{"id":944,"date":"2020-06-22T19:11:15","date_gmt":"2020-06-22T19:11:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aeoneal.com\/blog\/?p=944"},"modified":"2022-09-13T19:09:50","modified_gmt":"2022-09-13T19:09:50","slug":"anti-fragile-ux","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aeoneal.com\/blog\/anti-fragile-ux\/","title":{"rendered":"Anti-fragile UX"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>This is a repost of an idea I&#8217;ve dreamt of for nearly a decade (and leveraged to help improve design thinking and approaches, though not to the extent described below). Now, in this time of AI, global audiences, and awareness of accessibility, it seems this could be possible. (Please note: some links now go to the <a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20120804130415\/http:\/\/uxtraordinary.com\/designing-an-antifragile-ux-part-one\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Wayback Machine<\/a> capture of a site.)<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>Nobody wants a fragile user experience. The thoughts that come to mind when you imagine such a site are probably buggy, not very usable, difficult to navigate, limited compatibility, and most definitely not user-friendly.<\/p>\n<p>Now imagine a robust web app. This site would work across most if not all browser and devices, \u201cgracefully degrading\u201d when necessary. It would be usable, useful, and user-friendly, fulfilling the promise of site for the user. Bugs would be a rare event.<\/p>\n<p>After reading <a href=\"http:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20120402202552\/http:\/\/www.edge.org\/q2011\/q11_3.html#taleb\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Nassim Taleb\u2019s antifragility discussion<\/a> on Edge\u2019s World Question Center, I think we can do better. As Taleb envisions it, an antifragile system is one that is \u201cbeyond robustness,\u201d one that not only withstands disorder and change, but loves those things. Taleb provides an example:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Just as a package sent by mail can bear a stamp \u201cfragile\u201d, \u201cbreakable\u201d or \u201chandle with care\u201d, consider the exact opposite: a package that has stamped on it \u201cplease mishandle\u201d or \u201cplease handle carelessly\u201d. The contents of such package are not just unbreakable, impervious to shocks, but have something more than that, as they tend to benefit from shocks.<\/p>\n<p>So let us coin the appellation \u201cantifragile\u201d for anything that, on average, &#8230;benefits from variability.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>In this and following posts, I\u2019m going to discuss what the characteristics of an anti-fragile web app might look like. These include (but are not necessarily limited to):<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>A self-refining interface. The more browsers, devices, and user preferences it\u2019s exposed to, the better it can refine itself, and predict or suggest the ideal UI for a given user with a given browser or device.<\/li>\n<li>Self-refining taxonomy. A content strategy that benefits from variety and size. I\u2019m convinced that in the post-Google, post-UX, post-social media world, semantic information management in all forms will be the next big thing. (Note: by post-Google, post-UX, etc., I don\u2019t mean a world existing without those things. Rather, I mean the world that has thoroughly incorporated these and similar game-changing concepts and is ready to grow from there.)<\/li>\n<li>Simplicity of structure, allowing flexibility of response.<\/li>\n<li>Loves change. Learns from being used for new and unexpected purposes, adapting the new ability or use to improve or expand existing features.<\/li>\n<li>The broader and more varied the audience, the more information there is to develop targeted content and interfaces.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>self-refining interface<\/h3>\n<p>What on earth is a self-refining interface? A self-refining interface is one that adjusts itself to user needs, either at an aggregate or individual level. Ideally it would do both.<\/p>\n<p>Today we have a plethora of interfaces with which to browse the web. Notepads, smart phones, PDAs, laptops, televisions and more are used to present online information. There are even a few awkward-looking wristwatches receiving online updates, heralding the arrival of the smart gadget. The Pew Internet &amp; American Life Project reports a <a href=\"http:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20120402202552\/http:\/\/www.pewinternet.org\/Reports\/2010\/Mobile-Access-2010\/Summary-of-Findings.aspx\">sharp increase in adults using mobile devices to access the internet<\/a>, as well as other online activities. Cell phone ownership is stable, but using phones for purposes other than phone calls is going up, up, up.<\/p>\n<p><strong>This marks the beginning of the end of pixel-perfect web design<\/strong>. No longer is there a single fold, above which content cues should reside; no longer can a company focus solely on meeting their audience\u2019s needs by designing for the top three browsers across the top two computer operating systems. Graceful degradation is going the way of the dodo. Instead, we need evolutionary designs, adaptable to a variety of niches.<\/p>\n<p>Companies who have already focused on this typically seek to determine the device being used by a particular user, then serve them content optimized for that device. Unfortunately, with the broad variety of devices in use, it\u2019s difficult to accommodate all of them. Alternatively, they offer a \u201cmobile\u201d or \u201ctext-only\u201d link, optimized for users with low bandwidth or smaller mobile devices. Again, we have only a couple of optimizations, and as user trends change, the developers behind a given web application or site must run to keep up.