Summary: Users are not usually successful at configuring software, websites or devices and the configuration experience can be a major source of frustration. Instead, we need to move toward a world where everything is auto-configured and user experiences are "plug and play".

You know the drill: You download or install a new piece of software or open a new piece of technology (e.g. mobile phone, laptop, VR system) and you have to "configure it" to get something to work or work the way you want it to...

Defining Configuration

I refer to configuration in its broadest sense: A user must perform some advanced action in order to get some desired result from software, a website or a product experience. Typically the term configuration means to adjust or change settings- hiding, activating or altering useful features and system behaviors.

Summary: Prototyping intangible experiences involving services or product-service systems requires the use of Physical Mockups, Improvisation (improv), and role-playing.  Also called experience prototyping or service prototyping, getting physical with your prototype scenarios lets you see gaps, breakpoints, and emotions. 

Prototyping is the art of creating a quick-and-dirty mock-up of a proposed design direction. We previously captured 50 reasons why prototyping saves you time, concentrated on wireframes, but what about intangible experiences?

Summary: Most IT professionals including UX Designers logically run away from confusion. All too often confusion is perceived as bad or the thing to avoid. Instead, confusion offers an opportunity to explore, learn, and deconstruct poor user experience, allowing designers and decision-makers to create better experiences for users. 

Confusion is how we learn

Without confusion, we would not be able to understand user behavior, problem-solving, or issues that arise with service and product experiences. TED Talks Founder, Richard Saul Wurman, and the first to get us to think about designing for understanding through information design and visualization provided the term 'Information Architecture' to explain this art form, back in 1976. He famously nailed the gift of confusion in the following phrase: