Since most part of our team comes from Italy, we have something to say when it comes to food. We’re also UX designers (in case you missed it) so we have quite a lot to say about good User Experience as well. Here’s how you can combine these two and learn some valuable UX lessons to make outstanding projects. (Served best with your favorite pizza)
Pizza – Define your persona
As there are many people out there, so are as many pizzas. You can have a great variety of toppings, crust sizes and types of cheese. Combining different ingredients or herbs, you can create flavors that vary between cultures, taste buds, and lifestyles.
Knowing what your audience likes will enable you to deliver best solutions and adapt your strategy or design to the current trends, needs, and expectations. Make sure you can identify the right user types – personas – who will represent the general voice of your audience. Once you are able to identify what these personas want and need the most, you can adjust the crucial components of a website or application assuring its proper and intuitive functioning.
While being responsive, mobile friendly and easily findable is fundamental, think of all other details that can make life easier. In this way you can improve the interaction between you and the users. Be friends with your personas. Your audience from the beginning should know what your offer or approach are and what is the way you work. Make a promise and keep the promise. Good UX should always do that.
Pasta – Define your offer
Every kind of Italian pasta has its own name and the ingredients that go with them best. Certain curves or shapes fit better specific sauces and veggies. You can’t just throw in stuff at once and make out of your spaghetti Carbonara the pumpkin&prosciutto dish with tomatoes.
This is exactly the same thing that applies to your offer. If you have a specific service or product, you also need to choose your own sauce. Narrow down your preferences to those most precise and detailed. Based on the grounded research and your personas, clearly define your values, mindset and vision. Follow your guidelines and develop your unique brand and style through functional interfaces and intuitive solutions.
Gelato – keep it and simple (and value the content)
You always have the ice cream flavors described by a name. And if you order a strawberry sorbet the odds are, you’ll get a strawberry sorbet and enjoy your desert.
Then there’s a trick: if you want to add a few more scoops to that mix, there’s a huge possibility your gelato would be either too big for you to finish it or that it will melt straight on your hands or clothes.
Don’t overwhelm your audience with a bundle of too much text, too many photos, and buttons. You can always add an extra feature (sprinkles) to make your product stand out from the crowd while taking it back is usually more difficult.
Good UX should look well and work well on all devices, no matter if it’s a computer, phone or a tablet. If you’re redesigning the website you also need to focus on specific goals. Making decisions may not be easy, but you can’t have dynamism, colors, and animations combined with white layout, toned hues, and static composition. Sorry, it’s just… not going to happen. At the same time, don’t undermine your content. Choose only the best messages and visuals, no half-measures.
Espresso – stick to your company’s essence
What’s minimalist and simple can be strong and iconic at the same time. Enjoyed best without any special Add-Ins or being the base of more elaborate coffee beverages, espresso knows how to find its way to people’s hearts.
It suits to all occasions: whether it’s a morning kick-start, business meeting accompaniment or something to drink after dinner with family, it’s never imposing or misleading. And even if you order a grande macchiato with soy milk or a pumpkin spice mocha, you can be sure the core liquid always stays the same.
Good UX design should be just like your morning espresso: simple and reliable. Without any catches, hidden tricks and confusing buttons. In the era of transparency, you should stay true to yourself and always remember what is the most important for your company and people you’re working with. If there’s a change in your set of values or thinking, make sure people can keep up with these novelties.
If your brand is expanding and you want to add new services or products, having a good strong base will enable you to grow and improve alleviating the risk of failure. Without a strong brand essence your message will just get lost in the crowd and even the best interface design may not be able to safe it.
Improve your UX and “buon appetito”!
As much as these foods can delight your palate, they can also be a great metaphor for something as tricky and complex as User Experience. Follow these UX lessons and bring your project to the next level enjoying the secret wisdom hidden in the Italian cuisine.