<\/p>\n<p>Built-in design adaptability might work in many cases. For example, a combination of incrementally sized, wrapping modules and liquid layout could flexibly accommodate both broader and shorter resolutions (the Xoom\u2019s resolution, for example, is 1280 x 800). Navigation could be persistent, but fly out on mouseover. Tricky to do, but not impossible. There is no \u201cgraceful degradation\u201d because all resolutions are intended to happen. But this is merely robust.<\/p>\n<p>What if the web application itself took this optimization a step further? Imagine these scenarios:<\/p>\n<p><em>A site that actively analyzes user system demographics and develops UI and navigation options for a variety of interfaces; users can select their preferred default. Depending on the intelligence of the system, these could be based on persona types, or actually customized on a user-by-user basis.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Proactively personalized interface preferences. Based on a user\u2019s interaction behavior, the site infers their content and navigational preferences and presents or suggests an interface matching those. Do they like clicking on tags? Perhaps a tag cloud-driven navigation should be integrated into their UI.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>To be honest, I\u2019m not certain what a truly antifragile user experience would look like. But I know we\u2019ll never get there if we don\u2019t think about it; and thinking about it will bring us more robust UX along the way.<\/p>\n<h3>references<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Smith, Aaron (7 July 2010). Mobile Access 2010. Pew Internet &amp; American Life Project. <a href=\"http:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20120402202552\/http:\/\/www.pewinternet.org\/Reports\/2010\/Mobile-Access-2010\/Summary-of-Findings.aspx\">http:\/\/www.pewinternet.org\/Reports\/2010\/Mobile-Access-2010\/Summary-of-Findings.aspx<\/a><\/li>\n<li>Taleb, Nassim M. (2011). <a href=\"http:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20120402202552\/http:\/\/www.edge.org\/q2011\/q11_3.html#taleb\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Antifragility\u2014or\u2014The Property Of Disorder-Loving Systems<\/a>. The Edge Question 2011. Accessed 17 January 2011.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<p>27 February 2011<\/p>\n<p class=\"original\">Originally posted on UXtraordinary. See the <a href=\"http:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20120402202552\/http:\/\/uxtraordinary.com\/designing-an-antifragile-ux-part-one\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">archived original post<\/a>.<\/p>\n<div class=\"sharedaddy sd-sharing-enabled\"><div class=\"robots-nocontent sd-block sd-social sd-social-icon sd-sharing\"><h3 class=\"sd-title\">Share this:<\/h3><div class=\"sd-content\"><ul><li class=\"share-facebook\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-shared=\"sharing-facebook-944\" class=\"share-facebook sd-button share-icon no-text\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aeoneal.com\/blog\/anti-fragile-ux\/?share=facebook\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to share on Facebook\" ><span><\/span><span class=\"sharing-screen-reader-text\">Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-linkedin\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-shared=\"sharing-linkedin-944\" class=\"share-linkedin sd-button share-icon no-text\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aeoneal.com\/blog\/anti-fragile-ux\/?share=linkedin\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to share on LinkedIn\" ><span><\/span><span class=\"sharing-screen-reader-text\">Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-twitter\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-shared=\"sharing-twitter-944\" class=\"share-twitter sd-button share-icon no-text\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aeoneal.com\/blog\/anti-fragile-ux\/?share=twitter\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to share on Twitter\" ><span><\/span><span class=\"sharing-screen-reader-text\">Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-end\"><\/li><\/ul><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This is a repost of an idea I&#8217;ve dreamt of for nearly a decade (and leveraged to help improve design thinking and approaches, though not to the extent described below). Now, in this time of AI, global audiences, and awareness of accessibility, it seems this could be possible. (Please note: some links now go to&hellip;<\/p>\n<div class=\"sharedaddy sd-sharing-enabled\"><div class=\"robots-nocontent sd-block sd-social sd-social-icon sd-sharing\"><h3 class=\"sd-title\">Share this:<\/h3><div class=\"sd-content\"><ul><li class=\"share-facebook\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-shared=\"sharing-facebook-944\" class=\"share-facebook sd-button share-icon no-text\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aeoneal.com\/blog\/anti-fragile-ux\/?share=facebook\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to share on Facebook\" ><span><\/span><span class=\"sharing-screen-reader-text\">Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-linkedin\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-shared=\"sharing-linkedin-944\" class=\"share-linkedin sd-button share-icon no-text\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aeoneal.com\/blog\/anti-fragile-ux\/?share=linkedin\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to share on LinkedIn\" ><span><\/span><span