Fun as a principle of user experience

Every UX designer has their own views and best practices. We all have a guidebook created through time and experience. I want to share mine with you.

When I create, I base everything on the following principles. Meet my guiding star to the ultimate user experience.

It’s all fun and games

Is it, though? Are fun and games really appropriate for everyone? The answer is: if done right, absolutely! But, let us first determine: What is fun? When can we implement it? How? And what significant role does it have in durability and converting digital experience?

Fun is subjective

True. I mean, when you check your account balance to see if you’re good for this month, is it supposed to be fun?

What if you are expecting results from a medical test?

We obviously need to understand the pain points and our target audiences’ mindset.

The fun theory

We can make every mundane action much more enjoyable with just a sprinkle of fun.

You are probably familiar with Volkswagen’s fun theory. The results of their studies have shown how easy it is to change human habits with a touch of fun in several behavioral experiments.

One of Volkswagen’s experiments, the piano staircase, aimed to encourage people to use the stairs instead of the escalator. Check this out:

Another experiment was to encourage people to throw their garbage in the trash bins. Take a look:

Watching these videos, I wonder and think about all the other beneficial things we can do in these weird times.

Encourage people to use hand sanitizer in public places? Or even wear masks? Keep the physical distance? And all with a little bit of fun implementation.

Food for thought, indeed.

Now that we know that fun can change our behavior and motivate us to complete specific tasks, what does it mean for digital UX? How can we adapt the fun theory to our digital experience?

Empowering through fun

Let’s take the most painful thing we have to do over and over again — paying our bills. Ugh! It’s hard to give our money away, isn't it? So how can we make it less painful? More empowering?

Identifying the pain point

First, we need to identify the pain point. In this case, it is the fact that I need to give my honestly earned money away every month and on time.

Paying our bills is something we must do, but remember we have alternatives. these days we can do it over the phone, at the post office or online.

So how can we encourage users to use a specific app?

Providing the incentive

We can nudge users to make decisions and empower their positive behavior in our app.

Nudge users? Yup, it’s a thing! To understand it better, let’s dive in for a brief introduction to the nudge theory; a system of gentle encouragements based on the advanced knowledge of the decision making prosses written in 2008 by Richard H Thaler and Cass R Sunstein. We can actually change human behavior through cost-effective actions.

Let’s say we want people to reduce electricity consumption, what can we do aside from educating them on the how-to?

How about creating a reward system in which lowering the usage of electricity in their household each month compared to their neighbor's gets them points; as positive reinforcement.

These points could then be used on various online shopping platforms for discounts, coupons, etc.

I nudge you to read more on the theory and please do buy the book, it’s fascinating :)

Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness

Paying bills — so, where’s the fun in that?

Back to our app, instead of the mundane click-and-point interface, how about adding an option for a little ‘Angry Bills’ game? Cause, hey, if I’m giving my money away, allow me to at least enjoy it, right?

Imagine taking your phone out, opening the billing app, and throwing some coins toward a dark house for electricity payments. Once the coins come in contact with the house, the lights turn on. You've paid your bill, you see your energy consumption stats compared to your neighbors, and get your reward points.

Each payment category (gas, water, etc.) will have its own reward system.

There are no limits to what we can do with fun and gamification, but keep in mind that it should always exist as an alternative and not ever force anyone to play. We must feel in control at all times!

For more on the control principle of UX, you can read my previous article:

Control as a principle of user experience

In conclusion, if you want them engaged and committed, please, let them have fun!