Letter from a user

You love shouting about benefits, and yeah, they catch my eye. But if I can’t figure out how to actually use them, they might as well not exist at all.

What matters to me is simple: does it make sense to me? Even if it doesn’t make sense to you. All I care about is getting done what I set out to do, and doing it with as little friction as possible. Time is friction. Forms are friction. Confusion, inconsistency, learning, difficulty — they’re all friction.

And I have a line. Cross it, and I’m gone.

I don’t care how clever your technical architecture is. Translate it into something that works in my messy world.

I’m not a machine. I’m human. With stress. With emotions. With contradictions. Maybe I have kids refusing to clean their room. Maybe I have a partner who matters more to me than you do. Maybe my dating life is a disaster. Maybe I believe things that don’t make sense to you. Maybe I’m frustrated when you’re following every logical rule in the book.

Doesn’t matter. Your platform is not the center of my life.

I juggle Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, podcasts, transportation apps, Teams, Personio, Engage, Outlook, Jira, Apple Reminders, goddamn Confluence, and an iPad where I watch dumb Netflix shows just to shut my brain off for a while.

That’s my world. You’re just one piece of it.

So make me enjoy using your system. Don’t make me feel stupid because your radio button doesn’t make sense. Don’t make me read a wall of text before I click. Don’t make me guess where things are. Don’t turn a button into something it’s not. Don’t try to make it logical in your head. Don’t overanalyze. Maybe you think showing the ID up front is the logical choice because from a structural standpoint it works in a world where everything adds up — but it doesn’t to me. Very little adds up for me.

I’m a simple person with a busy life. I go with my first thought, then I move on, because there’s no space left for second-guessing.

At least account for all of us. Maybe you can’t make it perfect for me, but at least start by making it great for most of us. I know you’re full of technical ones and zeros, but convey it to me, or us, in a way I can understand, stressed or flawed as I may be.

On top of that, make me look good in front of my boss. I’ve got a crowded world, and I want to be liked. I want to look good at work. Hey, I’m rooting for you here! If you pull this off, I’ll tell everyone this is the tool we need. I’ll back you. I’ll represent you.

Clearly, we’re friends, you and I.

When your product works, it makes sense even when life around me is messy. I recognize myself in it. I move through it naturally. And if I hit a snag, you guide me clearly without making me feel dumb. In a way, your system makes me feel smart. No idea how you do it, but that’s when I know you’re making my world better.

Keep that up, and I’ll go further. I’ll try your other products. I might even pay more just for the convenience. I’ll stick with you longer than most of the hundreds of tools I’m forced to use. Maybe even too long. Hell, I might show up when you’ve got nothing new to announce, just because I like you.

I live in a messy world that doesn’t make sense. Fix one small part of it, and I’ll love you for it.

Sincerely,
User