Making Better Digital Experiences
If you’ve never met me, you might wonder how a bowl of ice cream could inspire an article about creating great digital experiences. If you have met me, I don’t need to tell you that sugary treats are the motivation for a lot of what I do.
How does 1st grade math come into play? Well, here’s the scoop…
As I nestled down last evening to enjoy some alone time with reality TV, I was beckoned by the calls of a tiny tub of ice cream from my freezer. But, they weren’t the calls from just any old tub of ice cream, mind you. They were calls from a new product from Häagen-Dazs aptly named “five” – in “Brown Sugar” flavor. “five” gets its name from its limited number of ingredients – its basic math. Here’s the equation:

milk + cream + sugar + eggs + brown sugar =
yummy goodness

But, how could five simple things make something so tasty? It got me thinking about other simple yet memorably satisfying equations in my life…

baby squirrels + a hollow in a giant oak tree + my bedroom window =
hours of peaceful nature-watching

my niece as a baby + a tiny yellow flowy sundress + her discovering wind for the first time =
limitless giggles + a really great photo op

I take another spoonful of “Brown Sugar”, sink deeper into my sugar coma and posit, could the absence of an “ingredient” improve the experience? Could making the equation even simpler bring about a better result? A: Yes. And here’s how I know:

giant, ripe, sweet strawberries + MGM studios, Florida minus power (following a storm outage)
minus crowds, noise and flashing attractions = uninterrupted appreciation of a perfect bowl of fruit and warm air

What do all of this and that bowl of “five” ice cream have in common? You guessed it – simplicity. It made me think of the reasons I’m drawn to certain digital experiences…

one product + one day + one price =
a singular product-focused woot.com

iPhone + ZIP code + movie listings
minus advertisements
minus the film history of Matthew McConaughey =
flixster iphone application

a thin laptop + a manila envelope + a nice little ditty
minus background visuals =
a beautiful, memorable ad campaign for Macbook Air

Throughout my Experience Architecture career, remembering this – make every digital experience do its one thing well – has kept me focused and has hopefully improved my work. No fancy do dads. No trying to be all things to all people. No smacking users in the face with things they don’t need. No additives. No preservatives. Just a few “ingredients” make for the most satisfying experiences.
I can’t wait to try the next tiny tub of Häagen-Dazs “five” – “Ginger”…

milk + cream + sugar + eggs + ginger =
you’d better not be standing in between me and the freezer when that tub beckons!

Sandy Marsh