class=\"sharing-screen-reader-text\">Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-twitter\"><a rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-shared=\"sharing-twitter-944\" class=\"share-twitter sd-button share-icon no-text\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aeoneal.com\/blog\/anti-fragile-ux\/?share=twitter\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Click to share on Twitter\" ><span><\/span><span class=\"sharing-screen-reader-text\">Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)<\/span><\/a><\/li><li class=\"share-end\"><\/li><\/ul><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[56,12,2,19],"tags":[102,21,96,49],"class_list":["post-944","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-cognitions","category-design","category-design-thinking","category-strategy","tag-accessibility","tag-antifragile","tag-design-thinking","tag-user-friendly-design"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9aciW-fe","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":676,"url":"https:\/\/www.aeoneal.com\/blog\/beautiful-accessible-traffic-light-colors\/","url_meta":{"origin":944,"position":0},"title":"Beautiful, accessible traffic light colors","date":"July 23, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Cross-posted from my Medium blog. Autumn leaves showing off a glorious red\/yellow\/green palette. Photo by enneafive of Flickr, under Creative Commons by 4.0 license. Links below. Everyone uses them: Green, yellow (or orange), and red. We use them in data visualization, we use them in buttons, we color text and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;design&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":258,"url":"https:\/\/www.aeoneal.com\/blog\/actual-practical-ux-strategy\/","url_meta":{"origin":944,"position":1},"title":"Actual, practical UX strategy","date":"May 22, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Paul Bryan, of the LinkedIn UX Strategy and Planning group, contributed There is no such thing as UX strategy, on UXmatters. Bryan's clearly got a handle on the subject, but some of the user responses (\"This UX Strategist role should be a skill of a PO;\" \"I thought we decided\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;design&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":845,"url":"https:\/\/www.aeoneal.com\/blog\/shirky-on-purpose\/","url_meta":{"origin":944,"position":2},"title":"Shirky on purpose","date":"August 3, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"You know you've got a good piece of software when people use it for purposes for which the designers never intended or designed. \u2014 Clay Shirky","rel":"","context":"In &quot;design&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":83,"url":"https:\/\/www.aeoneal.com\/blog\/intention-focused-design\/","url_meta":{"origin":944,"position":3},"title":"Intention-focused design (UX Matters article)","date":"August 9, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Pabini Gabriel-Petit approached me for an article in UXmatters in May, 2012, and in July published Intention-Focused Design: Applying Perceptual Control Theory to Discover User Intent. Below is the article as it appeared. At this point in the development of the field of user experience, I'm assuming that most good\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;design thinking&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"A UX-style PCT user feedback loop","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/aeoneal.com\/imagery\/blog\/intentionalux-fig1.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":733,"url":"https:\/\/www.aeoneal.com\/blog\/ux-collective-published-my-article\/","url_meta":{"origin":944,"position":4},"title":"UX Collective published my article!","date":"September 26, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Even better, they tweeted it! Screen capture, UX Collective's tweet. See the article on UX Collective (or here).","rel":"","context":"In &quot;design&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":32,"url":"https:\/\/www.aeoneal.com\/blog\/designing-for-purpose\/","url_meta":{"origin":944,"position":5},"title":"Designing for purpose","date":"August 3, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"This is the first of several presentations applying different psychological systems to user experience. Designing for users is a tough job. To optimize our designs and strategy, UX professionals frequently turn to concept\/site testing. The problem is that most design strategy and testing thinks in terms of input \u2192 output.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;design thinking&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aeoneal.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/944","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aeoneal.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aeoneal.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aeoneal.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aeoneal.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=944"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.aeoneal.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/944\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":972,"href":"https:\/\/www.aeoneal.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/944\/revisions\/972"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aeoneal.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=944"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aeoneal.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=944"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aeoneal.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=944"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}