I attended Innovators Summit at RootsTech today, and went to 6 different classes. I only signed up to write a review for one class, and I was so engaged in what Harrison Tang was saying – I completely failed to take notes like I had for all the other classes!
Here is what I remember about his message to genealogy software developers, sans-notes! He was effective in demonstrating the effectiveness of well-designed and beautiful user interfaces.
Honor Convention in your Design
- He showed us several genealogy websites that hide their family tree on a small tab rather than their front page. Since we are all about family trees, why not feature them more prominently?
- One look and we know a family tree when we see one – we know it is not a friend tree, a cute girls tree – but a family tree that shows how we are connected to our relatives and ancestors. Capitalize on this instant recognition of this age-old symbol.
- Don’t be afraid to make it more visually appealing, however!
Gamification
- Make every click bring some kind of instant gratification to the user – like gaming software – users are compelled to go farther to keep getting that visual and even audio gratification when they click or tap.
Navigation
- Provide visually seamless navigation with pinch and swipe motion rather than having to move to a new page or overlay that interrupts the user experience to preserve the sense of connection on the family tree. The same way Google Maps work as opposed to old map programs of yesteryear.
- For more robust text areas, provide a gradual ramp up from the fully visual to the large text block area rather than a sudden jolting shift.
All of his points were about making the user experience compelling, engaging, even addicting to a broader audience.
Of course he used his own Family.me website as an example of each of his points, but it worked. Family.me was clearly going to attract a different audience than professional genealogists or your Aunt Gertrude who oversees all family history work for a multi-generational extended family, and Tang was encouraging new developers to keep the younger tech savvy population in mind in the visual design of new technology.
On a related note, in the class about How to Start a Seed Round with a new startup company, the angel investor on the expert panel made a point that appealing to a broader and younger audience with new family history technology products is a definite selling factor for investors.
