In part 2 of my interview series with Adam Kerr, our UX Manager at Businessolver, we dug into the evolution of user experience and important considerations in building a better benefits experience. Take a look.
The next evolution I hope to see for user interfaces and interaction design is to make our systems feel less like systems and more like natural conversations with other humans. As conversation is the most natural form of human interaction, I think we will see more and more complex systems begin to present themselves in this manner. By framing a complex process as a conversation, you can simplify a process and offer advice and education along the way. Think of Turbo Tax, a company who has been doing this for years. By removing all the complexities of the system and talking the user through the process, it feels like you’re just having a conversation with a trusted tax professional.
What are the most common mistakes you see within UI/UX?
People don’t read. They scan. Study after study has shown that people don’t read on the internet; instead we scan and skim. We quickly glance through text looking for keywords that might lead us to the information we are seeking. If we don’t find it quickly, we move on. Knowing this, text on your site should be brief and to the point. The most important information should come first followed by critical supporting information.
Dangers of too much choice: As we all know, benefits are complicated. Often, employees need several options to get the coverage they need. It’s very tempting for employers to assume that more choice means happier employees, but research tells us this isn’t always the case. Often when given excessive choices, it actually makes it more difficult to make a decision. We start to compare each option against all other possibilities, weighing pros and cons in our mind and trying to predict our future needs.
When we are required to decide, excessive choice makes it much more stressful and time consuming, and often leads to buyer’s remorse. To help the user make difficult decisions and feel more confident in their choice, we built a suite of decision support tools in Benefitsolver. This helps narrow down the decision points being made.
If you could provide three tips to HR professionals when thinking about their employee’s benefits administration experience, what would they be?
Having a solid user experience for your employee is critical in their benefits engagement and results. Interested in learning more? Check out our latest webinar, “From passive user to engaged consumer.”
Miss out on part one? Check out the beginning of the story here.