I saw a post today on LinkedIn using a music analogy to make a point about content’s importance in solving user experience problems, and thought to myself, “My people!” Part of the post included this idea:
“Content is like the bass player, UX is the drummer. Together they’re the rhythm section. Information architecture is the song arrangement. UI is the melody, the frontperson, and dazzling guitar solos.”
The first thing I like about this is it draws a line in the sand. We can’t really have a discussion until we frame it. And, if you’ll allow a bit of a digression before we get back to the band analogy, I want to highlight a trick I learned from a design colleague at Twitter for framing discussions which need to lead to a decision. As I remember it, he called it something like the “Pizza Lunch Problem”.
In his scenario, when you’re ordering lunch for a group of people, if you don’t frame the question right, you’ll probably end up with cheese pizza for everyone. His logic is that it’s easily shareable, it’s cost-effective for groups, and cheese is the simplest topping which most people will end up agreeing on. But getting there is probably going to be painful. You’ll start by bouncing a bunch of food types around, like Indian, sushi, Mexican, sandwiches, etc., and inevitably end up at pizza. Then, you have to turn to toppings. Now, you’re accounting for those who don’t want meat or hate pineapple or only like a stuffed crust. So, after much deliberating, and probably some frustration, you end up with cheese pizza. And the decision probably didn’t take you 30 minutes or less.
His suggestion, then, is to put a stake in the sand as a starting point; “Hey y’all, let’s order lunch from McDonald’s.” While this may be polarizing, it frames the conversation in a way that starts to better highlight the needs and wants of the group. You may still end up at cheese pizza, but using the constraints of the McDonald’s menu helps draw out the preferences and restrictions which will get you to where you need faster. Hopefully, in time to enjoy a well thought-out lunch.
With that out of the way, let’s get back to this content-band analogy. Making the bass player content is a definite choice, and I like that it works hand-in-hand with the drumming of UX. But in my opinion, the entire band is UX. The bass playing is important, but it works in tandem with a drumming foundation which I think is actually research. Without knowing what your users need, and what other options in the marketplace are offering them, you might as well just be composing “Saucy Jack”.
I really love the idea of including the song arrangements as a part of the discussion, but I want it to be metadata, with an evening’s setlist standing in for information architecture. That way, you’re thinking about where to place certain songs in the set so that the overall performance is enjoyable for you and your audience. All of this gets put together to create your new favorite band, UX. #\m/
Thank you for, once again, letting me torture a music-related analogy. I have a lot of fun with these. And now, I’m actually headed out the door to see a band in action.
Sub Pop Rock City
08 February 2023
I saw a post today on LinkedIn using a music analogy to make a point about content’s importance in solving user experience problems, and thought to myself, “My people!” Part of the post included this idea:
“Content is like the bass player, UX is the drummer. Together they’re the rhythm section. Information architecture is the song arrangement. UI is the melody, the frontperson, and dazzling guitar solos.”
The first thing I like about this is it draws a line in the sand. We can’t really have a discussion until we frame it. And, if you’ll allow a bit of a digression before we get back to the band analogy, I want to highlight a trick I learned from a design colleague at Twitter for framing discussions which need to lead to a decision. As I remember it, he called it something like the “Pizza Lunch Problem”.
In his scenario, when you’re ordering lunch for a group of people, if you don’t frame the question right, you’ll probably end up with cheese pizza for everyone. His logic is that it’s easily shareable, it’s cost-effective for groups, and cheese is the simplest topping which most people will end up agreeing on. But getting there is probably going to be painful. You’ll start by bouncing a bunch of food types around, like Indian, sushi, Mexican, sandwiches, etc., and inevitably end up at pizza. Then, you have to turn to toppings. Now, you’re accounting for those who don’t want meat or hate pineapple or only like a stuffed crust. So, after much deliberating, and probably some frustration, you end up with cheese pizza. And the decision probably didn’t take you 30 minutes or less.
His suggestion, then, is to put a stake in the sand as a starting point; “Hey y’all, let’s order lunch from McDonald’s.” While this may be polarizing, it frames the conversation in a way that starts to better highlight the needs and wants of the group. You may still end up at cheese pizza, but using the constraints of the McDonald’s menu helps draw out the preferences and restrictions which will get you to where you need faster. Hopefully, in time to enjoy a well thought-out lunch.
With that out of the way, let’s get back to this content-band analogy. Making the bass player content is a definite choice, and I like that it works hand-in-hand with the drumming of UX. But in my opinion, the entire band is UX. The bass playing is important, but it works in tandem with a drumming foundation which I think is actually research. Without knowing what your users need, and what other options in the marketplace are offering them, you might as well just be composing “Saucy Jack”.
I really love the idea of including the song arrangements as a part of the discussion, but I want it to be metadata, with an evening’s setlist standing in for information architecture. That way, you’re thinking about where to place certain songs in the set so that the overall performance is enjoyable for you and your audience. All of this gets put together to create your new favorite band, UX. #\m/
Thank you for, once again, letting me torture a music-related analogy. I have a lot of fun with these. And now, I’m actually headed out the door to see a band in action.
See you tomorrow?