The rise of zero user interface (UI) creates a world where natural gestures, voice, glances, and even our thoughts can be used to communicate with our devices in a seamless, non-intrusive way. Thus the user has an experience that feels like they are interacting with another person and not a machine.
What Is A Zero Interface?
Invisible or zero interfaces is when the user experience of a product feature is seamlessly intuitive that a user interface isn’t required.
Let’s start with a real-life example like an automatic sliding door. Here the users don’t need to open the door by themselves because the solution is invisible and highly intuitive. Thus user experience is enhanced as the mistake of pushing the door when they should be pulling is eliminated, and no signage or button is required.
Another example is the process of helping users complete the booking of a flight. Virgin America was one of the first brands that understand that booking a trip can be a chore for users.
They stripped back their site’s interface to draw attention to the most critical question: "Where would you like to go?" By removing all the surrounding content, the user could immediately start the booking process.
As simple as this may sound, it is clear that we probably use invisible UIs daily. But the beauty of it is that we do so without even realizing it.
This only goes to show that it has become more important for brands to be more aware of invisible UIs to boast intuitive user experiences.
A UI designed to provide a great user experience must comprise of the following:
- Ease: the user should be able to complete their tasks with little difficulty
- Efficiency: the interface should enable the user to complete tasks in good time
- Usability: the ease at which the user can navigate the website or app the next time they visit
- Errors: steps in which the interface takes to lessen the chance of user error, and how the users are allowed to correct an error
- Satisfaction: interface design should give the user an ultimate experience.
In addition to these standards, a great zero UI should also reflect the brand’s personality, so it stands out from the competition and provides users with an excellent experience.
Now we will look at some invisible UIs that increase user experience and can also help your brand achieve the same.
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Invisible CAPTCHA by Google
For most users, interacting with interfaces can be cumbersome. Take, for example, CAPTCHA; there’s just this annoying feeling that you need to verify being a human. Honestly, users are less inclined to interact when a process is cumbersome.
Google NoCAPTCHA ReCAPTCHA is a zero interface solution that provides a CAPTCHA widget designed to verify a human user without them having to interact with a UI. The best part about this is that the user might not even realize that the CAPTCHA is there! Therefore, it leaves them with a much better experience as it reduces the number of steps required to submit the form.
For example, if a user is on the Online Writers Rating paper review website while using Google’s NoCAPTCHA, all the user needs to do is to click on the submit form button. Then CAPTCHA automatically authenticates the user behind the scenes. Additionally, you can programmatically find out the user location and insert it into a hidden form field, to eliminate the need for the user to input it manually!
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Personalization
Personalization is designing a specific invincible UI for an individual, so the interfaces and databases work together to present a unique experience to the user. Aside from this, the user also spends less time searching and clicking through menus looking for engaging content.
Great examples include
- "Suggested Posts" on Facebook
- "Trend for you" on Twitter
- "Tailored Pins" on Pinterest
- Relevant, targeted advertising
What a lot of websites and apps do is to ask a user about their interests at signup. This enables them to gain more insights on how to give the user the best UI experience.
other valuable tips from our home improvement blog (new win):
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Smart Guides in Adobe XD, Sketch and Photoshop
Most designers make use of Photoshop, Adobe XD, or Sketch, and these design tools offer "Smart Guide" functionality. When you move an object across the canvas smart guide is automatically activated.
Once activated, a user illustrating the distance between the moved object and any nearby objects can easily align them with exact precision. Thus making it an excellent example of a zero interface as the user is saved from the stress of having to press a key or click on a button.
The user experience of the older versions of Photoshop has been dramatically improved. The stress of having to manually check relative distances each time a user moves an object/layer to see if it aligns correctly is eliminated.
Conclusion
Finding an "invisible/zero" interface to enhance user experiences should be a top priority for every business platform out there. You need to know the needs of your users and give them what they want as soon as they interact with your website or app. This level of intuition helps the user achieve their goal easier and faster while leaving them feeling satisfied.
Image Credit: envato.com by Pixabay
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