Company
Date Published
Author
Des Traynor
Word count
365
Language
English
Hacker News points
None

Summary

Situation: Your users know you provide a feature, but when they approach it, they're intimidated by long forms, strange questions, and weird labels. They don't know where to start or when the confusion will stop, so they walk away. Some tasks are inherently complex, but complicated solutions can be off-putting; instead, make them simple by breaking them into steps with inline help, using plain English, and offering smart defaults and templated solutions that users can then edit. This approach is demonstrated by web app 'If This Then That' (IFTTT), which uses 7 steps to create a rule but asks easy questions, making complex tasks less daunting for users. An example of this approach in action is seen with an Intercom customer who changed their sign-up process to provide a campaign ready to rock, with a budget allocated and start dates set, reducing the complexity and intimidation factor for new users.