Some thoughts on the experience design implications of rating systems

Last week my colleague, Emily McManus, Managing Editor of TED, wrote How to rate complicated content? It's a fascinating piece that ponders the challenges and options a content creator has when trying to openly rate their own content. Give it a read.

After reading Emily's piece, I wanted to look at the question from a user perspective. I wanted to think about what factors might motivate a person to rate a bit of content, as that should inform the rating system's design. Based on past and general experience with ratings systems, I came up with the following possible motivators. Ultimately, of course, I'd want to do research with actual users to vet my thoughts.

Note: none of these possible motivators are necessarily mutually exclusive: 

Self-interest

A person may rate something in the hopes that doing so will result in better future recommendations for themselves. They will perceive that a downvote will result in fewer similar recommendations, while an upvote will result in more. The design implication here is a clear mental model: the user should understand that their rating is self-serving.

Altruism

The act of rating may stem from a sense of altruism. Hard to believe these days, but some people are genuinely motivated to help others—even online! They may see a positive rating as a way to help people find something good, and a negative rating as a way to protect someone from making a mistake. The implication here is to design a system that encourages trust and good behavior, and offers a meaningful ego play for thoughtful ratings. Likewise, it should discourage bad or disingenuous actors from gaming the system.

Ego

Egos may be involved. Depending on the context, people like the halo offered by rating something they love. They may hope the rating confers the cool factor of the item being rated back onto themselves. In these cases, people usually want to broadcast what they love rather than what they hate, though there can be exceptions. An obvious design implication is that the ego play should have appropriate reach; a cloistered system without reach is going to be problematic (see, for example, Apple’s failed Ping social network built into iTunes).

Feedback

People may want to rate things as a way to leave feedback for an org. They perceive the rating as a way to encourage the good and punish the bad. There may be a bit of altruism here depending on the context and the organization—people might see their feedback as a form of guidance. But there is also a bit of self-interest here as well; users might see a negative rating, for example, as a way to discourage the org from doing something they find objectionable. A design implication is that the act of rating should be portrayed as valuable to, and appreciated by, the org. Moreover, this kind of rating system might benefit from a feedback-response loop: rather than the rating being a terminus, it might be the beginning of an exchange between the org and the user.

In short, a good rating system not only helps the platform on which it exists, it should have meaning for the people who use it. It should feel transparent, honest, usable, and engaging. Mostly, it should have a perceived and real value for the user.

What’s in my Mac’s menu bar right now

14 productivity apps worthy of note

Maybe you’ve had people make fun of your love of productivity apps. Fear not; this is a safe space. (Haters gonna be—inefficient.) Some of my favorite productivity apps inhabit my Mac’s menu bar. Here are14 worthy of note.

In alphabetical order

1Password

1Password

Not really a menu bar app, but it lives in my menu bar. Anyway…you’re using a password manager, right? Right? I’ve been using 1Password almost since it was a baby, and I can’t imagine life without it. It’s so much more than passwords, too: you can store important documents, notes, files, credit cards, IDs, etc. It generates passwords for you, and it warns you when there’s been a hack or one of your passwords is old or weak. It’s cross-platform, cross device, and supports TouchID on the Mac. Super duper.

Alfred

Alfred

I can’t imagine life without chocolate, coffee and Alfred. Truth. Alfred surpasses the Mac’s native Spotlight feature, but does so much more, especially if you use third-party workflows. Calculator, weather, search, shopping—these are just the tip of the productivity iceberg. (Like 1Password, Alfred’s menu bar app doesn’t do much other than get you to its prefs, but I wanted to give it a shout-out as a great productivity app.)

ColorSnapper

ColorSnapper

ColorSnapper is the best utility I’ve found for capturing colors anywhere onscreen. It copies color codes to your clipboard in any format you like, and stores them in a handy palette. Customizable keyboard shortcuts make grabbing colors a snap (sorry, couldn’t resist).

Contrast

Contrast

This one-trick pony is handy if you’re concerned about making sure your designs meet the accessibility standards outlined in the WCAG 2.0, and provide sufficient contrast for all users. And I know you are! You can use the color picker anywhere on your screen, or enter color codes manually. Little big detail: the left picker sets the widget’s text color, while the right picker sets the widget’s background color. Neat.

Craft

Craft

If your workflow includes Sketch + Invision, then Craft from Invision is a must-have plugin. A blurb can’t begin to do justice to all this hydra-like utility offers, so check it out for yourself. Note: like Alfred and 1Password, Craft’s menu bar widget is just a glorified preference pane, but worth knowing about.

DayOne

DayOne

I’ve always kept a journal, and for the past several years, I’ve done so with DayOne. It has support for multiple journals (for me it’s Ideas, Projects, Family, Personal), a beautiful UI, and cross-device syncing…what’s not to love? DayOne’s menu bar widget lets you make quick entries without bringing up the full app. And, you can set DayOne to remind you to make entries; when you do, the menu bar widget opens automatically to guilt you, er, prompt you, into writing something.

Dropbox

Dropbox

You’re probably thinking this is just another menu bar widget that doesn’t do much — and you’d mostly be right. Except that it’s a powerful shortcut for finding recent files. Much quicker than going to Finder anyway.

Droplr

Droplr

I came late to the Droplr game. I wondered why people didn’t just stick files in Dropbox and share the link? But with TED’s corporate Droplr account, I had to give it a shot, and now I’m a convert. I’m Option-D’ing all over the place: in many apps and, of course, Finder, clicking Option-D uploads whatever you’ve selected automatically to Droplr, and generates a shareable URL that’s copied automatically to your clipboard. Multiple files are uploaded as an archive. On top of that, you can take and annotate screenshots, screencasts, and more. The menu bar widget offers shortcuts, as well as a recent history of items.

Fantastical

Fantastical

Apple’s Calendar app shed its Pleather™ skin years ago, but it still can’t compete with the admittedly pricey Fantastical. Not only is it a gorgeous app, Fantastical is feature-packed, but in an intuitive way. Each update offers useful, thoughtful improvements. And unlike some of the other menu bar apps I’ve mentioned here, Fantastical’s menu bar app is actually a full-fledged, miniature version of the full Fantastical app. You can search for or add events and reminders, and (natch) view your calendar. The menu bar window can be detached, and you can set it to float above other windows so it’s always present. I often use it instead of the full app, in fact.

LittleIpsum

LittleIpsum

Every decent designer knows you never, ever design until you have actual copy. HAHAHA-OMG-ROTFL-LMAO! Whew, that was fun! Anyway. For those times when you have to design without real copy, LittleIpsum is quite handy. It generates any amount of copy you want — specify number of words, sentences, or paragraphs — and it copies a plain text version right to your clipboard. This one-trick-pony rocks.

Noizio

Noizio

Noizio is my favorite white noise app. It’s fun to mix your own ambient sounds. I mean, Deep Space + On The Farm + Coffee House? Sailing Yacht + Campfire? Oh, and there’s an iOS version, too.

Paste

Paste

I really shouldn’t include Paste in a write-up of menu bar apps because its widget really does nothing more than get you to its preferences. But damn, do I love Paste. It’s by far the best and most beautiful clipboard manager I’ve used. Paste has a customizable history; entries are stored in a very visual format; they can be filed for future reference; and it supports iCloud sync so you can access your history across devices. The only thing missing is a mobile version — and the developer says that’s in the works!

Pixelwinch

Pixelwinch

Pixelwinch is a gem. Capture any portion of your screen and make pixel-perfect measurements of even the smallest interface elements. It stores a history of recent clippings, too.

Todoist

Todoist

It kind of makes sense to close out a list of productivity apps with a to-do app. I’ve used them all—or most of them, anyway. Things was my favorite, but lack of a mobile version combined with infrequent updates caused me to bail. I left for Todoist, which is supported on any platform you can imagine (including a Web-based version). It’s one of those apps that can be deep or shallow, depending on your needs. (I’m somewhere in the middle). In this case, you could use it for everything from daily chores and reminders to light project management. Or both. The app gets frequent updates, and it features a fun little productivity Karma / leaderboard, if you’re into that kind of thing. (Again, the menu bar app is mostly prefs.)

And finally…

Some random Mac menu bar facts:

• You can set your menu bar to hidden. I have, and I love it: more screen!
• You can invert the colors on your menu bar to create a dark mode. (I think it’s ugly.)
• Option-clicking the Notification Center icon in the far right corner of the menu bar sets it to Do Not Disturb mode. (Why did I only learn this recently?)
• If your menu bar becomes overpopulated, try Bartender, a handy little utility that lets you show or hide apps as you like.

So, what’s in your menu bar? I’d love to know.

Reid, write

Late-night Googling, a face from the past, and renewed intent

Couldn’t sleep, so I went a-Googlin’. Picking names from the memory banks, the older the better, seeing what’s what. A friend from junior high, an old work colleague. One name leads to another, mostly dead ends or the occasional Facebook profile. A way to pass the wee hours until sleep returns. Then a name I hadn’t thought of in a while came to me: Robert Reid III, the college English professor who told me I would—or should—be a writer.

His words stayed with me, even though I didn’t give them much credence at the time. True, I was just three units shy of an English minor in undergrad, and Reid wasn’t the only professor to express confidence in my abilities. But design was my bag, writing was a hobby.

