If you see me staring at Figma with a blank expression. I'm likely wrangling with the many complexities of an interaction design problem. When this happens, I’ve learnt to refer to jobs, actions, and information. To remove the complexity, narrow my focus, and think clearly.
What are Jobs?
We all have jobs. We all use products or services to help us do a job. Most products or services help people do many jobs. For example, Google Flights helps people book a flight, find the cheapest days to fly, and track flights.
A jobs hierarchy is a system which ranks the importance of jobs a product or service helps people do. Although Google Flights helps people do many jobs, the most important is booking a flight. Typically the most important job is the one which creates the most value for the business.
In my experience, the jobs and the jobs hierarchy is defined by a product manager, business leader, or a similar stakeholder. The designer simply needs to know what jobs are most important in relation to the product or service they're working on.
Most of my thinking on jobs comes from the knowledge Clayton Christen has shared, his book Competing Against Luck is excellent.
What are Actions?
To do a job a person has to take action, typically many actions. Google Flights helps people book a flight, but they must take a series of actions. Beginning with inputting the destination, the dates, browsing available flights, and so on.
An actions journey is the process a person goes through to do a job. A person can go through different journeys to do the same job. One person inputs the destination, the dates, then browses available flights. Another person does the same but they filter by airline and departure time. Both people take different journeys, but do the same job.
Sometimes actions are determined by stakeholders. Such as a request from the product manager to give people more ways to filter flights. Other times, the designer determines the actions. For example, the designer working on Google Flights decided the ‘Destination’ field will be automatically selected when the homepage loads. The action of selecting the 'Destination' field isn't required. However other designers may decide they want people to take this action.
Designers must use their unique skills to create the most optimal actions journey, based on two attributes: utility and usability. The Journey Map and Service Blueprint are two great UX tools. As they allow the designer to refine the actions journey at a high-level, and help them have a clear understanding of what the design needs to achieve, before jumping into the interaction design problem.
What is Information?
Colour, text, icons, shapes, and images are information.
Information exists in the software interface to help people form an accurate mental model of what a product or service can do, and to guide people through the actions journey.
A button, for example, is not information. Information is a blue rectangle with rounded corners. Information is the white text ‘Book flight’.
Information by itself or with other information signifies ‘something’ to the user, that ‘something’ depends on their mental model. For example, a rectangle with rounded corners and white text matches my mental model of a button. I unconsciously know it affords an action.
“Interaction Design is the creation of a dialogue between a person and a product, system, or service.”
— John Kolko, author of Thoughts on Interaction Design
“Good design requires, among other things, good communication of the purpose, structure, and operation of the device to the people who use it.”
— Don Norman, author of The Design of Everyday Things
Dialogue and communication.
The designer is designing a product or service which speaks to the user. Some information is engaging, discoverable, and speaks in a loud voice. Such as high-contrast, title text. Other information, such as small secondary text, speaks in a soft voice.
Imagine the interface is a room, and each piece of information on the interface is a person in the room. Now imagine you're also in the room and all the people are yelling at you. It quickly becomes overwhelming. This is the experience designers must avoid creating.
So what information should speak the loudest? Let's revisit the Google Flights homepage.
- The prominent title text, 'Flights', immediately grabs attention. Alongside other details on the homepage, this information helps users understand what job Google Flights can help them do.
- The bold blue outline and blinking cursor in the 'Destination' field, along with the dark blue rectangle that contrasts sharply with the white icon and text of the 'Explore' button. This information guides the user through the most optimal journey to do the most important job. Starting with inputting the destination, followed by selecting the dates.
Other information on the homepage speaks in a softer voice, such as the ‘Number of People’ dropdown. This information guides the user through other journeys to book a flight.
Jobs, actions, and information. Helping me connect the jobs the product or service helps people do, to the interaction design decisions I‘m making. Helping me remove the complexity, narrow my focus, and think clearly.