t want to go to. Your work is crawling along and you’ve wasted a chunk of the day. Offenders: any website or help system that makes you click all over the place to find the information you need.
• Doesn’t understand personal space. Garish content like this tends to yell in all caps and throw itself in your face with bold highlighted text. It’s often very animated, perhaps because it’s afraid if it gives you any breathing room you’ll take off. Which you will. Offenders: long form sales sheets, MySpace, flashing ads.
• Doesn’t know when to shut up. Like the guy you hate asking open-ended questions to, this content just keeps going and going. Guilty of information dumping, or just plain wordy, the monologue never seems to end. Offenders: text-heavy websites, padded business reports.

Unobtrusive content is functional, but never gets in the way. It’s a tool that’s there when you need it while giving you room to do what you want. You might not even notice it unless you look for it. It’s restrained, helpful, and never self-seeking.

Respecting Personal Space Where There Is No Space

There’s one context when it’s especially critical to keep your content unobtrusive: mobile apps. These little guys are tricky—apps can vary significantly from one to the other, which means you won’t always know what to expect. So you often need some level of instruction to get started, or labels for elements on the interface. Sometimes, you need even more than just basic information. But the real estate on a mobile device is so tiny, it doesn’t take much for your content to get in the way.

Here’s a few examples of using content in a mobile app (click to view full size):

Google Voice Search (left) gives you usage examples that you can view by scrolling horizontally, or you can tap to watch a video in a separate web browser. SoundHound (center) displays tooltips that you can show or hide (although notice the ugly ad above, which is a bit obtrusive). Quickoffice’s help content (right) fails the unobtrusiveness test: The app requires a minimum of five taps before you reach the actual help files. It may be tucked out of the way, but its demands on my effort are quite obtrusive.

How Then Shall We Design?

Make sure you design your content so that it doesn’t get in the way. It should be readily available and easily accessible, but never intrude or take the user away from his or her workflow. Obtrusive content isn’t just annoying, it’s actually a bit unhelpful. Companies that design their content to be unobtrusive create a more rewarding user experience for their customers.

Also in this series:

• The 10 Commandments for Designing Your Content
• What’s the Point of Innovation? [Good Design #2]
• How Companies Make Their Products Useless (And How to Avoid It) [Good Design #3]
• Why the iPad User Guide Matters [Good Design #4]
• Air Guitars and Keeping Loyal Customers [Good Design #5]