Why does your app have no users? Because the IQ of ordinary people is "too low" to learn...

Bump is an amazing cross-platform data transfer application created by David Lieb in 2008 while he was a student at the University of Chicago. Users can exchange contact information directly with their phones simply by touching them together. After its launch, it was warmly welcomed by users, with 150 million downloads, becoming the second-ranked application in the App Store.

Five years later, search giant Google announced the acquisition of Bump and appointed Lieb as product director of Google Photos. Lieb said that since creating Bump, he has learned what drives people to use Bump and what holds them back. So, in order to simplify the process of users sharing photos, he and his team developed a new application called Flock. Unfortunately, this application did not achieve the expected results.

Lieb said at First Round’s CEO Summit that one thing he learned from Flock’s failure was to understand cognitive load correctly. He explained in detail the importance of this issue and how to test it.

Below, he introduced three aspects, hoping to help team members eliminate doubts about cognitive burden and enable them to carry out product development smoothly.

NO.1 Cognitive Simplification and Cognitive Load

Regardless of the technology used, the key factor in Bump's success is that it is easy to use, just tap two phones together. Even without any instructions, users can learn it quickly. “Simplification is one of the most important principles to follow when creating products, and most successful products are like this,” Lieb explained. “But there are many different ways to do this, such as having fewer buttons on the interface, fewer features in the app, and fewer steps to complete a task. But no matter what, the purpose is to simplify cognition, that is, to make it easy for users to understand your product.”

Simplifying cognition is to solve the problem of cognitive burden. "Google defines cognitive load as the number of logical connections the brain needs to make in order to understand what it sees," Lieb said. "I'm not a brain scientist, but I've found that all the studies on human cognition say that the brain does a lot of abstract processing of what it sees and what it thinks, matching it to what it already knows."

That's how the brain works. If it encounters too many obstacles in the cognitive process, its ability to understand the product will ultimately be reduced. Lieb said: "Decades ago, users sat in front of a desktop computer to browse your website. Even if your product was complex, they had a large enough screen and enough time to look at it carefully. But in today's mobile era, the situation has changed. The small mobile phone screen has to display not only text messages, but also emails and various notifications. In this case, simplifying cognition is particularly important."

NO.2 Try to eliminate the adverse effects of cognitive burden on the product

No one intentionally creates a product that creates too much cognitive overhead; this problem usually happens without us even realizing it. “When we first started Flock, we assumed it would create value for the company,” Lieb said. “But there weren’t that many people interested in it. So if you assume that people will understand and like your new product, you’re going to run into cognitive load problems very quickly.”

Below, Lieb lists four types of assumptions people make subconsciously and offers tips on how to respond to them:

Assumption 1: Help users make choices as much as possible.

Fact: Involve users, help them understand the situation, and let them make their own decisions.

With the development of scientific technologies such as robotics, artificial intelligence and machine learning, more and more products will automatically make decisions for users, trying to save their time and energy. But Lieb said that was wrong. Instead, you should work hard to involve users and make them part of the decision-making process because that’s what they really want.

If you look at the most successful products, you’ll find that they all require users to be personally involved. The more decisions users make when interacting with a product, the easier it will be for them to understand and use it.

This is very obvious in Bump and Flock. When using Bump, users need to share contact information manually. The moment they reach for their phone, they know exactly what they are doing and what will happen next. This is not the case with Flock. Users cannot participate in the entire process at all, and they don’t know how the photos are shared. Therefore, getting users personally involved will have a decisive impact on their usage experience.

Lieb points out that Google Photos, with its "free up space" feature, also follows this design principle. Think about it, when you take out your mobile phone and want to capture a special moment, it reminds you that "there is not enough space". How does it feel? But Google Photos' trump card feature - freeing up space - can solve this problem well. When the phone is running low on space, a delete button will pop up. With just one click, you can delete the photos that have been uploaded to Google Photos for backup, freeing up more space to store new photos.

In fact, in addition to Google Photos, Optimized Device Storage also provides services for automatically deleting photos and videos. But the problem is that it is too complicated for users to understand and they feel they have no control. They often ask, where are my photos? Has it been deleted? What is going on? So sometimes, services that are too smart can confuse users instead of reassuring them.

Hypothesis 2: It is best to launch an unprecedented product that will surprise users.

Fact: Familiarity makes it easier for users to accept.

If a product manager says he wants to develop a normal product, you will definitely think he lacks creativity. But in fact, this is not entirely true. Because the more familiar a product feels to users, the more likely they are to accept it. Lieb said: "Our brain will associate new things we see with old things we know. So if your product can give people a sense of déjà vu, it will be easier for them to understand and accept it. Of course, this does not mean that you can simply copy other people's products. Rather, you have to accurately find your own characteristics and present them in an appropriate way, and strive to stand out from similar products."

To do this, Lieb recommends understanding every step of the user journey, starting with the sign-up process. Then ask them two questions:

?What is this product or app used for?

?How do you use it?

However, asking these questions requires skill. Don’t ask everyone you meet, because the user groups that are most capable of detecting cognitive load are young people and the elderly, and their brains do not yet have sufficient product pattern matching capabilities. If even they can understand your product and answer the above two questions with clear thinking, it means that your product is quite successful.

Of course, if you can't find either of these two types of people to test with, there is another way. “You can also test it with drunk people. They have lower cognitive abilities than normal people. When we tested Bump, we went to bars in San Francisco and Palo Alto. If they can clearly describe the features of your product, it means that it is popular with users,” Lieb said.

Hypothesis 3: Diversified functions can bring more active users.

Fact: Focusing on uniformity, not variety, makes users grow dependent on your product.

Generally speaking, product teams are eager to develop a universal product that integrates various functions into the same product, thinking that this will attract more users. But in fact, too many functions will bring cognitive burden to users, making it difficult for them to figure out what the product is used for.

Therefore, Lieb said that we should start from the user's perspective, find a specific direction, and strive to develop in this direction. Reid Hoffman once said that most people only use 5 to 9 online products every day. It is very difficult to become one of these products. If you can really do this, it means you have retained your users and are not far from success.

Assumption 4: Speed ​​determines victory or defeat.

Fact: User trust and product quality take time.

Application developers pay much attention to the speed of their programs, but a few seconds of delay can help users understand what is happening. This is especially important for travel websites. A few seconds slower processing speed can help them find the most cost-effective travel plan.

Lieb said that pursuing a one-millisecond speed advantage does not necessarily lead to good results. You should ask yourself, how can you make users remember and recognize you more quickly? Do you need to give users a few seconds to carefully think about the value you bring? What you need to optimize is not the running speed of the application, but the user experience when using it.

NO.3 Use the following four strategies to reduce product cognitive load

First, increase user participation. Before you take any action, you need to prioritize your customers, get them up to speed on your product, and get them engaged. Allow users to make their own decisions as much as possible so that they can understand the product more easily.

Second, slow down product development. Don't rush things and give users some buffer time. This way they are more likely to remember you, recognize the value you create, and truly understand the functions of your product.

Third, don’t be unconventional. Don’t focus on creating a product that has never been seen before, because the human brain subconsciously associates new things with old things. Giving users a sense of familiarity can help them accept your product more easily. Of course, don't be worldly. You should strive to achieve a breakthrough in one aspect to help yourself form a competitive advantage and continuously innovate and improve based on the work of your predecessors.

Fourth, find the right test subjects. Try to find young and old users. If you can't find any, go to a bar. Drunk people are also good test subjects.

Mobile application product promotion service: APP promotion service Qinggua Media advertising

This article was written by @Sina Technology and was compiled and published by (Qinggua Media). Please indicate the author information and source when reprinting!