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My Googling revealed a small black and white thumbnail of an older version of the professor I knew and admired so many years ago. It linked to an obituary. The usual flood of emotions when you discover someone you knew but had forgotten about was now gone forever. The thumbnail triggered a vivid memory of his younger face, and I could hear his deep, resonant voice. There was another photo in the obituary: a younger Professor Reid, standing tall in suit and tie, a little girl hugging him tightly around the waist, gazing up toward his face—a face that was now looking at me across the years, across the country. A daughter. More emotions.

For a couple of years after undergrad I stayed in touch with Professor Reid. He was something of a friend, mentor, and counselor. He knew I’d hit some rough patches, and was there to listen and talk. He also never stopped telling me I should be a writer. He said that if nothing else, writing was “cathartic,” a word I learned from him. Still, I didn’t acknowledge his advice: words were baubles, not tools, and I wanted to build.

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And yet, for over two decades as a professional designer, I’ve always been about words: briefs, narratives, stories. I believe design is a method of communication, and that words and language are essential and intrinsic to the process. I love the challenge of crafting microcopy, coming up with the perfect label (how rarely that happens!). When given the chance, I enjoy producing copy. Unlike many designers, I usually begin by writing, not sketching. I start every new project with a story.

Outside of my role as a designer, I’ve sought professional writing opportunities and had a few small victories. I’ve journaled for years. I’ve always had a blog (or two), and I enjoy writing here on Medium. But a writer? Formally, and with intent? Not as such.

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Robert Reid III

At a recent Jewish funeral, the rabbi said that the best way to honor the dead, and to keep them alive within ourselves, was to emulate the things about them we admired, and to heed the guidance and wisdom they offered when they were alive.

Professor Reid was passionate about words. He was a gifted teacher and a kind soul. He believed in me when others didn’t. And though I haven’t thought about him much over the years, he has been with me all along. So have his words. “You’re a writer. Be a writer.”

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The gift of time is clarity. Strip away the chaos and clutter of the moment and things make sense, if you’re willing to look. As I stared at the glowing rectangle in my darkened bedroom, reading and re-reading his obituary, I thought, “Professor Reid was right. I should be a writer. I am a writer.” And so I’ll honor his memory by redoubling my efforts. To be a writer, formally, and with intent.

The iPhone Camera app screwed me again

An overzealous application of Fitt’s Law caused me to miss another precious memory

On Sunday, my autistic son ran a four mile race for Achilles International, a group whose mission is “…to enable people with all types of disabilities to participate in mainstream running events.” When he was younger, he spent three years on oxygen, so this was a milestone event.

I stood along the race path near the finish line, poised to snap the perfect photo, and this was what I got:

Those are my son’s feet between the two volunteers

Where did my son go?

Instead of tapping the shutter button, I was tapping the shutter and camera mode selector simultaneously, an action which results in, well, nothing. I didn’t notice until he was in front of me. At least I got one shot of him:

Not the shot I hoped for, but it’ll have to do

How did this happen?

The Camera app’s mode selector is directly above the shutter button. This is a sensible design decision: since my thumb is already on or near the shutter button, Fitt’s Law suggests the camera mode selector be nearby, as these are related interactions.

Two interactions for the price of none!

However, I have slightly larger-than-average hands (sorry, Donald), so my thumb extends beyond the shutter button a fair bit. This means that when I’m ready to shoot, I often end up tapping both the shutter and camera mode selector simultaneously. This is even worse when I shoot in landscape mode. Instead of capturing a memory, I get bupkis.

Usually the stakes are low, as when I’m snapping a casual photo or video. Then there are the non-repeatable life events like my son finishing a race in Central Park with 6,000 other runners, or the time 50+ people sang him Happy Birthday at another race event and I recorded nothing. Zilch.

Close, but not too close

Making design decisions based on Fitt’s Law is admirable, but considering edge cases like large or clumsy hands is essential, especially when the stakes are high.

An oldie but a goodie

In the case of the Camera app, people should be able to focus on events unfolding before them, not interface elements. In the current Camera app, I have to leave the moment to stare at my phone, making sure my thumb is placed just so. (Yes, I’m aware there are other ways to activate the shutter, but the primary method is flawed and the others aren’t part of my muscle memory yet.)

How about a little breathing room?

One solution to this design problem is to move the Camera mode selector farther enough away from the shutter button, thus preventing an accidental tap, but not so far that it’s out of reach. Another solution would be to activate the shutter any time it’s tapped, even if it’s tapped at the same time as the mode selector; this would allow the mode selector to remain thumb-convenient but less problematic.

Get a life

You might be thinking this is just so much griping, and maybe you’re right. But “camera” is at or near the top of the list of descriptors I’d ascribe to my iPhone, and I don’t think I’m alone. Such a glaring UI issues is somewhat surprising—and frustrating. This might be resolved in iOS 11, but this video seems to suggest otherwise.

A bit about Medium’s bookmarks and offline reading mode, and what might make them better

Among the reasons I decided to pay for a Medium membership, saving articles for offline reading wasn’t one. In fact, as an avid Instapaper user, I didn’t want articles saved in more than one place.

But bookmarking articles in Medium is quick and painless, so I gave it a shot. Bonus: because I do UX on TED’s own bookmarking feature, I’m always curious to see how peers are dealing with similar challenges. Now, a few weeks in, I no longer save Medium stories to Instapaper.

A little background

Bookmarking in Medium is free and generally more frictionless than saving something to a third-party service like Instapaper or Pocket: you don’t have to use a browser extension, bookmarklet, or sharing feature, and it’s much quicker: click and it’s saved, no lag. You don’t have to leave Medium to read your bookmarked stories. And bookmarked stories retain their formatting, whereas articles parsed by Instapaper or Pocket may have text, layout, and image issues.

A personalized, regularly updated home page in digest format is one perk of a Medium membership.

With with the advent of paid memberships on Medium came, among other things, offline reading of bookmarked stories. These saved stories are synced across devices just like Instapaper and Pocket. However, Instapaper is free, and there is a freemium version of Pocket. Plus, Instapaper and Pocket let you bookmark items from any site, not just Medium. However, many publications have their own bookmarking features, and I think Medium’s is better than most.

So what would make Medium’s bookmarking and offline reading better? I’ve made a list of bugs and improvements.

Fix this, improve that

Bug: stories are frequently unavailable when the app is not connected to the Internet. Bookmarked items simply won’t load. The app appears to be searching, but can’t find items.

Bug: images often don’t load when offline, leaving in their stead gray boxes containing unfilfilled hopes and dreams.

Improvement: reading position should be retained across sessions and devices. Instapaper and Pocket, for example, remember where you left off in an article and bring you to that point when you return, regardless of the device or session. This is a major annoyance: if I come back to a story, even in the same session, my position is lost and I have to figure out where I was.

Bug: when I’m in an article and I tap the bookmark icon — once to archive, twice to remove it altogether — that decision is not retained. In other words, the story remains in my reading list, regardless of the action I’ve taken within the story itself. Update: I suspect the issue is that there’s a slight delay while the request is processed, but there’s no visual indicator making that clear. For example, if I select “Remove” and wait a moment, the change to my reading list takes effect, but not if I quickly navigate away from a story.

Bug: possibly related to the issue above, when I bookmark a story, sometimes it doesn’t show up in my bookmarks list. This happens most often in the app; it’s quite frustrating when I want to read an article I know I saved and can’t find it. As with the above issue, though, if I remember to pause a moment before navigating away, the story is usually saved.

Improvement: “I like big text and I cannot lie.” Please, Medium, add a font-size widget in the app. This is an accessibility no-brainer.

Improvement: Night time is the right time for reading. A dark mode would be wonderful for the night owls among us.

Improvement: The place where you find all your bookmarks is called Reading list. Why not Your bookmarks or just Bookmarks to keep it consistent with the bookmark action?

Why does it say “Reading list” when these are my bookmarks? But, yay for Search!

Improvement: a long list of bookmarks would benefit from a search feature. This is particularly true in archives where I might want to find something I saved earlier. Update: I just received an email from Medium announcing Search in the reading list. Huzzah!

Improvement: sorting bookmarked stories would be fab. The default sort is by date saved in descending order, but I’d like to be able to sort other ways as well. For example, by reading time or number of recommends.

Improvement: as with sorting, the ability to filter items would be useful. For example, I’d like the ability to filter by topic or publication. (I consider this an icing-on-the-cake feature, not a necessity.)

Improvement: ability to save stories in folders. I have several folders in Instapaper where I archive items in a way that’s logical to me. This allows me to reference saved items later while keeping my main feed uncluttered. If not folders, tags would do the trick, too.

Which icon takes you to your bookma..er, Reading list, and which do you use to bookmark a story?

Improvement: there needs to be greater visual distinction between bookmark list and bookmark action icons. I frequently confuse the double-bookmark icon at the top of a Medium story with the bookmark icons on the left and bottom of a story. This results in an unexpected visit to my bookmarks list when what I’d intended was to bookmark a story. Labeling could also help alleviate this issue.

Improvement: offline reading should be free to all users. It’s not a feature unique to Medium, after all, and it would encourage more engagement. This could lead to more paid memberships. If Medium’s product team really feels offline reading is a premium product, then perhaps they could offer a limited version for non-paid memberships as an enticement to level up (e.g., limit the number of articles one can save, or make folders a paid option).

The bottom line

Medium’s bookmarks and offline reading mode are well executed. Buffing up a few rough spots would make them better, but certainly not worth $60 per year when services like Instapaper and Pocket can do the same for less. Good thing there are other reasons to become a Medium member!